What are the exceptional circumstances in which absence will be authorised?

[Suddengeekgirl]

Have just been told that ds' aunt's wedding will not be an authorised absence. We may/ may not be fined.

What are the circumstances where absence is authorised?

School receptionist said only court dates and family death! Is that it?

To be honest, what is annoying about this whole thing is it is those who abused the system before who have ruined for those who behave properly. I consider education to be very important and, as such, I would oply take my child out of school for something I regarded as important or life-enhancing and I regard family events as important (but then we have a small extended family who are in a different country and contact with them is irregular so such events take on a greater focus for us than maybe they do for others). It annoys me that people who didn't give a shit about taking their children out of school whenever and for however long they felt like have forced these sorts of restrictions on what i am sure are many many people who would not have abused the rules before.

But this country always reacts like this - everyone gets punished for the sins of some. Where children's attendance is otherwise good and they are not falling behind and the parents will take it upon themselves to ensure the children catch up, occasional absences should be permitted and HTs should have more discretion that way, not less.

Come and live in Wales. No fines and DD's school is still authorising absences for up to 10 days. Good old welsh assembly.

Tiggy ACE no longer runs it's helpline, it closed maybe one or even two years ago probably better to advise people to contact IPSEA www.IPSEA.org or SOSSEN www.SOSSEN.org

My dc got 3 days for their Uncle's wedding. 1 day to travel to Wales from Glasgow, 1day at the wedding, 1 day to travel home (was a Thursday wedding).

I wrote to school and didn't ask, just told them. My dd1 had a role in the ceremony (reading a poem) which I mentioned.

I'm not sure if the same rules apply about fining in Scotland, I've certainly never heard of it. Is it a Gove-ism? We're thankfully free of that up here as education is a devolved department!

If you want a half day off to take your child to visit a school, take them into school in the morning to get their register mark, and pick them up straight after for an appointment. That's what we do.

I think what has happened is that ACE (the Advisory Centre for Education) which was by and large a voluntary run organisation has been taken over by ACE education advice and training which is a consultancy business and as such parents will have to pay for their services. I'd still recommend that parents contact IPSEA or SOSSEN and get essentially the same advice (SOSSEN works with one of the top education law solicitors at Maxwell Gillott) for free.

Come and live in Wales. No fines

The only difference is that the regulations in Wales currently allow schools to authorise up to 10 days for holidays. Unauthorised absence is still subject to the same fines and other sanctions as in England.

I'm not sure if the same rules apply about fining in Scotland

The rules in Scotland are that time off during term time should only be authorised in exceptional circumstances. Scotland don't use fixed penalties. They use attendance orders, ASBOs, parenting orders and acceptable behaviour contracts.

There should be a bit of common sense. I've just requested one day off for my daughter (year 3) to travel 200miles to go and visit with Grandparents who live in another Country and are are over here visiting other family members in London. They have lots of things planned from the Friday night and all weekend to do with the children so yes we want to leave early on the Friday to be there in time. This was refused. I could have just phoned up on the morning and feigned illness but don't want my daughter to have to lie! Mind you, when I had my second daughter and went into hospital just before the school run and so left my then 4 year old at home with my mum, running round doing all sorts and she rang the school and explained, this was also recorded as unauthorised!
We have never taken holidays in term time and I do feel like everyone is being punished. It isn't stopping the parents taking their children on holiday in the middle of term either, they're still going and paying the fines so I don't even think this system is working!

Of course it was unauthorised, snowman. Why couldn't your mum have taken her to school?

She wasn't compulsory school age snowman - just what were the school/LA going to do?

I thought (and I may well be wrong) that although compulsory school age is the term after they turn 5, if you decide to send them before that the regulations still apply like they do to all children?

Of course they do, hels. Once you register your child for school you're subject to the same rules as everyone else. Why do some people imagine they can take a school place and then cherry pick when they want to use it because their child doesn't have to be there yet?

Astounding...

A friend of mine has been granted a week off as her dh can't take time off work during school holidays.

I'm being pulled in for a meeting because DS1's school are deeming him to have had too many days off sick. I got a written warning when he had flu, and was off for a week and a half - despite the fact that THEY were the ones who originally sent him home. This was in December.

DD had it for the entire Christmas holidays, the school didn't care that it was obviously flu if his sister had it just a week later, because he missed school, she didn't.

And he had a particularly bad stomach bug, that lasted almost a week in all of us, this January. I rang the GP to make an appointment on his third day off, but the GP wouldn't see me as DS1 was keeping diyoralyte down, just not food. I now have to go to a meeting with the EWO on the 25th.

