To invoke the ‘otherwise’ option for school absence?

[KuanKaKu]

AIBU to send this letter in and request temporary de-registration?
WWYD if you are a Headteacher and received this?
Dear Headteacher,
I am writing to inform you that for the period xxx 2026 to xxx 2026 inclusive, my children, [Child’s Name(s)], will be receiving their education otherwise than at school, in accordance with Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, which places the legal duty for securing a suitable education on me as the parent.
Section 7 states that:
“The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude, and to any special educational needs he may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.”
During this period I will be exercising the “otherwise” option. As such, my children will not be attending school between these dates. You may therefore treat them as temporarily deregistered for this period, as their education is being lawfully provided by me.
This is not a permanent withdrawal. My intention is for them to return to school-based provision on xxx 2026.
For clarity:
Parents are the duty-holders under Education Act 1996 s.7 with the right to elect for education “otherwise”.
Elective Home Education does not require the school’s permission (DfE Elective Home Education Guidance, 2019).
Temporary periods of home education are legally valid where the parent is providing suitable education under s.7.
Compulsory school attendance requirements under s.444 apply only where the parent is relying on school attendance to discharge the s.7 duty, which is not the case during this period.
Please confirm receipt of this notification for your records.

No, you do not have fewer options.
The traveling communities options are in line with the fact that a secondary school may consider a traveler child who has reached a level 5 at any age, to have a completed secondary education, fitting to their lifestyle, regardless of their educational potential or parents desires in the matter.

If the system can support alternative ways of life such as this

It can’t- or at least not without serious effects on outcomes. Have you ever seen the stats for travelling children? Some of the worst you will see in many cases. But many have family businesses they can go into instead.

If you want that for your child, de-register and do a shit job of home educating- job done and you can go on holiday whenever you like.

How would you feel, OP, if on one of the days you did fancy sending your kids to school, there was no teacher because they had gone on holiday in term-time when it's cheaper?

I only read the only post and thought how knobish it sounded to quote the law but not really have much concept of a school place could probably not be kept.
If I was the head it would be a case of 'that parent' and a 🙄

How on earth do you imagine the school could just hold open a free school place that likely someone else will want for you whilst you exercise your “otherwise” option?

Thats a place a child could be using and that’s being paid for by the taxpayer.

Withdrawing your child from school is rightly a permanent option - you could be lucky and get the place back, but you can’t just hold it open.

"Seasonal and climate factors also affect some travel. For example reliable snow in the northern hemisphere now tends to fall later and less predictably than in previous decades. This means some families cannot fit certain activities into the narrow half term week without overlapping with term time. This is not about extravagance. It is about how travel timing and seasons have shifted."

In other words.... you want to take your kids skiing in term time when its cheaper, like every other entitled middle class mother ever

To be fair, they are ONLY allowed to take their children out of school when they are travelling for work purposes.

If your child is at an undersubscribed school, you can take them off role for home education then re-subscribe them to the school upon your return.

If your school is over-subscribed however, then once you register them for home schooling and they go off role, the place will be offered to someone else on the waiting list.

If only they'd let teachers take a term time holiday!! 13 weeks of holiday and it's so expensive to go anywhere. Not sure the parents would be overly impressed if we got a week off, particularly GCSE and A Level classes!

That’s the most long winded way of saying you want to go skiing in term time I’ve ever seen. 😂

Send the letter and cause the school a complete waste of time whilst they unpick your AI rant. They’ve literally got nothing better to do.
I get the feeling that you are a pain in the arse.

OP you are embarrassing yourself 🤣

The status quo may not be perfect, however it allows the education of children to be equitable and manageable.

How do you propose, in your imagined reality, that a school would manage delivery of a curriculum with ad hoc attendance and the constant need for children to catch up, parents demanding needing to be liaised with in relation to what their child has missed, and examinations? How would it provide tailored curricula for each individual child without additional resources?

No. You will lose their place. Then you will do an extended period of home ed until you can get them into another school !

No it won't keep the place.
You will to reapply for a place if /when you stop home educating him. Your place won't be guaranteed

Agreed, She seems to think she is being clever but she fails to grasp the fact that it would be harmful to the education of the rest of the class to have others dipping in and out of the system as it suits.

It already exists, it's called a good private school with a fuller staffing role than a state school, and it costs to have the school provide that sort of individualised tailored service.

Champagne lifestyles are rarely provided on cider budgets.

The state can’t afford to offer bespoke education to suit every lifestyle. If you want that you have to pay for it. There are private schools that offer hybrid education for people in your situation. They do cost quite a bit because they are tailored to individual needs.

So you said OP

School may well send social services round , the police may come and do a welfare check and a whole load of public resources may get wasted on someone wanting their cake and eating it.

Clearly; however the OP appears to feel this should be implemented across the state education system and I was curious about how she thought that might be achieved

Someone clearly has far too much time on their hands!

School staff weren't born yesterday. Your letters and gearing up for a fight over policy very much suggest that you don't realise this.

I think parents absolutely should be able to withdraw a child from school for a trip that will be beneficial to the child. I think a lot of things fall under that category, and I'd really love to see it possible for parents to take their child on a two week holiday on the basis that they provide to the school evidence that they have seriously considered and planned a programme of activities that will contribute to raising a well rounded child.

As it stands, by all means protest and find ways to try to influence the system to change: but please manage your expectations that these letters are absolutely not going to result in you being able to take your child out of school temporarily and pop straight back into the same school place. You will end up with a MUCH bigger problem on your hands than paying the fine.

Send the letter... I can imagine the response.

Dear OP

Thank you for your recent communication, complete with copy and paste legalese. As a headteacher of many years standing, I am very familiar with the law as regards school registration, but it's always refreshing to be patronised by someone who has spent 20 seconds on ChatGPT.

I fear you have confused school registration with gym membership. There is no option under law to temporarily deregister your child for a set period. We do have flexible school policies in place for children who, through no fault of their own, have to have breaks in their schooling, such as for serious illness.

However as your communication did not elaborate on the reason behind your deregistering then I cannot advise as to whether there is a policy in place to suit your needs. If you are able to explain further then I would be happy to talk through your options with you. This would have been the preferred approach to begin with, unless there is a reason why you are withholding information?

As it stands, we have recorded the withdrawal of your child from this school on DATE, however if you wish to reregister at any point in the future then please be aware that they will added to the waiting list and are not guaranteed a place.

"Otherwise" I hope that your child flourishes in their new educational setting, although to my knowledge, Mickey Mouse doesn't have a teaching qualification.

Yours, etc.

I am really not sure what the OP is yapping about? Some people do have a lot of time on their hands.

Your children will of course thank you for bouncing them from school to school and for what end?

It’s agreeing to their rules and registering your child and then trying to insist the school should give you special treatment and hold your child’s place while you go on holiday that makes you sound foolish. You can’t have it both ways.

I want change, so I voted with my feet, so to speak. I am not involved in this “status quo”.

I am gobsmacked people are putting so much time and thought and effort into finding ways to take their kids away on holiday during term time. First world problems don't get much more first world than this! You are lucky enough to live in a country that provides a high quality free education for your child, and you're complaining because this means your holiday is more expensive?? I have lived for long periods of time in countries where parents would KILL for their kids to have the opportunities you are treating as an inconvenience. I can't even. JFC.