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?

I don’t think they code as absence though. I know when we took time off for sporting stuff, music competitions etc then it was coded as educated offsite.

Football academies know schoolwork and gcses come first. Where has your son been before this trial OP? If he's that good at football I'm surprised he's not already at an academy
If your school won't budge on letting him have the tine off there's not much you can do but wait. You can't change school in y11, well you can but it woukd impact his results.
Football is fickle but there are always opportunities. My club signed someone who was playing non professional football in his 20s for eg.

It's about 1% that go on to have established professional football careers.

Unless Im misreading this is a 16 morning session trial, if he isn't successful he goes back to school and gets on with GCSEs. Nothing ventured, nothing gained . How is that going to impact on the social aspect?

I think the missing information here is how you intend to ensure your son keeps up academically. So personally I’d ask for a meeting and go in with that information - presumably a private tutor who can work with him on weekends or evenings. I know this is an amazing opportunity but you can’t expect the school to do 1:1 tuition. Are there other children at the school who do something like this?

A meeting with the head explaining your son will keep up with his work (which subjects will he miss? Can you get a tutor to keep him caught up?) Don’t go in all guns blazing, explain what a rare opportunity this is and it could be life changing and you don’t want him to miss out, but that you are still committed to his school work.

I would imagine school will decide based on an impact assessment. Is he generally hard working and diligent? What’s his self discipline like? Does he have absences/ lateness/ missed homework?
If there are existing issues at school I would doubt they will agree

from your perspective can you manage the logistics of transport and additional school slack to pick up? Is he a self disciplined boy because this is going to involve a lot of juggling and sacrifice to any social aspects of his life

not saying they will refuse, I have just seen this in real life and it’s not easy

I can't imagine that a private school would potentially lose a pupil ove this.
Unless your at one of the few remaining over subscribed hugely popular private schools.
Are the sports staff at the school supportive? Usually private schools love if the kids are excelling at something, even if it's outside school, my DCs school never refused leave when my DD had training camps etc ( snow sport and hockey) and her endeavours featured in school magazine and prospectus

Of all the kids in all the academies which is a big number. You have quoted a very over quoted number. There are only about 300 kids across the country who are playing at this highest level. And in any position that is about 30-40 kids.

Many kids don’t play at the PL level but success is also playing abroad and on the Championship, League One etc. easy six figures playing in League One for a lot of kids, so yeah I would call that succsss as most 18 year olds don’t make that kind of money to start with.

So yea success is bigger than what you have over quoted. Unless you are actually in the system and know?

This makes me shudder a bit I’m afraid. My brother was very good at a sport as a child (played internationally at U18 level) and had little interest in school. My parents prioritised the sport over his studies and let him get away with missing school and not studying for his exams.

He’s in his 60’s now, never made it professionally in his sport, has never had a job - just done some cash in hand coaching in the sport. Doesn’t have a home, a pension or any savings. Couldn’t provide for his wife and kid - wife threw him out years ago and he had to come back and live with his parents as he didn’t have the deposit to rent anywhere.

Your kid might make it professionally @Springhare76 but IMO you are nuts if you prioritise this over school to the extent you would consider taking him out of school completely in Year 11 for a trial which might be cut short at any time, and failing him badly as a parent if you don’t ensure he’s equipped with a back up plan.

Not if he earns a fortune with a high level club.

It’s very different now as they have tried to learn that lesson. The FA won’t allow you to just attend if you don’t have specific permission for the school. The club will get reports every six week and grades have to be maintained. If school dips then you miss training and soend that time catching up. There were boys who were assigned extra homework over the summer as their last reports weren’t what they needed to be. Tutors were provided.

School is prioritised now.

The word if is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.

Realistically he's not going to earn a fortune which is fine as presumably he's doing it because he enjoys it not because he wants to make lots of money. Therefore, it would be verging on madness to prioritise a football academy over his education although it seems from other posters that thankfully the FA won't allow this to happen.

Well if you think it’s all about money
rather than looking at the broader picture of a person’s education

@Tiredofwhataboutery
I don’t think they code as absence though. I know when we took time off for sporting stuff, music competitions etc then it was coded as educated offsite.

Same but that was before Labour brought in this rule. Labour do not like independent schools one little bit and the schools are well aware of it. They’re threatened with inspections if they have more absences than they like and that would be really time consuming so they’re going to be very keen to avoid that.

Wrong thread

It's really not going to make any dramatic difference to his academics to miss two mornings a week for six weeks, but this opportunity will not come again. People saying to prioritise school in these circumstances are giving very poor advice. Especially as I said ip thread, we personally know someone who made the Premier League at 15.

It's really not going to make any dramatic difference to his academics to miss two mornings a week for six weeks, but this opportunity will not come again. People saying to prioritise school in these circumstances are giving very poor advice. Especially as I said ip thread, we personally know someone who made the Premier League at 15.

Completely untrue. This would be an authorised absence in line with the government’s attendance policy which allows for absences to compete in sport. You’re spreading misinformation.

League one players at age 18 don't make 6 figures for a start
If OPs son has never been at an academy before it seems unlikely he'll make it. Not impossible but less likely.

I would prioritise this. Of course school is important but there are a lot of options for how to catch up or how to do everything a year later and various options post high school that your son might prefer anyway (you didn’t say how academic he is). There is one chance for most professional sports and you have to take it.

My daughter is a dancer and hoping for a career in dance of some sort. The window for that is tiny so if she had a similar opportunity I’d do whatever I could to help her try. School is super important of course but there’s no real difference between starting university at 18 or 19 or even later. There’s no chance for a dance career if you miss your shot as a teenager.

I would prioritise this. Of course school is important but there are a lot of options for how to catch up or how to do everything a year later and various options post high school that your son might prefer anyway (you didn’t say how academic he is). There is one chance for most professional sports and you have to take it.

My daughter is a dancer and hoping for a career in dance of some sort. The window for that is tiny so if she had a similar opportunity I’d do whatever I could to help her try. School is super important of course but there’s no real difference between starting university at 18 or 19 or even later. There’s no chance for a dance career if you miss your shot as a teenager.

Private schools normally love this kind of thing. I’d be very surprised if they refused it. Particularly with the way private school finances are at the moment losing a pupil over an opportunity like this would be insane.

this is a one off opportunity. Exams can be taken anytime in your life.

What an amazing opportunity for your son, The trial is time-limited and could shape his future, so it’s worth pushing hard for a compromise.

That’s absolutely not true. If he can’t go, they’ll take another kid.

Someone suggested online school, OP. There’s King’s Interhigh that I know of.

But as it’s only an eight week trial, can you just call him sick all those mornings? Of course the school will know. But after the eight weeks, if they want him, you could take him out of the school and put him in online school?