Wedding during term time

[Katie785]

My brother is planning to get married abroad. He is currently looking to get married midweek during what will be my DC’s term time in 2021. Nothing is booked. My DC will be reception, year 2 and year 6. He’s looking at the last week of May.
I would need to pull my DC out of school for 3 days. Can anyone advise if this would be unlikely to get permission?

Thank you yes I will be double checking.

The school said it is too far in advance for them to know the dates of key stage 1 SATS

Year 2 SATs can be done anytime during May. My dc school generally do them the week after year 6.
Also the May bank holiday is moving next year for VE Day.

As it is only 3 days you will not be fined. Penalty notices can be issued for 5 days unauthorised absence and over. Then it would £60 per parent, per child for the period of absence. Not per day.
Enjoy the wedding.

Fwiw I don't think you should bend over backwards to take the whole family if he's so selfish as to have an overseas wedding during term time.

If your PILs could look after the children (including school runs), ask them to do it so you and DH/DP can go to the wedding. If that's not possible, DH/DP will have to stay at home with the kids while you go alone.

It won't be authorised but you may or may not be fined. It does depend on your council and how they feel about it.

Where I am I took my children out for 5 days for a holiday in 2014. I was sent a leaflet by the council about missing school and they said you could have 4 1/2 days without a fine, 5 days or 10 sessions you get fined.

I just paid it. The unauthorised is just shit for your school's statistics, nothing to do with your child. Where I volunteer the KS1 SATs are the week before the KS2 SATs.

You may get fined, but it's school holidays in late May. Speak to the school, we got away with it

My kids school marked it as education elsewhere because they were learning a foreign language!

It’s interesting, obviously different LAs/schools interpret the fines differently. £60 seems to be a steady figure, but there’s debate about whether it’s per session (half day), per day or the whole absence, and about whether you can get away with one parent being fined or both. The attendance officer at my old school told me it was per session, per child, per parent. In this case that would be £60 X 6 sessions missed X 3 children X 2 parents = £2160!!!!! But I’ve never heard of any other schools doing it that way.

Personally I think it’s unlikely you’ll be fined, as it’s only 3 days. Tends to be 5 before they fine you.

The phonics screening won’t affect you as that’s for y1. Y2 sats are not set in stone, it’s highly unlikely the school will leave it TIL 3 days before half term because then if kids are sick/on holiday there’s no possibility of catching up, Unlike if they do them earlier in May.

Is there any chance parents could fine schools when we want our children educated, but the schools are closed for yet another teachers' strike or 10-minute snowfall?

Lots of schools do the KS2 SATS first as they are set days and use the last weeks of May for the KS1 SATS so you can’t presume they will be done early on.

It’s up to your school, our primary school would authorise that as an exceptional circumstance. They would say one day travelling either way and one day for the wedding

Just say they are sick? That way no fine and it doesn't count against the school either.

Saying they are sick is pointless unless you think they won't say they are going on holiday or will mention it on their return (and do you really want to tell your children to lie?), and does count towards the school attendance statistics anyway.

It sounds like the wedding date hasn't been confirmed. Amy chance it could he changed?

I am sure you can take them out for wedding for “immediate” family check with the school in their policy and the LEA will also be able to advise you. When my ex took our kids out of school yr 6 and yr 2 at the time they said the only time they wouldn’t fine was for a wedding for an immediate family member and obviously if a relative was sick overseas. You just may need proof of the wedding

No saying you are sick is an authorised absence so goes in a different box. What if your kid tells the teacher?

Sick is authorised (assuming you have followed the school's requirements) but it still counts in the school's absence statistics.

I am sure you can take them out for wedding for “immediate” family

No you can't. Even for immediate family, you would have to convince the school that there is a good reason the wedding has to be on a school day. And most schools would not class an uncle as immediate family.