I lied to school about children sickness and went on holiday

[kgabe]

So before anyone decides to go hard on me, I have never ever lied about kids sickness before. I don't know why I did it this time, I guess money is tight, we worked hard to be able to afford the holiday, but still could not afford the holiday in half term, so we decided to take kids out of school for 3 days. I reported my children to have sickness. And off we went.
But unsure why, probably based on their hunch, school called me the next day. I did not answer, just sent them a message instead. But they replied they got an international ringing tone....ooops... i did not even reply to that. When we got back I got a letter suggesting I lied, that kids were on holiday instead of home poorly, etc. I don't know what to do, I hate lying and I regret not telling the truth, but has it gone too far now to just admit I lied? I can also expect the fine for my children, well tough I suppose. But I feel like a criminal, like I did something unspeakable. But I only allowed for my family to have a wonderful time together, we has such a great time, it is really priceless. My kids are both doing great academically and their abscence was above 95%. What is everyone's take on it? Should I own up now? Or deny it still.... And are they allowed to question my children without my permission about it?
Thank you

THIS
Fuck em you do not have to get a fine.

I’m outraged that the school went snooping and called you!
i’d ignore the form. Don’t admit to it. It doesn’t matter what the kids say.

@kgabe Just fess up. If your children are good attenders and are doing well academically, tell the truth.

Lies always get found out as kids slip up..
Doesn’t set a good example to them either if we lie.

Totally agree with this, I'm in Ireland and we have none of this, a lot of people cant afford to take their kids away during peak times, taking them out for a few days away is not going to make any difference to them academically as long as their attendance is good otherwise, it's such a ridiculous rule

How would you feel in a different situation if someone lied to you and there were rules in place which they were trying to avoid?

You have 3 choices:

1. Apologise and come clean
2. Fill in the holiday form.. no apology
3. Carry on with your lie...

You will have 6 more years of your reception child at the school.. . Which option will make you feel best about future interactions..

The rules are not made by school but they are tasked with ensuring they are followed.. they are likely to have said... fine... but holiday will show as unauthorised.. if you had asked in advance.

By the way, my kids are in Reception and Y6.

Yeah that was a bit daft expecting a 4 or 5 year old to not reveal that he/she has been in Torremolinos for a week.

I am a teacher and think the school is over the top if they pursue this. Its a family,s own business. I wouldn't want to humililate a family by exposing them like this. They are not the Gestapo telling everyone how to live their lives. Parents are the first educators of their children after all. Just lay low for a few days and they will be busy chasing after someone else.
And yes kids always tell!!

How do you know I was in Torremolinos, if it was a guess, it was good one, otherwise...I'm concerned :)

I used to be a primary school teacher and honestly this happens A LOT. Usually the parents will call in with an excuse for their

Pressed send too soon!

Parents call in with an excuse when the children have already told us they are going on holiday. I always found it pretty funny and definitely wouldn't have chased down a parent unless they were a repeat offender and

@kgabe if your reception age dc is 4 then they can’t find you for them - the legal requirement is schooling from 5.

If be more worried about your year r cold ratting you out! 4 year old don't keep secrets lol.

I recently took my year 2 it for holidays 7 days of school missed, filled out form before we left day before holiday also teachers excited for him wishing us a good holiday. Honestly they are people it will be the lying that's going to make it all awkward.

I'm future just fill out the form and go.

I'm baffled by how parents think their kids can/will maintain the lie.

Teacher: How are you feeling today Bobby? Hopefully better?
Kid: Ummm yea miss, I was on a plane yesterday!

Tell the truth. They already know you lied, now you just have to do damage limitation to their opinions of you, assuming you want a good relationship with them for the next seven years.

They already know you're a liar, I would ignore the letter tbh.

We had so many kids coming back after half term excitedly chatting about their holidays. It's unfair to expect them to lie.

It’s a real thing, even if you haven’t heard of it!

Stick to your story and say they must be mistaken. How can they prove this? Honestly in those year groups they won’t miss out on anything urgent over 3 days. I’m a secondary school teacher and really don’t see the need for them to be taking this so seriously.

Fairly easy to guess. I’d have guessed Torremolinos too.

The problem is people go

go on holiday just pay the fine! Except they can now just take it straight to court now without giving a fine so it’s not always applicable

lets hope your school doesn’t do that!

You can be fined for taking your kids on holiday?! Wtf?? But school isn't even compulsory in the UK, I don't get it at all. I would ignore it and if they press tell them I already explained the absence. What are they going to do?

Outraged that the school knew she was lying? 😂😂😂

The children will find it hard to lie I think! Just be honest and put what you have here. It's the only way you can afford to go away. They had such a lot of time off with lockdown it's hard to say that 3 days will do lots of damage academically. We're both teachers so can't do this - however I would if I was able to.

I thought someone had challenged ‘holiday fines’ in the high court and won. Seem to remember that his child/children had excellent attendance otherwise and this was relevant to the case. Does anyone else remember this? Maybe there’s an update I don’t know about.

Are your school really strict with fines? I thought it was only after 5 days off and multiple other unauthorized absences that they'd contact the council about a fine

Sorry you're feeling this way OP. It might be helpful to be aware that schools are penalised by Ofsted for pupil attendance so you're also caught in the crossfire there. I took my son out of school a few weeks back for a day and confessed but felt so guilty I would NEVER do it again. In a way I think they have to make parents feel bad to put them off doing it again! Just remember your happy holiday memories, vow never to do it again and move on. Maybe fess up if they continue asking and explain honestly as you would do a friend.