secondary open days -do I take my DD out of school to go?

[numptymark1]

considering private grammar (on a bursary, can't afford otherwise)

they have a number of open days but only one on a saturday and we can't attend

would it be appropriate to take DD out of school for the morning & will they be expecting children during the weekday ones or will it be set up for adults?

It will be fine to go with children, but also fine without.

If you take your child, you will get a good idea of how staff include the in your little chats.

I want to take her, it's much further away than the local comp so she has to want to do the exam and do the journey

Our primary encouraged us to take children to the Open Days, and most had a few mornings off to look round the secondaries during the day.

Part of a successful transition is the child wanting to go and being part of the decsion.

Definitely take your child. I'm a hardliner on absences - never take holidays in schooltime, kids have to be at death's door to take a sick day, etc. - but the odd morning/day out of primary in preparation for secondary is fine. Actually, more than fine - it's her future, and I think she should be involved.

I teach at a secondary (highly oversubscribed) and children almost always accompany parents on open days. These are always held during school time so parents/children can see the school in operation.

Yes, our primary expect most DCs to be missing for the local comps open day and some to be missing for more far flung comps and the grammar.

What about if there is an open evening, but you cannot make it? I'm having an operation under general anaesthetic on the day of our second closest comp's open evening, and have asked for a tour the week beforehand. Should I take DS1 out of school for it? It is his ONLY chance to see the school before we apply.

What happens if you have already had a letter saying that the Primary will not authorise ANY absence other than illness in September? DS1 wants to see the school.

Am in a quandary - if I ask the school, absence will not be authorised. If I don't take him, he will not want the school on his form (I KNOW my DS1!), and it is our second closest school, but we are in a weird position of being just as likely to be offered this school as the closest one due to some very odd catchments that overlap basically only on my house!!

Do I ask him not to say anything, and to pull a sickie?

Ask them couthy. If they say no they won't authorise it then take him anyway. They can't fine you for a single unauthorised absence unless you're a serial truant.

CouthyMow, I'd take him. Not sure which way to go about it, but choosing a secondary that's right for your child is too important for him to miss.

Take him. If the school don't authorise the absence, take it as unauthorised.

This kind of thing really bloody irritates me - it's not as if you want to take him to Majorca for a week!

But don't tell him to lie, because actually nothing bad will happen to him if he tells the truth.

take your child into school for registeration then take them out go to the open morning and you will be back for afternoon registeration and this won't go down as absence. You don't need the whole day so i wouldn't worry too much

Dylis - He could lose his chance to become a prefect if he has an unauthorised absence on his record. THAT'S what I am worried about.

The tour is first thing only. So he will HAVE to miss morning registration. Plus it's by public transport, so not as quick as just jumping in a car. Though both Secondaries are roughly equidistant from my house, his primary is MUCH closer to the other Secondary, and much further away from the one I have had to arrange the tour for.

Couthy, I can't believe that any primary school would see viewing a school for secondary transfer as an unauthorised absence. Certainly no school in our or neighbouring LA's.

We visited sans enfants in Y5, then took them to all prospective schools in Y6 so they could see them and tell us which they preferred and why.

Our area has all the scheduled open evening for after school hours, so as not to mess with the primary school's attendance figures.

It's the fact that my op is scheduled for the same day as the open evening that is causing the issue.

As none of the other pupils will have any need to be absent during school hours to visit the Secondaries, AND the newsletter from the HT stated that NO absence other than for illness will be authorised in September (or May, June or July), I am concerned.

Especially as the parents of Y6 have been told that no pupil with an unauthorised absence in Y6 will become a prefect at ANY point in Y6 (ALL pupils that have no unauthorised absence will get to be a prefect by the end of the year due to a 1-FE year group rather than 2-FE), I am concerned that if I take him out unauthorised to see the school, he will lose his chance of becoming a prefect (which he desperately wants), but if I don't, then he will not want the school to go on his application form.

That's rough Couthy and I would be complaining to the head!

Oh I see couthy. What a pisser . I'd have a personal chat with the head and throw yourself on their mercy in that case. You having an operation on the only open evening should count as "extraordinary circs".

However, does he not have a friend going to the open evening who he can tag along with? That way he could see the school then without any absences, and you can see it on your own.

The clampdown on attendance is to discourage holidays in term-time and also to encourage malingering children, and children of clingy parents, to return to school.

Your child's future schooling does not fall into any of these categories.

Schools generally don't want to have unauthorised absences on their books, so if they feel that you are sincere with your school visits, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

That's crap for you/your DS and all the other Y6's. IME, the best time to visit a secondary school is during the normal school day so you can get the vibe - happens in many schools round here.

Plus, I can't see how missing a couple of sessions for a secondary school viewing could be construed as unauthorised absence - it's vitally important to the child's future education

My dd had a whole day off to attend a specialist senior school taster day last term. As they participated in a full day if lessons it was educated off site.

She also just had a few days off last week to be in a theatre show.

I wouldn't hesitate to take her out. Choice of senior school is vitally important b

Your DS school sounds so awful, Couthy (touching on other threads).

Our school doesn't require parents to apply for permission for this - merely to write a note to the teacher the day before to say they will be in late due to secondary open day.