Term-Time Absence/Ad Hoc School Closure?

[Jamiller63]

I have joined to ask this question - it's more about the contradictory school policies as opposed to the individual incidents. The overall question is:

"How can schools deem it to be OK to close a school as a matter of routine (i.e. not extraordinary) and then refuse to grant absence which is clearly "extraordinary"".

I have an 11-year old daughter, for the first time I have asked for permission to take my daughter out of school for 2 days. In short it's for a wedding which was fixed for a Monday by Irish relatives thinking that Irish and English term dates are the same - they are not, hence the issue. Applied on 1 July (before she actually entered the school, have just had the response "not extraordinary", we disagree - what's clearly "extraordinary" (i.e. uncommon, out of the norm) to us is not to the school. We can understand the school's perspective (well sort of!), however...

...we then get notice that the school is closing for a half-day this month so the teachers can prepare for next year's intake open evening. Meaning every child in the school misses a half day's education. Seems odd to us we only asked for 2 days, the school's is impacting on a total of about 1,000 educational days.

An individual child missing time is different to a whole school closure. This is a fairly petty argument.

The school is responsible for ensuring your child achieves. You taking them out may decrease their chance of success. Therefore, schools will discourage your child missing lessons. If the school is planning a closure, your child isn't missing any lessons (or content). Yes you've only asked for 2 days and your child might have good attendance, but there needs to be consistency.

And we don't close before open evening and there is only a fairly short gap, meaning almost staff are there from 7:30 to gone 8pm which is a long old day if you've been teaching back to back then running tours or open classrooms.

I was wrong school day copied below - 2 lessons PM (2 hours 10 minutes)

Warning Bell 8:40
Lesson 1 8:45 - 9:50
Lesson 2 9:50 - 10:55
Morning Break 10:55 - 11:15
Warning Bell 11:10
Registration/Assembly 11:15 - 11:30
Lesson 3 11:30 - 12:35
Lunch 12:35 - 13:15
Warning Bell 13:10
Lesson 4 13:15 - 14:20
Lesson 5 14:20 - 15:25

Our open days are always followed by an inset day. (2 per year)
We only have 1 hour lesson after lunch (but have a late long from 1.10-2.25) followed by form, so last lesson is 2.34-3.35.
Assume they set up after that - I think Open days start at 6.30ish..

@Jamiller. It may not be Inset but it is a planned closure. No-one is "missing school" that day.

Weird. The school I work at and the school my kids go to bothbhve 2 hour afternoons so 2.5 hours really isn't that crazy

It may not be Inset but it is a planned closure. No-one is "missing school" that day.
This ^^
It'll be in the school calendar.

I'm not sure what it has to so with a parent want to take their child out for a few days during term time though.