To ask if school prefer authorised absence or don’t care?

[crocodilesnaps]

Going to be away for two days the last week of April. Dc is five so compulsory school age.

Would the school prefer me to say he’s unwell, so the absence is authorised? Thinking what looks best for them as I know OFSTED are due. I know we won’t be fined so it isn’t that. Just don’t want them to have unauthorised absence if it causes an issue.

They would prefer you to be honest. Your child is likely to tell the truth and the teacher will think less of you for lying. OFSTED do not judge them negatively because a parent has chosen to take a term time holiday.

Schools prefer you to be honest. If your kid is unwell, you tell them they're unwell. If your kid is not unwell, don't lie. The kid will drop you in it to their friends or teachers if you end up spending 2 days at Lego land or on holiday somewhere (e.g.).

Just tell the the truth.

Ages ago on such a thread we were told they prefer illnesses or something because it makes their figures look better ?

Absence is absence.

And actually in a way illness is worse as they have to report to LA if it a pupil meets a certain threshold.

So if you're lying about holidays and it's marked as "I" and your child has periods of actual illness, it could mean your child is referred to the LA. The threshold is 10 days Illness I believe.

We would prefer you to tell the truth. It isn't fair to ask a child to lie to their teachers.

Yes, your child will spill the beans anyway before and/or after the holiday.

Don't lie. Tell them the holiday overlaps.

Attendance lead here (secondary tho).

We prefer factually accurate registers, so tell them.

Absence is absence. It makes minimal real difference if authorised or unauthorised - that aspect of attendance is secondary to how many children are present. Plus, authorised isn't necessarily "better". The school leaders need to understand the context and narrative of their school. Knowing that X% of absences in summer term are holidays, being able to judge if that's lower/higher than last year, or similar schools, or other local schools, is very useful.

Just tell the truth. As you say, 2 days won’t be fined anyway.

Don’t lie to them. Your child will immediately tell on you the minute they go back to school.
And then you just look silly. It will be unauthorised and you will get a grumpy letter but if they’re attendance is good so far it’s not that big a deal.

It's a good question OP, I have always wondered the same - which is less headache for the school?

Interesting to see school staff on here saying they prefer the truth.

That’s what I’m wondering.

Tbh ds is unlikely to tell them anything (that makes sense anyway - over Christmas we went to centre parcs, he had his birthday party the weekend we broke up in a big clip and climb centre, met reindeer and Santa and also went to Manchester for a weekend to see Monster Trucks Live and to the science and industry museum. What was relayed to the teachers? He had a poo by a lake )

I don’t want to lie through inherent dishonesty, just I know attendance is an issue for schools so want to make life as easy as possible for them.

The children usually tell the truth anyway or turn up with a tan or a hair braid or something.

Of course school staff prefer the truth. Lying hampers their efforts to deal with absence effectively and nobody likes the feeling of having been lied to when the truth inevitably comes out.

On any given day, it makes no difference to the teacher why a particular child isn't there but knowing a parent lied to you damages the relationship slightly and puts the teacher's guard up slightly for future conversations.

Also teachers need to plan, and knowing a child will be absent can help. Unexpected illness happens, but I would be really annoyed if (as has happened before with giving a child a line in the class assembly) I planned something for a child on a particular day and the parent knew all along the child would be on holiday and wouldn't be there.

Tell the truth. Who bloody cares about their ofsted report!

True, it’s not like it’s stressful or anything

What's not stressful is getting the admin team to bang out a template holiday warning letter.

Takes seconds, and is no work. Sounds to me like you're looking for an excuse to lie.

Why, it makes no odds to me?

OP teachers are quite clever. If you ring in saying he's sick the first thing teacher /TA will say to him when he gets back is 'Ah, how are you X, are you feeling better now?'

Not because they are trying to catch you out in a lie, but because they want to check this previously sick child is now well enough to be in school - eg at this point some kids will say 'yes but I was sick a bit this morning before school....' useful info for a teacher as this child should not be in school if they vomited that morning.

Your child however will look confused. Because they werent sick. Or will say 'yes mummy says I should say I was poorly while we were on holiday!'

Children always say. Always 😂

Don't teach your children to lie. Lead by example.

I took mine out of school a few times when they were that age and I was always honest about the reasons. It doesn't matter what they will or won't say. They learn by example

They prefer the truth.

In terms of attendance statitstics its all measured together so the pressure on the school is the same either way.

This.

@MyFAFOera I know. I can’t work out whether people are completely misunderstanding the intentions or the question here. I don’t want to lie through any inherent dishonesty or attitudinal issue on my part. I would just prefer for what i know is likely to be a stressful event for them to be as smooth as possible and if I can help this by telling a white lie I will. As it is, the consensus is this isn’t the case at all.

Ds won’t tell them, though; I don’t think he has a clue what happens one day to the next.

I am aware teachers are quite clever but I’m not trying to steal the Crown Jewels here. I’m trying to be helpful!

Honestly, I would just tell the truth

We’ve taken our 2 kids out of primary school for a day or two just before Christmas/Easter holidays- I’ve always just informed the school we are going away/complete the absence form & receive response stating that it’s unauthorised leave

I personally wouldn’t tell a lie about my child being unwell or needing a medical/dental appointment- our primary request proof of the appoint eg NHS test or letter. We’d look rather stupid if we couldn’t provide this

Personally, I wouldn’t bother myself whether it looks bad for the school or whatever