Do you think they will agree to this?

[CarrieOakey]

Dh and I have decided we would like to look into the idea of moving to Australia for a couple of years (maybe longer). DH has a job which Australia desire and we can pretty much work wherever we want. We have friends and family over there so we have decided to plan a 3 week trip there this Xmas. In the meantime DH is organising some visits to some potential places of work. Obviously we are going to need to take the children out of school to be able to do this. Due to DH's work commitments he needs to be back in the UK by the Weds after Xmas.

We are proposing to leave the UK around the 4th Dec so I would like to ask the school for permission to take the children out of school for the 2 weeks before the end of term. Do you think they will agree? I have never taken them out in term time before and if it wasn't because we are planning a potential move out there I wouldn't do it.

I thought this too. We've had a chat with them and talked about the holiday and they seem very excited. I was quite clear, especially with DD that she would miss most of the Xmas festivities at school and she said she was fine about that, actually in true 8 year old style she said she didn't care!

I would go, even if the school dont authorise it.

Yes, the kids might miss out on some of the end of term fun but if it were a choice of being in Australia or making cotton wool snowmen, Australia is a lot more appealing!

Go for it! And enjoy!

What happens if they don't authorise it and we go? DO we get fined? Does it just look bad on the schools statistics or does it have a detrimental effect on the children's records which might be looked at when applying for secondary school places? (assuming we are still in this country).

I would be very suprised if the school would have a problem with this

I doubt very much would happen to you as a one off.

The educational welfare officer is far more interested in the repeat offenders and particularly those who take one or two days off each week.

two weeks at the end of term for such an important holiday would not be an issue for most schools I know.

If you explain to school that you are investigating emigrating, I'm sure they'll be supportive.

I would book the holiday and then go and talk to the school at the start of the term and explain what you wnat to do and why. Do not admit to booking the holiday though, until they have said yes (massages those egos...and I say this as a teacher ). If they say no, go anyway. It won't affect any application to any secondary school at all.

Usually, I would say this as it does annoy me when parents book holidays in term time (esp if they expect us to set extra work and didn't check the exam timetable first) but I do think this is an exceptional holiday situation and important for your life choices.

My sons school has a policy and one of the very few things they will authorise absence for is to look at possible immigration so I think it'll be fine but is upto the headteacher, the fine here is £50 per parent per 10 sessions ( so one week)

wouldn't

Hi Carrie! Didn't realise you have DCs- another dimension to the Aus thing!

Blimey, it gets trickier, doesn't it?

In answer to the OP, I doubt for a moment the school would have a problem with it, especially if your DCs are 'serial attenders' and aren't in the midst of 'important' exams.

Unless cesspit comes along to defend Australia .. here's another small caution: Despite all the 'Emigrate to the Sun' shows you'll see on telly, state Australian education imho isn't as good as you'd get here in the UK if you were prepared to move into reasonable catchments etc.

Of all the UK people I know who 'emigrated' to Oz for between 2 and 4 years and returned to the UK, 3 because 'it didn't work out' and one due to a contract ending, All 4 have had to get their DCs tutored to bring them back up to speed in a UK classroom. And the DCs were from 6 to 15 years old.

There is a 'she'll be right' attitude that pervades Australian life. It can be refreshing, but it can also mean there's no one challenging status quo's. A good friend of mine in Oz is sighing with relief because she has got her 12 year old DD (who will be 3 months short of her 13th birthday before she even goes to secondary!) a place on 'The Music Programme' at the local secondary which is like a complete, all subjects 'stream' thus, and I quote my friend 'Won't have to mix with the dross'. Unquote. The criteria for entry? Having 'played a musical instrument in primary.' No grade, no attainment. Just 'played'. The alternative 'Programme', and I kid you not, is 'Surfing Studies'.

Australia bristles with private schools (which are way more affordable than UK equivalents) BUT the vast majority are of some religious persuasion. Where we lived, we had a 'choice' of 6: One Catholic, one Anglican (i.e C of E, and usually the most expensive choice!), one Lutheran, one Methodist and Presbyterian, and two Christian Fundamentalist schools, 'fossils-are-the-work-of-the-Devil'.

Finally, even in some top city 'Grammars' (expensive and prestigious privates of varying academia), sport trumps academia every time.

You know, as I type this stuff, I have to say I'm increasingly glad that, despite the rubbish summers, we're here in the UK with the DSs now!

Thanks everyone esp Erebus on this and the other thread I managed to hijack. As I said over there I am hoping to visit and decide it's not for us, I think we just need to get it out of our system. Would make life easier! Having said that work is a slog for DH and he is not enjoying the NHS one bit so I think he would like to have a look at an alternative system.

We are catholic and the children go to a catholic school at the moment. It's not an absolute must for them to attend such a school but if it would benefit them then perhaps that is an option there too.

The alternative 'Programme', and I kid you not, is 'Surfing Studies'. - ROFL

Catholic schools are the cheapest private option in Oz. I'm not Catholic but had many friends who were (they form a far higher proportion of the population there than here, as do Christian fundamentalists!). Religion or rather, religious background can be a far bigger deal in Oz- even today, certain professions are still considered more Catholic or more Anglican than others, for instance. The Catholic schools can be very Catholic- my friend of the 'surfing studies' remark went to one of Brisbane's 'leading' convents which was as ££ as the other 'top' schools. She was looking at a local Catholic school for her DD, when she was 6, but was rather put off by the prospectus that stated, page one 'Our principle aim is to ground our children deeper in their Catholic Faith. Full participation in the Church is expected of the children and of their families'. My friend felt their drive was waaay more towards turning out good Catholics rather than well educated ones! The former may well appeal to you- I wouldn't presume to assume you'd not want that, but it pays to 'be aware'. You don't send your DC to a religious based school in Oz for a 'more disciplined and better education' there like you might here (you know, bend the knees, save the fees!- that attitude).