School refused to authorise absence

[Windybananas]

Hello everyone, looking for some insight into whether IABU.

We live rurally and about 45 minutes from DD's primary school. There are closer schools, but she was settled in when we moved here, so decided to keep her there at her request. The driving is a pain, but we work over that way too, so it fits in usually and she is adamant she wants to stay there.

Her attendance is excellent and she received a certificate last term for outstanding attendance. She loves school and always has fab parents evenings etc. Anyway, due to where we live, we are really suffering from the storm. We have lost power. Where we live is surrounded by (extremely bendy!) trees and a ford, too. I am also heavily pregnant (40 weeks) and also have a 19 month old. We currently have 78mph winds according to Met Office. I imagine in reality, it's much higher too, given we are on an exposed hill. As I say, it's pretty rural... think barren hill land.
Anyway, I rang the school office this morning to explain the situation and that I didn't feel it was safe to do a 90 minute round trip with DD in these circumstances. The office then refused to authorise the absence. I'm really angry as her attendance record is excellent as stated earlier. I appreciate it's not their problem that we live far away, but surely a bit of understanding and common sense is needed here.
Also just before anyone says it's unfair to keep DD in this school, I would love her to go to a closer school (I'd even say the closer schools are actually better...) but she really wants to stay where she is and we have respected that.
I am also a teacher myself (secondary) so I understand the attendance push and keeping on top of parents who are lax etc. But we never have been.
AIBU to contest the office's refusal to authorise the absence?
Thanks.

Just let it go.
Having unauthorised absences is only a problem if they result in a fine and the storm will be gone before that happens.

They won't be allowed to authorise it.

You have asked. They have said no.

It might be unfair - I'm sure you tell your children that life often is.

In the end you have made a decision that reflects your personal circumstances and risk assessment for your family. That is totally reasonable, but what you cannot do is then force the school to agree with you and not mark it as unauthorised absence.

If her attendance is excellent then this one won't really matter.

It would have affected her attendance record whether it was authorised or not wouldn’t it?

Yes I’d inagine it ought to have been counted as an exceptional circumstance but it doesn’t make any difference to you either way. It’s the schools stats it affects.

What difference does it make in reality? As a one off, I would let it go.

You wouldn't be unreasonable to contest it, exceptional circumstances etc. it would probably have been the office staff who you spoke to and they HAVE to say this, it doubtful they have authority to over-ride. But the deputy or the head might.

I would send a very politely worded email, explain the situation.

Dont worry about it.
You called in. Thats all you need to do

@Createausername1970 The headteachers' time should not be wasted with this.

It is purely because the OP wants a 'perfect' attendance record for their child.

I think school spend far too much time dealing with non issues like this which prevent them dealing with far more serious matters.

Stuff like this damages the relationship between parents and school and it's a real shame.

In future OP you should just lie and say she is unwell.

We are similar to you and we were affected by the floods (the school was shut the day before due to them)I simply couldn’t get DD to school. It went down as a unauthorised absence. Don’t really see the big deal? It was my DD only one last term bar the school actually being shut!

Why worry? What difference does an unauthorised absence make to you or your DD?
She has good attendance but couldn’t come in this one time. You told them. What they do with that information is up to them and won’t affect her.

It's not that I want a 'perfect record' at all. She's had days off before for sickness etc.
It's just that I know how unauthorised absences are viewed by the LA etc and I don't believe this is an unreasonable reason to keep her off school.

I don't think it being unauthorised makes much of a difference in the long run however it does seem pretty irritating because you have made a reasonable decision. If it was snowing and you were blocked in would it still be unauthorised ?

If you’re a teacher, you should know that the head can’t authorize this. There are limited things that can authorized. Also
as a teacher you should know that 1 day unauthorized absence makes no difference to anyone.

As long as you aren’t going to get a fine for it does it matter if authorised? It messes up their stats by not approving!

Attendance certificates for children at primary school are silly, it’s the parents who decide if child goes to school not the child themselves! At least certs for effort or achievement can be controlled by child themselves.

YANBU in your reasoning
They are NBU in their reasoning

Just move on from it.

(And anyway, with all the recent rule tightening, I thought reasons why approval could be given were a very short defined list).

I think for those saying it doesn't actually matter... I guess you are right. I am just frustrated that I tried to do things properly, yet was given a response that basically said my reason was not acceptable. Also, I know as a teacher myself, that unauthorised absences aren't ideal to have on your record. Yes they 'don't matter', but they create an often unfair picture of a child's family having bad attendance/not caring etc. Maybe I am more worried as I've seen it from the internal side of things.

That's not true. The head can authorise anything under 'exceptional circumstances'. It's also not true that unauthorised absences don't matter. Sadly they do, as they absolutely inform a teacher's perspective of the child's background (rightly or wrongly).

It doesn't meet the criteria for authorised absence so they can't authorise it - it's not their fault. In the grand scheme of things does it matter if her attendance is already excellent

But they authorised it when the snow was terrible a few weeks ago. So how is this any different?

You are over thinking this OP. It's ONE day. Nobody is going to be in the background flagging you as a neglectful parent who doesn't care about education over one day. It really, really doesn't matter. Forget about it.

This would only be an issue if your child was persistently absent, Not one day.

I think you should just forget it, it's unfortunate but it's only one day.

I'm gutted that my child has an unauthorised absence as I'm a stickler for good attendance. However, despite the absence being caused by the school bus diverting due to snow so I had to get my dd to school instead and she ended up being an hour late, the school refused to class it as authorised. They've said they'll put a note on her file to say it was due to the school bus diverting, but cannot put it as authorised due to the new rules in place.

I do wonder how long you can continue with a 45 minute journey every school day. I wouldn't do it.

As other Pps say - let it go. Putting yourself and the safety of your baby and child are more important than an arbitrary attendance record. At no point in your DC’s life will anyone quiz your child on why they were absent from primary school or failed to get a 100% attendance in Y2. Just sit with your DC and her school reading book, go over some letters with her and have a cuddle. There will be people killed on the roads today - just wrap up warm and enjoy your child and forget about school.