Absence from School for Holidays

[toddlermum]

Basically we are probably going to take DD out of school so that we can have a family holiday - not prepared to pay ridiculous prices and it will be too hot in the summer to go to the place we want to go.

I don't want to get in to whether or not I should do this (that can be another thread) but I wanted to know how much authorised absence children are allowed. I thought it was 10 days but I have heard recently that it is up to 15. Does anybody know?

TIA

I think it is 10 days, Toddlermum.

it is up to the school I believe, but I heard it was 10 days too

Thanks Tiggiwinkle.. If I take her out for 11 days is that truancy? What would be the consequences (if any?)

You will need to contact the school and ask. they will usualy approve unless there are problems, eg lots of unexplained days out of school, exams coming up etc.

Could you go for 2 weeks around May halfterm? Middle of week before to middle of week after? I know Eurocamp let you start and finish any day you like (doesn't have to be weekend) and they are still quite cheap in May; we did that when our 2 eldest were in primary school, in fact we managed about 2½ weeks with them missing less than 10 days.

(I realise that won't help if it's not something like Eurocamp!)

Looking at Mark Warner so tied to dates of departure - unfortunately cannot go May Bank holiday due to other commitments. Is there anybody out there who regularly takes their kids out of scool for more than 10 days?

You're allowed 10 and after that it is unauthorised absence. Depends on the school though - ours is very accommodating as a very large proportion of the children have extended families on the other side of the world. The head (we're talking primary here) takes the attitude that travelling to different places gives the children great opportunities and allows them to learn loads they wouldn't otherwise.

We've got 3.5 weeks booked out for the end of the year to add on to the Christmas holidays and that is fine with the school.

School time holidays are always unauthorised in our Borough. The school is not allowed to give 'permission' so it is recorded as unauthorised. I f it is longer than 4 weeks the child is removed from the school role. But in some oversubsrcibed schools they are removed is they have more than 10 days holidays during term time.

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I think it does depend on the school. My son is in Nursery and any days off during school time are frowned upon. Although have heard they will allow up to 10 in nursery and reception. This is a bit of a nightmare for us as dh is Australian and the weather isn't good in August and too expensive at Christmas so trips there will be difficult.

I have heard of other schools who are lenient a lot depends on the head.

Blmey - sounds like I'll have to have a word with the head first.

Thanks for all of you advice.
x

I am in dispute with my children's school at the moment. The law says the headteacher can give permission for upto ten days-see directgov for more details of what the cicumstances they should consider (more than 10 days in exceptional circumstances). They cannot have a blanket ban as this means discretion isn't used and you can demand their reasons if they refuse and haven't considered such factors as reason for holiday and attendance record. My school is trying a blanket ban hoping parents will be intimidated into not taking holidays, I am in agreement that many holidays should not be authorised but they must follow the law. They are now taking it back to the Governing body and LEA but I will not give up until they not only follow the law but also the spirit of the law. Sadly economic reasons are not a valid reason. Ask the school for their policy and the relevant law (they should provide it) or goto the DCSF website.
If you feel you have a valid reason don't let them fob you off, make them justify their decision and make them stick to the law and not policies designed to drive down absence figures without considering the implications for, in my case, children who see their father only one day a week as he works away and often abroad and can only take holidays at set times. This by the way is specifically a "special circumstance" which must be considered. By the way they didn't think it would be helpful to tell parents what circumstances would/would not be considered IF they alter the policy!

cmanni

There seems to be a common misperception that we are "allowed" up to 10 days, with the inference being that that is an entitlemnent. Whereas, of course, as cmanni says, the HT may grant up to 10 days, in exceptional circumstances at her discretion.
Which is a whole different ballgame.

this is from direct.gov

Holidays during term time

You should not normally take your child on holiday in term time as it can be disruptive both to your child's education and to the school.

Holidays in term time can only be agreed by the headteacher or someone with appropriate authority. Schools can use their discretion to grant up to 10 days? authorised absence in a school year if:

• the parent the child normally lives with applies to the school in advance of the holiday

and

• there are special reasons for the holiday

Schools can only agree to more than 10 school days? absence in any school year in exceptional circumstances.

Schools must judge each holiday request on a case by case basis. They can take into consideration:

• the time of year for the proposed trip
• if it's near any exam dates
• your child's overall attendance pattern
• any holidays already taken in the school year
• the age and stage of education of your child
• your wishes
• the ability of your child to catch up the work that they have missed
• the reason why you are taking the time off during term time

Schools should not take into consideration:

• availability of cheap holidays
• availability of desired accommodation
• poor weather experienced in school holiday periods
• overlap with the beginning or end of term

clam

The excptional circumstances does not come into law until after 10 days. The schools and LEAs are often misquoting this to give a different view on their policy regarding term time holidays. This is at best misleading and at worst illegal. I have asked my LEA for an explanation on why they have advised headteachers to only authorise holidays in exceptional circumstances when in law this applies to over 10 days requests. Guess what, they are refusing to comment. Typical LEA advice.

Thanks BetsyBoop, I didn't know how to put this in. I think this is good advice based on the law as I have read it and not on individual headteachers personal views. I hope people read it and have the confidence to challenge if it is warranted.

But even the 10 days is at the headteacher's discretion - they don't have to authorise any.

They can authorise up to 10 days even if there are no exceptional circumstances; they can not authorise more than 10 unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Which means that they are entitled to impose their own rules as to why they authorise up to ten days.

Yes as long as they show they have considered your request and they must by law consider attendance and reason for holiday. For children with high attendance and attainment and a valid reason (see above) for the holiday how can they refuse? This would be a de facto ban (based on personal views) which the DCSF says is not allowed. I wish all schools would publish the law to parents so they could see what is law and what is just individual school's point of view.

The law says they must consider those factors, but there are lots of situations where official bodies take factors 'into consideration' - for example parents' reasons for choosing a particular school. The word doesn't mean a lot in practice...

yes this is why I asked the DCSF if consideration meant paying lipservice etc and they said no the school is expected to give you reasons (in writing if you want) why the request is refused if they choose to do so and then you can cite the law and ask for specific reasons. I wonder if anyone knows if people have been fined etc for 10 days or less (if the reasons for holiday follow the directgov advice)? From what i can find on the net the answer is no as the parents just query headteachers reasoning. I would love to know if this is not the case.

I'd be interested to know that too cmanni - and if not, and as long as the holiday doesn't take the child below the 85% attendance line, which is when the EWO gets involved, then it won't really make much difference to you - all you get is 'unauthorised' on the report - it's the school that gets it in the neck if their unauthorised levels are higher than OFSTED thinks they should be.

The head at the junior school I work at is very tough on term time holidays, but she does grant leave for special reasons & I'm sure that would include circumstances like yours.

Anyone who wants to take their children out during term time has to come & see the head personally to give their reasons, not just fill in a form as the old head allowed, and since the new policy came in, absence for non-medical reasons has halved.

Our schools have now stopped authorising holidays except in truly exceptional circumstances (e.g. last chance to holiday with terminally ill parent). But unless you get below the 85% attendance line, as Rusty says, all that would happen in practice is that you get unauthorised absences written in the school report.

The thing that annoys me about this is that my dd's school arranges trips that aren't compulsory during term time e.g. skiing, trip to Brecon Beacons, Disneyland!!, and it is ok for the children to go on these trips and miss lessons but then make you feel bad if you take your children out. Double standards!

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