Taking children on holiday during term advice please?

[Julesnobrain]

we are taking out two dc to florida for 2 weeks next Easter. We have paid the inflated premium to take them during the school holidays. However as all the virgin flights are full we are having to return 2 days into the new term.

Our school is quite strict that they do not allow you to take dc out of school for holidays but we have had no choice other than not proceed with the holiday.

My question is should I come clean and risk a flaming from the head teacher but explain genuinely this is not a financial decision but an availability one or concoct on the 2 days a fib eg flight delayed by 24 hours etc. Not happy lying but don't want to get a fine for unauthorised absence when we have done everything we could bar pay to go first class which we could not afford to stick to the holiday dates.

I doubt you'll get a fine for missing two days. The children' s absence will just be marked as 'unauthorised' which will go on their end-of-year report.
If you lie, the odds are that the children (or their friends) will let the cat out of the bag anyway.
You've booked without checking with the school first, so best just write in and confess.

Are there any ramifications for getting unauthorised absence marked for 2 days?

Are there any ramifications for getting unauthorised absence marked for 2 days? - No.

If you have 10 days unauthorised absence in a row school can de-register you - if they want to. (They don't have to).

Schools don't normally fine parents. They can, and some do. But it's normally 'with good reason' - ie families that have a continual pattern of taking term time holidays.

No problem, as long as they don't have loads more unauthorised absence, I think. We did the same as you last year when we went to Thailand for Easter and missed the first day back at school because of flight availablity. I asked for permission which was granted (school are normally strict about it) but then got stuck in the volcanic ash cloud so we were an extra 48 hours late. I informed school by email and had no problem.

I wouldn't say anything, either to the dcs or the school. Email them during Easter and say your flights have been delayed by two days.

'If you have 10 days unauthorised absence in a row school can de-register you - if they want to. (They don't have to).'

That is wrong.They have to absent for a minimum of 28 days WITHOUT EXPLANATION
That is the law .School cannot change that

If the ten days immediately follow an authorised holiday, then a child can be deregistered. So if someone were to take their children on a 2 week holiday and failed to return with no explanation, then they could be deregistered after another two weeks.

Are you sure, Feenie? because you would have an explanation for the first 2 weeks?

Hocuspontas has it right.

Regulation 8(1) says that you can remove a name when:

the pupil is granted leave of absence for a holiday of more than 10 school days, then fails to attend within the 10 school days after the expiry of the authorised leave, and the proprietor does not have grounds to believe that s/he is unable to attend owing to sickness or any unavoidable cause, and both the proprietor and the LA have failed, after reasonable enquiry, to ascertain where the pupil is

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006

Deletions from Admission Register
9.?(1) The following are prescribed as the grounds on which the name of a pupil of compulsory school age shall be deleted from the admission register?

in the case of a pupil granted leave of absence exceeding ten school days for the purpose of a holiday in accordance with regulation 7(3), that ?.
(i)the pupil has failed to attend the school within the ten school days immediately following the expiry of the period for which such leave was granted;.
(ii)the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend the school by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause; and.
(iii)both the proprietor and the local education authority have failed, after reasonable enquiry, to ascertain where the pupil is;.

I stand corrected

Please don't try and claim the flight is delayed - the school won't believe you. I have had so many children return late from a holiday because of 'flight delays' or 'family illness' (I can almost guarantee that I will have at least 2 missing next week for these reasons) that I immediately assume they had no intention of returning for the start of term. Plus children are dreadful at lying to their teachers. Just tell them you won't be back in time, you will have 2 days unauthorised absence, a mildy annoyed head (for about 2 mins) and no consequences.

What a weird response hocke! are you claiming flights never get delayed or people ill?
We had to stay on holiday an extra week because my DD was sick on the day we were due to fly back and we had to wait another week for available seats.Another time our booking was fu**ed up and we had to fly from a different airport meaning we missed the last 2 days of term.wee could hardly lie because DDs teacher at the time lived next door.
Even if everyone knows it is a lie though,the school can authorise it so they're happy

Of course they do, it's just the frequency with which these events happen is massively suspicious! All I'm saying is that the school may not believe her when she calls if they have this happen regularly, it's better to just be honest rather than have the school making their own assumptions.

I agree with the honesty approach. Just don't take the time off and then expect the teacher to set/provide catch up work - a holiday is a choice that you have made not a necessity. it wouldn't be fair to overburden the teachers ( who have to take their holidays in the expensive periods) with double preparation.

I agree with hockey - a family I know were asked by school to provide evidence from the airline of the delay, luckily they could as every passenger on said flight was provided with a letter for insurance purposes, to prove the length of delay and reasons for it.

The family in question had seriously pissed the head off by feigning 'family emergency' for a last minute, term-time trip to Australia for two weeks, which ended up contributing to a clampdown on tt hols for everyone else.

Can you lie to your kids? Just tell them you are meant to be coming back in time for school, then when you're there say the flights are delayed. Then tell the school same thing and no one lets the cat out of the bag.