Can my ds school abroad for half a term?

[goingabroad]

Hello everyone, I'm after a bit of advise.

I was wondering if it's possible and how to go about taking my ds out of school for half a term.

We're going to africa where we're originally from for 3 months in June and I've applied to a school there willing to take him for the 2nd half of 3rd term. We'll be back at the end of August and He's starting a new school September. It's not a holiday, it's because of issues in the family.

Would it matter to the head teacher since he's leaving the school anyway, or do I need to speak to the LEA. I don't know what the law is about things like this. I can prove that he'll still be in school for that time.

Thanks.

Something along the lines of:
Dear (headteacher's name)
From (date of last day) we are returning to Africa and I will take responsibilty for ( childs' name) education myself from that date. Please remove his name from the school register. Thank you for the wonderful education you have provided up to this time... blah blah.
On our return he will be attending ( name of school).

It's the headteacher's responsibilty to inform the LEA.

Oh thanks a lot for that. I thought it'd be something quite complicated. I'll do just that. Thanks.

What if he leaves for the 1st half of the term and comes back for the 2nd half? How do we go about that?

Unfortunately that's completely different as you are in effect asking the school to hold a place for you whilst your son is absent. In this case you would need to apply to the school for time off and they may well refuse ( especially if they have a waiting list of children wanting a place. ) You could find out your local authority stance on extended absences, some are more accepting than others, but the school would not be happy as your absence will severely affect their attendance figures!

"What if he leaves for the 1st half of the term and comes back for the 2nd half? How do we go about that?"

You mentioned that he is going to be starting at a different school after this year. If you can't get him back into his original school, it might be simpler just to home educate for that last half term before he moves on to the other school. Actually it might be simpler regardless!

Home education is really straightforward. You don't have to cover any particular subjects but can focus on whatever you think your son needs extra help with, or go on visits to museums and other places of interest, or let him spend this half term pursuing some interest he doesn't usually get to do at school (robotics, art, etc).

This site has a good overview: education-otherwise.net