just not sending child to school for 3 days

[sunshinecity17]

I have 3 dc at secondary school and 1 at primary.The 3 older ones break up on a Friday and we go on holiday the next day.The littl'un apparently does not finish til the following wednesday.Rather than requesting authorisation what will happen if she just doesn't turn up for those 3 days?

I would just phone up and say she's sick with D&V.

A bit naughty but who could say otherwise?

who could say otherwise?

Your child. Please don't encourage him or her to lie to their teacher.

Child wouldn't know or have the opportunity to lie. They would have forgotten all about it by September!

They may well mention that they're going on holiday on Saturday at school the previous week though, don't do it unless you're prepared to get found out.

What do you mean "apparently" does not finish .. Were you not given term dates at the start of the year?

If its the 6 week holiday then I would double check there are no teacher training days

All the local schools officially break up on Wednesday but every single one is actually finishing the Friday before

Don't ring up and lie.
Why not just ring up on the monday morning, and say she won't be in for the three days.

Could easily be due to training days - that affects the actual start dates of school holidays round here.

I wrote in last year to say my dd wouldn't be in for the three days as they broke up on a Wed. The difference in price for our two week caravan holiday was over £1000. Just for three days.

Yes a fine might be issued. Probably unlikely.
Either call in sick or tell them she won't be in because you make a mistake relying on the secondary school term date sheet.

Is this half term or summer holidays?

Be honest.

Your child will be marked as 'unauthorised absence' pretty much whatever happens, and there will be no penalty as long as attendance is otherwise good (so far, it seems to be absences of 5 days plus that attract fines).

So write to the school, requesting authorisation. It will be refused. Reply saying that you understand completely , but you will be taking the holiday anyway. Your child will be marked as unatorised absence, and the school will appreciate your honesty and communication.

I would just not send them in, don't lie about it.

And schools really need to get their act together about starting and finishing on the same day within regions. Come to think of it, they need to not do this bollocks with finishing on a random midweek day. When I was at school in Holland, school always finished on a Friday and started on a Monday. Getting this done really should not be rocket science.

I would phone in sick. I wouldn't hesitate, rightly or wrongly.

Have decided to not apply for absence and not phone in, so that I don't have to lie she will just not turn up.
If in the unlikely event they ask me why she was absent come september I'll just say i can't remember that far back.
They are a very laid back school, I don't suppose it will be a bother.

However, they HAVE to mark and code the register - and it WILL be coded as unauthorised absence, exactly as they would if you asked and it was refused. So why not just let them know?

(And it won't waste the time of the office staff / teacher, who will have to spend time each morning calling all your numbers to find out where your child is..... A child 'absent for no known reason' generates a whole series of events that take up significant amounts of time, because schools have to ensure that e.g. a child has not left the premises unaccompanied, or walked to schiool but had an accident on the way etc)

(On occasions, when there has been no known reason for a child's absence, and nobody can be reached by phone, I have known headteachers go to the homne of the child personally to check on their wellbeing - being told by a neighbour 'oh, they went off on holiday this morning' did NOT make said head happy at all!)

I agree with teacher: it's inconsiderate not to let them know. They may be worried about your dd.

If you don't want to ring and have to give a reason, then drop a note in or leave a message on their answerphone after hours, just saying that she won't be in.

I really don't understand why you do not just tell the school. Clearly by sending no information your child will be recorded Unauthorised Absence regardless, so why not just tell them? It's very rude of you to not bother and, as others have said, leads to admin staff having to waste time trying to contact you to clarify the reason for absence.

Nobody in the school is going to believe you (or any normally functional adult) 'can't remember' why your child was absent, so you will just make yourself look like a liar to them by saying this. Everyone will be able to put two and two together and know you went on holiday earlier, so why the hell not just be up-front from the beginning and face the possible consequences for failing to ensure your child attends school when required.

Why didn't you check when your child finished school before you booked your holidays? That isn't rocket science either!

She'll be missing out on a lot of the end of year fun, the chance to thank and say goodbye to her teacher (and any friends who may be leaving), the chance to collect all her exercise books/work for the year, any special prize giving assemblies and certificates etc.

I'm really baffled as to why so many parents appear on MN expressing irritation at schools not fitting in with their personal holiday plans better. School term dates are published well in advance. Whilst the government imposed system is inflexible and at times downright insane, in cases where parents simply choose not to send their child to school because it doesn't suit their arrangements, I have little sympathy.

The thing is, I can't understand what you are trying to achieve by not telling the school.

Do you think that if your child isn't in school, but they don't know the reason, you will be given 'the benefit of the doubt' and your child marked a authorised absence? Er, no. The only possibility you have of that is if you ask, upfront. It is unlikely to be approved, but it might be.

Are you trying to avoid embarressment, or poossibly pointed questions, about taking unauthorised absence? Saracen's idea of a phone call or note dropped in just before you leave is a good one to avoid that.

In almost any course you take, the result is the same (an unauthorised absence noted in the register). However, the 'mood music' around that absence in the school could vary from really quite irritated (office staff spending 15 minutes each morning amking multiple phone calls, possibly escalating it if they are in any way worried about you) to entirely resigned, even happy (you request authorisation, with an apology around the mix up of dates, they know that e.g. the last few days are 'off timetable', and although they cannot authorise may be neutral about your absence). Unless it is your youngest's final term in the school - and even then, it would be common politeness to inform them - I'd just tell them. The Friday evening before, if you must, but still inform them so that no time is wasted chasing you up.

I agree, if the school is unable to contact you they may well, as we have done, inform the police and ask them to call round to check that there is nothing amiss. A quick phone call or note would be less embarassing than that!

You'll be popular when they police are called out to check you're all ok then .

Just call them in the morning before you go.

Our school would phone the authorities if I didn't inform them on every morning if DD was off school. It's a safe guarding issue.
Can you imagine the outcry if something awful happened to a child and the school ignored its absence for 3 days?

I agree with BuzzardBird - schools have a duty of care and will be looking for her. Many primary children make their own way to school. So if they don't arrive, the school will try to contact you in case the child did set off for school but never arrived. They can't just give up on contacting you if you don't answer your phone as they haven't verified that your DD is ok. They may well involve the police. How do you feel about wasting the time of people in school and the police?

I would def phone. Not just just leave the school to waste time. Also, I think I would find it hard to avoid their phone calls. They would phone my mobile and then my husbands.

"Dear Headteacher

I'm really sorry, but I've made an error with our holiday booking due to a mis-match with the end of term dates with X school/s which my older children attend and your school. I realise that you are unable to authorise this however my DD will not be in school on X, X & X dates as we have already booked and arrangements made. Many apologies for this.

Wishing you and your staff a happy and well-earned summer break.

Yours etc..."

Job done - school informed in a friendly but assertive way, mis-match flagged up, told, rather than asked permission.