What am I meant to do, send in a child that is puking their guts up?

If DS1's school won't even accept GENUINE ILLNESS as a reason to keep him off school, I'm quite sure that they don't count ANYTHING as exceptional.

They refused permission for one DC to attend HIS OWN MUM'S FUNERAL because his attendance had been low during her cancer treatment - that was being treated 60 miles away. She was a Lone Parent, and on her death, he had ended up in FC as there was no family to take him on. Luckily even the FC ignored the fact that it would be an unauthorised absence...on the advice of...the LA!

Shebird - it's NOT being penalised for being a couple - the per parent per child aspect of the fine is eve plied in the case where parents are separated or divorced.

It is genuinely per parent per child.

So if my Ex decided to take my DC's out of school on a Friday before his access weekend to go on holiday, I would get fined as well as him, even if I was unaware that he had done so, and did not give my permission for that to happen.

In situations where both estranged parents have PR, this is even MORE unfair than if a couple decide together to ignore the fact that they will get fined for an unauthorised absence, because neither parent can stop the other from removing the child/rent from school if it is a Court Ordered Contact day for the other parent, yet both get fined.

If the NRP doesn't tell the RP that they are going to do this, then the RP can't write a letter to prevent themselves from getting the fine applied, and the RP will have to pay the fine too.

If the RP doesn't tell the NRP that they are going to do this, then the NRP can't write a letter to prevent themselves from getting the fine applied, and the NRP will have to pay the fine too.

I would say that that is significantly less fair than the situation where a couple decide together to take the DC's out of school, BOTH having the knowledge that this us going to happen, it will be unauthorised, and that they will both have to pay a fine.

In the case if separated parents, the first that the parent who HASN'T made the decision to have an unauthorised absence might hear about it is when the fine letter drops on their doormat, especially at Secondary, where there is less communication between school and parent...

School holidays are different in different Countries - even WITHIN the UK. We have almighty trouble organising DD's summer visit to her Dad because of the 3-week difference in summer holidays between England and Scotland.

I would assume that even if someone in another EU Country organised their wedding to fit in with THEIR school holidays, it possibly wouldn't fit in with ENGLAND'S school holidays...

And yes, I agree with oliviaoctopus. LOTS of jobs refuse time being booked as holiday in ANY school holiday. Which means that the parent can ONLY get term time off as holiday. Which now means that their DC's can NEVER have a family holiday, from the age of 4yo to 16yo, possibly 18...

So, what can they do if you refuse to go to the meeting? I'd be inclined not to go.

And I agree with ffossedip too. My friend was TOTALLY unaware that the half-day timetable the school had out her 5yo on, for a year and a half, was an illegal exclusion. The school was notorious for doing this, whilst at the same time authorising absence for skiing, whilst refusing a single DAY for DC's to fly up to see their parent in Scotland despite 100% attendance if their parents just COULD NOT afford plane fares at the weekend or in school holidays.

Which meant that that child had NO relationship with their absent parent until Secondary school...

I did that last time, that's why I got the written warning. If I don't attend this one, despite it being at an inconvenient time that will require me paying for a taxi there AND a taxi back in order to pick up DS3 from preschool (no family help that day), I WILL get fined. Which I can ill afford.

I think it's ridiculous - they have told me to get a GP note for all absence, but my GP is refusing to provide ANY written notes (I can't get one to get my extra time in MY exams even though I'm physically disabled) even if you offer to PAY, because hey are classed as 'Private work' and they aren't obliged to DO any private work.

I'm caught in the crossfire between a stupid school policy and a GP who is fed up with having to write a cover note for every child in his practice aged between 4 and 18 for simple things like D&V etc.

So no way of getting a medical note, and no way to show the school that he was ACTUALLY ill, next time I'm going to present them with a bucket full of his vomit...

Couthy if the school are requesting sick notes it shows that they don't appear to believe that the sickness is genuine. Do you have proof of the appointment as this should be adequate - a doctors note is not necessary.

Government absence guidance states:
Code I: Illness (not medical or dental appointments)

Schools should advise parents to notify them on the first day the child is unable to attend due to illness. Schools should authorise absences due to illness unless they have genuine cause for concern about the legitimacy of an illness. If the authenticity of illness is in doubt, schools can request parents to provide medical evidence to support illness.
Schools can record the absence as unauthorised if not satisfied of the authenticity of the illness but should advise parents of their intention. Schools are advised not to request medical evidence unnecessarily. Medical evidence can take the form of prescriptions, appointment cards, etc. rather than doctors’ notes.