To take my kids out of school for three weeks

[scratchingheads]

We have an incredible opportunity for a once in a lifetime trip with family next year. It would mean taking my kids out of school for three weeks. They are 4 (reception) and 5 (year one).

It would be one week at end of term and two weeks at beginning of the next term.

Has anyone done this, what are the chances of the school going for it, and what else do I need to consider?

I can’t see why the school will agree to it. It’ll be unauthorised, you’ll need to consider the fine as well. However if you’ll do it, just do and accept responsibility for the fine and any other thing that comes with it.

I don't know which country you're in, but no English school headteacher would be able to authorise it. That wouldn't stop you taking them out, obviously.

My greater concern would be the two weeks at the start of a new term, especially if that were also a new school year. Children who miss the first weeks of a new school year can be very disadvantaged by it in a range of both educational and social ways.

Agree they can’t authorise it. Might not be a fine for the 4 year old depends when they legally need to be in school. The head teacher will advise you re fines etc.

I'm pretty sure school will have to put it as an unauthorised absence. If your Reception child is still 4, they will be ok but you will get fined for the 5yo. There was a thread on here a few months ago where someone was being prosecuted for a 3 week absence and was going to end up with a conviction which would show on her DBS for years. I don't think this is typical for a first absence but did sound very stressful.

The chances of the school 'going for it' are about zero as their interest is educating your kids in the weeks they're open.

If the opportunity is so incredible that you don't care if they miss three weeks of learning that happens without them being part of it, then just tell school that's what's happening, and you'll forego what they're providing.

Just don't try to make it more work for them to try to catch your kids up or ensure they get the best of both worlds.

Hi, I work in Attendance. Please be honest with the school as this will make life easier all round.

If you have a child aged 5 or over then you will receive a fine of £160 for them charged to both patents but it reduces to £80 each if you pay earlier.

Your cjild aged under 5, you will not receive a fine for as they are not compulsory school aged.

Go for it! No harm will be done

Some really good advice here thank you. We really value real life experiences and my children are unlikely to ever get this opportunity again so feel we have to grab it with both hands.

Out of interest, why work in attendance if your attitude to unauthorised absence is 'no harm done'?

Is the role very disconnected from the work schools do and why attendance is essential for learning and important for a teacher to manage progress for the whole class?

You will definitely be fined for the 5yr I think it’s £80 per parent per child for every 5 days of school missed.
However if the school take each week as a separate absence then you could end up in court.
The second weeks because it’s a new term might be treated as a second absence which would be £160 per parent per 5 days.
The school can’t stop you doing it but you do need to be aware of the implications for yourself. Financially but also potentially criminally as well

You won’t get it authorised by the school. Given their ages, though, I would be inclined to do it and front up to the school. I wouldn’t do it in secondary.

Your children are so young, I would absolutely go for it. Sounds like an incredible opportunity and one your children would really benefit from. It’s not like they’re in high school. Take the opportunity and have an amazing time. Travel and family time are also important, not just school. Be honest with the school though and pay the fines

The fines are issued by the council and the timing means they could be counted as 2 separate absences as they fall in separate academic years, you wouldnneed to speak to the school as it could also mean they lose their places, especially if you don't without notifying them of rhe absence.

if they class it as 2 absence, thanges in the law last year means that The 2 weeks in the new academic year would also face double the fine value and if you were to remove the 5 yo for a third absence during their school life (not sure if at the latest school or until they age out of secondary school) then you could also be prosecuted.

Read the absence/holiday policy abd procedure for guidance.

Will your youngest be just 4 and entering reception or will they turn 5 over the summer and enter year 1? If the latter the new term will count as a first fine for them.

I understand the once in a life time thing, but you appear to be going away for 9 weeks, can you not shorten it so they are not missing rhe first 2 weeks of the new school year?

There is no way I would take children so young out of school for three weeks unless they were seriously unwell.

Apart from the harm of missing school? Does your work "in Attendance" usually involve telling parents that they should "Go for it" as 3 weeks out of school for a holiday will result in "no harm done"?

There is a point where the school can deregister the children. I would doubly ensure that that won't happen.

Otherwise... well the fines won't really matter in relation to the overall cost to the trip. They are young, so the long term effect to missing education will ve minimal (especially if you keep up reading writing and simple maths while you are travelling.

I think the 2 weeks at the start of a new term isn't a good idea at all.

When our DC were 7 and 9 we took them out of school for the last two weeks of Autumn term so that we could go to Australia to spend Christmas with my sister and meet my niece (their cousin). It's the only time we've taken them out of school.

They are now both in their 20s and they have almost no memories of the trip even though they got to do some amazing things. If you are going to do a "holiday of a lifetime" then wait until they are older.

They are young, so the long term effect to missing education will be minimal they are learning the most important things of all, surely: how to read?

If they already can read fluently fair enough but if you don’t learn to read, you can’t read to learn.

Teacher here - school will say no, they will fine you but you are the only person who can weigh that up with the loss of learning/missing things in school against what your trip will give them. What time of year are you going? Year 1 go have their phonic screen in June.

Is the three weeks around the summer holidays (ie missing 2 weeks in September) or around another holiday (ie missing early Jan or after Easter)? I wouldn't miss school in September personally.

You're right to mention this - missing that much phonics and early maths, for example, can put a child seriously behind their peers. And teaching these takes a lot of training for the teacher or TA - it's not so easy as for a parent to just do a bit of reading, etc with the child.

I would never do it from Year 6 onwards but we did take our child out for about 10 days in Easter when she was in Y5. This allowed us to have 3.5 weeks in Florida, which was the holiday of a lifetime. We travelled out before school broke up and returned after they restarted. It was in 2023 so DC had had a lot of home schooling during lockdown. They had worked so hard and even won awards at school.

We were honest with the school about what we were doing. They phoned me up and said they obviously couldn’t approve it and we would
get a letter saying it was an unauthorised absence. But they did also thank us for being honest and wished us a good time. I really appreciated the pragmatic approach. They were doing space in science at the time and DC got to go to the Kennedy Space Center. We didn’t actually get a fine, but if we had then the holiday would still have worked out about £900 cheaper overall than if we had a shorter holiday and travelled during the Easter break.

This is the only time I’ve ever done this and I certainly won’t repeat it, but we have absolutely no regrets and it made zero difference academically.

So I say go for it - but don’t make a habit out of it!

Are you sure it’s just a fine? Surely that’s enough absences (30 sessions) to take you to court?

I’m laughing here in Irish!… the UK is so ridiculously OTT about school attendance it’s laughable.

Your children are 4 and 5, their future prospects will not be affected because they missed a couple of weeks of school at this age.

Id be taking them out without question, and I’d be throwing any fine I got straight into the bin. Totally farcical to think a school can tell me what I can and cannot do with my child.

..Do it, just factor in the cost of the fine.

At that age, they will be ok, do a bit of reading with them whilst you are away.

I don’t think we should have formal targets for kids of that age, but then again I think SATS should be binned (and if I had my time again I would withdraw DD)

Because there will be ‘no harm done’. If you think 4 & 5 year olds benefit more by being sat in a classroom for years on end as opposed to grasping ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities with both hands then I pity any child you’re responsible for and I pity you.