Opinion please! School absence due to parent working abroad

[TheGreenEye]

I've suffered clinical depression for years, including a couple of suicide attempts. I'm recovering, been back at work about a year without any serious episodes.

Work have assigned me to go to work abroad (as in different continent!) for a fortnight in term time. I'm wary of the effect that might have on my mental health, but there's no-one else can do the work. This is one of the reasons I've decided to take my family with me. Being together as a family is hugely important to us all, we do everything together.

We have never taken an unauthorised term-time holiday before, and likely never will again.

The work trip is last minute (10 days notice) due to financial restraints being lifted after a risk assessment of the alternatives. It will be the trip of a lifetime for my kids. Primary school are supportive "oh yes, you must go!"

The secondary school seem less so and I'm worried we will face a hefty fine on our return.

Guidance on what constitutes "exceptional circumstances" seems difficult to come by.

We've sent a letter from my employers confirming this is work, not pleasure. Is there any other evidence I should be presenting to the school?

LivingBoy, have you had any dealings with schools recently? Teachers are leaving in droves, often after extended periods of absence because of stress.

😂I've been a teacher for the last twenty three years if that counts?

I have no idea what the point of your post is in relation to what I said, btw, but thanks for the info.

@Footle And??

It's not like they're taking extended absences because they feel like it - they've been told to do so by their doctor. The op (as far as we know) hasn't been told by a healthcare professional that he needs to take his family with him.

I don't see that you have a point, or maybe I don't understand the implications of your post.

I was signed off sick when I couldn't get through a single lesson without crying. I could no longer manage poor behaviour because my self-confidence was so low. That's not normal.

One (of many) factors that drove me to the edge and out of teaching was being blamed for lack of progress from several pupils who had been taken out of school for extended family holidays and in the case of one, because her parents felt she needed lie-ins on Monday's and Tuesdays, thus missing over half of my lessons. managers were supportive, but in a meeting with the parent and alt, they said I was a 'shit' teacher for not seeking it this particular child after she missed lessons because of lie-ins and catching her up. He then derisively told me all of my lessons were rubbish, which is why the parents didn't think they were important...

I could have used a two week holiday. Instead, I spent the next several months trying to recover (a year on I'm still pretty shakey).

I was taking issue with somebody or other who implies that teachers are always ready and waiting with a not-to-be-missed classroom experience.
The teachers I know best are unable to provide that because they're on their knees with the demands made on them.

Well, when you find out who it was that implied that, do let us know.

Most intelligent people recognise that even if a lesson is not quite a "not-to-be missed classroom experience", a student is still likely to have more chance of academic success in that subject by being in that lesson than not.

And one of the reasons teachers are so stressed is because they work so hard to deliver good quality lessons to their students. But they might as well not bother since that makes no difference to the final outcome for that student, is that what you're saying?

There is a proven link between the child's level of absence and performance at GCSE. There is a proven link between performance at GCSE and life chances. You may not regard the classroom experience as "not to be missed". But the evidence is that missing it is damaging.

phr47bridge - I have had that statistic quoted widely. However having had DC go "through the system" I suspect that the drop in grades could come from two groups most likely to cause the biggest disruption to attendance grades. 1) those with uninvolved parents who as well as not monitoring attendance too closely don't bother with parent evening and homework; and 2) pupils with mental and other health issue whose lack of attendance is not fully in their control, and whose health issue can limit their ability to "catch up".

Some of you lot really hate men, don't you?

prh47bridge I’m not in the UK. So Google shouldn’t give me British results. Searching in English there should be US, Australian, Canadian results also.

I grew up in the US and my state doesn’t fine.

Phr47bridge - As with all statistics they don’t show the reality.

Imhe the children who miss school due to family reasons, holiday etc are not the ones who under achieve.

I had a week off every May added to spring bank holiday to go abroad as a child - I achieved 4 B and 4 c grades at GCSE and failed IT as I hated it and didn’t try!
I now have a Pg Dip in Public Health HV so would say my ‘life chances’ have been reasonable.

The children who take time off truanting are real issues as there are other social factors affecting performance

1. Mental health of child or parent due to carer role 2)Iunengaged parents and lack of value in education
2. physical disability and illness of child leading to time off ill or for appts. Penalising parents and children does not change the reasons for absence so support for families struggling is the only solution to increase achievement!

Having a week extra off makes no difference for regular families!

brookshelley - Interesting. But the UK is definitely not the only country with fines. Germany and the Netherlands both have fines, for example.

AnxiousElephant - A number of studies have shown a clear link. Anecdotal evidence doesn't really challenge that. Indeed, even in your own case, you have no way of knowing what your grades would have been if you had not been taken out of school for holidays. I agree that absence is not the only reason for poor performance but, even where absence is a symptom, reducing absence is beneficial for the child. They may still underperform compared to their peers but the margin will be less. The fines have certainly worked in reducing persistent absenteeism. However, I would agree that we should also be trying to tackle other factors leading to underperformance.

I think that schools need to strongly encourage attendance and institute consequences for chronic absenteeism. But the reason there is a correlation between missing school and poor performance is because most of the reasons students miss school are due to family circumstances that make succeeding in school difficult. Poverty, illness, family breakdown, etc.

I would be very surprised to find that children who miss 1-2 weeks of school for holiday but are otherwise engaged and have engaged parents, suffer long-term consequences.

Private schools don't impose fines for absence, but I would be because their student populations tend to come from more well off educated families, they don't suffer as much from term time holidays.

The data from our school consistently says that on average, those above 95% have a positive progress score and those below do not, and it drops rapidly. The average progress score for those below 90% is almost -2. Yes this isn't all because of holiday - it would be interesting to look at just the progress of those who have taken holiday to compare. Unfortunately, many of kids of families who choose to take term time holiday already have poor attendance.

If you take 2 weeks holiday during term time, it puts DC's attendance at just under 95%.

So not only does a holiday tend to compromise progress in itself, there is no wiggle room for illness and it would be just plain bonkers to have a policy whereby only healthy people can have particular permissions

I would be very surprised to find that children who miss 1-2 weeks of school for holiday but are otherwise engaged and have engaged parents, suffer long-term consequences

You should be surprised, then. There is plenty of evidence that such children do suffer long-term consequences. Of course, they are starting from a much higher base than those who are disengaged and have disengaged parents, so they will still outperform those children. And, of course, it is impossible to measure the effect on a single individual. But, in general, such children, whilst still performing well, will perform worse than their peers who do not take term time holidays.

Anecdotally, one of our DC took quite a lot of time off school (5 weeks and 4 weeks) at the end of the summer term in Y8 and Y9. He was enrolled in a school in another country in a language/cultural immersive experience. Obviously he was following another school programme, and missed out on a few things he subsequently needed to catch up. However, his brain was very much engaged during those 5 and 4 week immersion experiences. A family holiday would not have been as intellectually demanding.

There’s also been quite a lot of research in the US into the difference in school summer vacation experience between highly advantaged and very disadvantaged children. Highly advantages DC whose parents organise a full summer of activities make academic progress during the “holidays” whereas very disadvantaged DC lose significant ground. This results in DC having academic gaps equivalent to several months of progress in September.

So it’s clear that it’s not school per se that is important (posters are correct that DC who take term time holidays are not missing out on extraordinary teaching that will change the course of their life) but intellectual engagement. Lazing around is never a good idea!