£60 each parent fine for sisters wedding

[Luckz66]

Desperate for advice please!!!!
Before the six weeks holiday I asked the head teacher of my sons school for permission to take him out of school for 5 days to attend my sisters wedding in Turkey. She verbally said if it was put into writing she couldn’t see any reason why this wouldn’t be granted as he has good attendance and in greater depth in his SATS.
I put this in writing the beginning of the new school year and had no reply. I wrote in again towards the end of September stating I had booked the flights etc and being as I hadn’t heard anything, permission had been granted. In the meantime the school has had a new headteacher and I have been issued with a fine for taking my son out.
Since 7th November I have been trying to get a reply from the head but only today after emailing the schools trust head have I been contacted stating that the fine still stands and I’ll have to pay it!
Any ideas on what I can do?
Thanks

Not a lot, it’s clear you get fined for taking kids out of school

Pay it?

Pay it unfortunately an auntie wedding isnt seen as a priority

You’ll need to pay the fine. Headteachers can’t authorise holiday.

Yep the rules are strict now (legally binding from Government enforced by Local Authority)

You have to pay

You’re lucky they haven’t charged £60 per parent per day. You’ll just have to pay it.

Each local authority is different. We have to fill out the form 2 weeks prior to absence but fines are only given if childs attendance is below 90% for the year.

School are very restricted with regards to authorising absence and there’s no way that my child’s school would authorise in the circumstances you describe.

I would just pay the fine.

You’re going to have to pay it.

Pay it. Head can’t do anything about it. Local authority have issued the fine

I would pay the fine, but wrote a letter to the board of governors expressing disappointment at how the school managed communication on this. They should have told you upfront about the fine instead of indecisively stringing you along. They need to form and clear with future requests.

I assume you would have still gone even if you knew you would be fined?

The fine comes from the local authority as mentioned above. The old Headteacher may have been willing to 'bend' the rules as she knew you. Unfortunately the new Headteacher doesnt yet know you and will also be very keen to stay on the right side of the local authority.
There is likely to be nothing you can do except pay I think.

Pay it.
A verbal 'it'll probably be ok' means nothing.

Saying it will probably be ok does not mean you have permission.

It means she wasn’t sure, but thought it would probably be ok.

It’s annoying the school didn’t give you a clear answer, but they definitely didn’t give you permission.

Pay the fine.

I am on governing board as a parent governor. I just find the lack of communication poor

The lack of communication is certainly disappointing, but given your governor role, I am sure you can appreciate the tricky situation re permission. I would say you can't really do anything other than pay up, but work with the new head towards improving communication with parents. Do you have a PPC committee that would help?

I suspect as you are a parent governor you're on shaky ground if you don't pay; the new head will want to ensure he/she is not showing any favouritism.

Yep as parent governor you definitely need to pay. A good friend of mine DH is our parent governor and took the kids out for a week. People were quite bitchy about whether they paid (they did) and she felt strongly they had to

If you don’t pay, it will double then you will be taken to court to be prosecuted.

In reality, would you have not attended your sister’s wedding if it wasn’t authorised?

Schools do have to fines - we are told to. The previous head gave you incorrect information. There have to be exceptional reasons why we wouldn’t. You could have gone for three days and night not have been fined.

Pay it. You could make an official complaint to governors but this could be awkward if you are one!

Sorry for typos.

The parent governor bit is irrelevant. You should still pay as you took them out for 5 days.

It needs to be paid. You were fined for an unauthorised holiday not for attending a wedding.

As a governor you should be well aware of the fines and a five day trip abroad wasn’t going to be exceptional circumstances.

As parent governor you really shouldn’t have been taking them out in the first place!

What are you honestly hoping to achieve? Because trying to get them to waive the fine isn't going to work and trying to argue that either, as a governor, you didn't know the rules or thought they wouldn't apply to you is... uncomfortable.

If the school doesn't have a clear policy on out of term holidays, you can raise that they need one (which will clearly say that it is not going to be authorised because there is no discretion). If the policy hasn't been updated, it needs to be. If the school doesn't issue clear reminders of the policy, it should be. But assuming it does all those things - well, you have proof that the new head is following the rules, what more is there to do?

To add - and if any policies do need changing, you are in the perfect position to raise this without dragging your personal complaints into it. That head has left. What's done is done.