Private school refusing to authorise leave

[Springhare76]

DS2 is 15 and just started year 11 at a private school. He has just been offered an 8 week trial at a premier league football academy which would involve him missing 2 mornings of school a week. I have emailed the school for approval. Not heard back yet but I think they are going to decline it which means that he will miss out on a massive opportunity. He lives and breathes football so this is huge for him. What are my options if they do refuse leave?

You haven’t heard from
them yet so don’t assume the worst. My son had similar for rugby academy and this was viewed as an authorised leave by the school. Can’t remember the exact code but it was recognised as an appropriate reason for not attending

If that’s what he wants, just do it.

Well your response would surely be to go back and ask for a face to face meeting and sit down and calmly and civilly discuss the issue.

Somehow I think… this isn’t on the cards for you though

What are the consequences if they don’t authorise it but he does it anyway? Sounds like a great opportunity.

It’s a dodgy year to do this that’s for sure.
and I’m surprised a football club is doing this for this age group
your relationship otherwise with school not great?

If he's just started year 11 shouldn't he be focusing on his GCSEs instead of football?

Does it matter if they authorise or not?

Of course he cant miss this opportunity - he goes either way surely? What’s the consequences here?

Why are you assuming they won't authorise it? My daughter's private school always authorise leave for anything that could provide opportunities for success for kids outside of school

There’s a difference between not approving it and them actually forbidding it. No matter what they say you can still take him and it’ll go down as unauthorised just like if you’d gone on holiday. And no fines in a private school. But I think you’d have a case for them approving since it is (sort of) educational. Call and ask to have a chat with the head.

As my name suggests, I’ve got a son who is a judoka at international level. He’s 16 and from time to time he needs to train mornings that overlap with the first 2 lessons. He’s also had a week off twice to go to competitions abroad. We aren’t in a private school but we do send official letters and he knows he has to make up the work because obviously he has exams etc.
Personally I wouldn’t stop my child from doing the football training, but it also depends on how willing he is to make up the work he misses.

You really need to go in and speak to them. Year 11 is an important year and he will be missing a lot of lessons, the likelihood is that you will probably have to employ a tutor or something to cover the topics he will miss. I know some children who compete at a high level negotiate a reduced curriculum to allow for training.

Book a meeting with his form tutor or head of year (perhaps alongside the head of Sport?) to start the discussion.

a) arrange a time to meet and discuss
b) write a letter to ask them to reconsider
c) just take him out anyway and hope they don't decide he should leave the school
d) look for a different school
e) tell him he can't do it

I guess, from the schools perspective,.they will be worried that his grades will dip which will affect their league table position etc. what can you do to reassure them on that front? I would be showing them my plan..maybe paying for tutors to help him keep up?

I am assuming it will be refused because we were told that the head had recently refused a similar request. Relationship with the school is good. Will of course ask for a meeting if the answer is no but wondering what will happen if we go ahead even if they refuse? However, the club has said that it needs approval from the school otherwise he can't go. So we would be looking at taking him out of this school which seems crazy at this point but it's a massive opportunity to lose.

you were worried whether the school would even accept him back for year 11 OP!! I think you need to approach this with velvet gloves on.

So we would be looking at taking him out of this school which seems crazy at this point but it's a massive opportunity to lose.

Surely it would be crazier to take him out of school during his GCSEs?

If the club really want him

they will wait and accommodate op

They already have - we had to push the start date back twice as he was injured. I am not sure how much more flexible they will be. Also, this is football! It's highly competitive so they are not going to go massively out of the way to accommodate us.

Depending on his timetable, could he drop the subjects he has on those mornings (assuming they are not core subjects). My daughter has free periods instead of the subject she dropped

Opportunities like this are not just handed out.

OP if the school decline it take him anyway don’t let him miss out

Oh they would op
if they really wanted him
he is 15 so they will have a good idea re his potential risk as opposed to a 12 year old

in any event op, he’s on thin ice at this school so they may well use this as an opportunity to get him out?

No they won’t will will take one of the next 1000 potential prospects

Lol no they won't. It's not like he's a big named star. Football is insanely competitive and clubs most certainly won't accommodate players at that age

That's total nonsense. They have already delayed twice at our request. I don't want to risk it by asking to delay again!

My DC is at an online school which has quite a lot of elite athletes, so they are able to fit work around sporting commitments.

What have you proposed to the school about how you will ensure he independently covers all the crucial work he misses during his GCSE year?