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.

Jesus OP, unclench. It's hardly going to go on some sort of permanent record and future employers will worry about why she had one unauthorised absence. What a load of worry for nothing

Not in response to your question but......I spent 6 years doing the 45 min school run with DS2 who wanted to stay in the primary school he had started when we moved. It was the most stressful experience of my life, I should have put my foot down and moved his school to the local primary. He rarely played out because he only knew 2 kids in our new street and didn't know any of the children in the area with not going to the primary. Also, when it came to going to secondary school he had to go to one in the catchment so couldn't move up with his school pals. Started secondary school not knowing a soul.

I would consider moving her. Will her siblings even get into that school due to catchment areas?

We both admit now, he should have moved schools, it would have been so much better for him.

Just let it go, you've made the right decision keeping her off and it's annoying but also one day of unauthorised absence really doesn't matter.
It's the local council's policy anyway not the school

No one cares about one day... it shows nothing. It could be a holiday, or attending the theatre, or a wedding, or weather.

Repeated lateness or unauthorised is whats noticed.

2 90mins a day round trips for your younger children doesn't sound fair on them though. Especially a newborn.

I think you're worrying far too much over what others think of you.
Maybe try not to be judgemental of the parents who's kids you teach if they keep their kids at home for what is a very reasonable reason.

Good advice. Thank you. We would like to move her but she's very resistant. It may become necessary though.

I can't say I am particularly judgemental. It's more the general school culture at the moment around attendance and safeguarding. It's very 'hot'. As it should be... but it does mean things are very scrutinised.

They aren’t allowed to authorise it, but nor will you be fined.
You'll have to let it go. Either way she is absent and authorised or not, it will show as an absent mark. It’s not like they mark authorised absence as being in…

You're not being unreasonable there is a code they can use (Y I think - Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances).

Expecting anyone to travel in 78mph winds when they don't feel comfortable to do so, is ridiculous

Past attendance record, behaviour, academic attainment and the personal circumstances of the parents have no bearing on whether an absence has to be recorded as unauthorised. The school may well sympathise with you, but the whole point of the regulations is that schools don’t have to make subjective decisions about the merits of individual cases. I’m afraid it doesn’t really count as "exceptional circumstances" just because you choose to live such a distance from your daughter's school.

If your child doesn’t normally have unauthorised absences, having one isn’t going to make any difference to anything. It’s not the case that it will make teachers view your child's background differently - the class teacher probably doesn’t even know or care whether the absence is authorised or not. All they will care about is the actual absence.

It's natural for a young child to say they don’t want to change schools, but imo it’s not a decision that should be left to them because they are too young to understand all the pros and cons. Surely it’s going to be very difficult for you to manage this long journey every day with a toddler and a tiny baby. Is it fair to them?

Thanks all for your input! Agree with the poster about enjoying the day with the children. A tree has just come down blocking our entire track out of the place anyway!

The exceptional circumstance is the weather, not the distance from school

DH works over near the school some of the week anyway. Also the school runs are very split between us, so the younger children aren't doing the drive that much. But yes, moving her is definitely a discussion.

I appreciate what you’re saying about it being on her record but I can’t imagine one unauthorised absence will build a picture of anything. You’ve a long way to go before they start looking at you as a potentially neglectful parent. Most kids will have an unauthorised absence on their record surely, given how strict the rules are.

But would OP be making the same decision if she lived close to the school?

Yes, exactly. We wouldn't have been able to make it to a much closer school either now a tree has completely blocked the access track out.

Well there you go. You may well have been blocked out if you did the school run, so good call to not go. Be confident in your decision!

Absolutely I would. The issue is the location of our house and the fact the nearest school is still a distance.

You should have just said she had a sore throat.

Call back and say “I’m sorry I’ve notified you late, dd has a sore throat and isn’t well enough to come to school today”.

I expect they will say ok and update the records.

the thing is the reason is still the same - you ultimately live too far away from the school authorised or unauthorised the reason is still the same and will be on record as the same

As a teacher yourself, then you would have known the likelihood of your daughter's school agreeing to an authorised absence, is virtually zero! With the new absence guidelines in place from government, schools are even more heavy on absences. Yes, your safety must come first and I wouldn't have driven either. Accept the situation for what it is, unavoidable and that your daughter will have an 'unauthorised absence' against her. It's a one time incident, not ongoing, so therefore won't cause issues going forward.

Does it really matter if there’s one unauthorised absence on her record?

That would depend on the weather conditions near the school/distance. If it is feasible to get in, I'm sure she would. But from where she lives it isn't. So the travel to school for them is exceptional today.

It's not compulsory to live within a certain distance of the school, so the fact she lives further away shouldn't be held against her.

Let it be marked as unauthorised and forget about it, it’s no big deal.

Why not ? Red weather warning ?