I feel terrible, taken out of school for Lapland UK

[MummaHud]

I’ve taken my daughter out of school today she’s 5 for Lapland UK. We don’t have a lot of money and her brother was born extremely premature last year and she missed out on a lot of things because of it.

she’s the kindest soul, she’s really clever and she’s just amazing.

im not justifying anything as id never take my child out of school, but we won VIP at Lapland UK.

an experience I’d never ever consider looking at usually and its not an experience I can turn down.

my daughter has 100% attendance, I’m worried what the school will do? I’ve been honest and she will be back tomorrow.

am I a bad mum? 😭

We went Monday and I took my daughter out of school. We had the normal experience, I entered all the competitions so it's good to see people actually win! I hope you had the bestest time ever!!

If you’d asked in advance this probably could have been authorised as an ‘exceptional circumstance.’ It’s at the headteacher’s discretion. But it’s only one day anyway so don’t worry. When I do the attendance at my school, I worry about the kids who are out every Monday and Friday and their parents are uncontactable. I’m really not worried about those who go on holiday a couple of days early one time or who miss one day for a special experience.

Go for it!

You have won a wonderful experience. Surely you could have spoken to the head teacher and arranged a day off for your daughter. Any head teacher with an ounce of common sense would have granted the day off. My dd had nearly 6 weeks off as an opportunity came up, last minute, for a trip of a lifetime down under. Head teacher gave me maths and English workbooks and a blank exercise for dd to keep a diary. Dd was 9 at the time.

It’ll be fine. The teachers will not be cross that you are taking advantage of winning a great opportunity, they don’t make the rules! To be off for a day or two when she has otherwise good attendance will not be a problem.

Definitely not a bad mum, definitely a good mum. Enjoy and don’t feel guilty x

Primary Teacher here! Go and have the best day and don’t give school a second thought.
These are memories that will last a life time x

This is one of those exceptions - please just enjoy it. Turning down the trip wouldn’t have been the right thing to do. I’m sure the school will be understanding.

I'm really pleased you all had a wonderful time OP.

Wow, you lucky thing! Of course you’re not a bad mum, don’t be silly. Every single mum in your position would do exactly the same thing. She’s only 5, missing a day is going to make no difference whatsoever. Think no more on it as you’ll spoil it for yourself. Go and have a fantastic time!

Of course not

Taking kids out of school for something special isn't a big deal.

I took my three out of school every year for a holiday and they're all doing brilliantly. There's more than one way to learn and educate.

Fuck the school! Ridiculous we need “authorisation” for our own children. That sounds amazing! She will remember that forever, not a boring day at school. You all sound like you deserve it so don’t worry at all. Live and let live. have a blast!

You are not a bad mum, just the opposite because you are worrying that you’ve taken her out of school. I took my grandchildren last weekend, it was absolutely magical and , although the cost is huge, the actual experience is not about consumerism or greed at all so I would highly recommend it . Glad you enjoyed it

No! Have a blast and if your visit is after 3pm today, my DH might just be your Father Christmas ;)

Our visit was about 1pm on Tuesday! 🥹 I wonder if it was your DH. I did wonder how many father Christmasses they have a time there x

One day will be fine. And it does sound like an opportunity too good to be missed. Hope you have a lovely time.

Definitely not bad! If you show that it was a prize they will authorize the attendance. Even if they didn't, one unauthorized attendance isn't a problem at all.
What an amazing prize for you all to enjoy! Woo hoo!

Kids can easily learn and benefit more from an enriching experience than another day in school, especially at that age. I would feel zero guilt over that and would (figuratively) fight anyone who dared challenge me on it.

I did it loads when kids in primary school! If one child was away on a school residential I would take the other one to the beach for the day! Been to Longleat for the xmas light show twice. Went to Disney land Paris for a week and got fined (had a fab time).
Im lucky my kids were very fairly ill so always had fab attendance.
Hope you had a great time, dont think anymore of it! School wont care!

Absolutely not! I kept my 6 year old off school today because she was tired and I had a day off work and I felt she needed a day with me more than she needed school. I bet your daughter had a magical day that she will remember forever!

Absolutely nothing wrong with this
But perhaps don’t report the absence on the actual morning, as you did on this occasion!

because then you stress about what the “school might do”

whereas if you’d notified the school when you won the competition, you wouldn’t have worried because you’d known by the day - that they’d done nothing

I did this once
and was fully honest with the school that she wasn’t ill but just tired and highly strung
and got a lovely email back to say very sensible

What an awful attitude and what an example to children!

OP told the truth. How can she lie, her daughter is going to have such a magical time she’ll want to tell all her friends AND her teachers.

OP you’re not a bad mum, enjoy yourselves.

I did this too! It was a wonderful, magical day and I don’t regret a second of it! A memory forever! Have fun!