Got approved leave from school

[higgy66]

This year in Sept we're taking the girls to WDW and so had to apply to the head teacher for approved leave.

I know they're only 6 & 5 but I still feel really guilty taking them out of school but I don't think they could cope with the heat of August just yet (they need to get used to it thought as we plan to go again ASAP)

Well today I got a lovely letter from the head saying they could have the 10 days approved leave and also the 11th day she would put down to approved leave for exceptional circumstances. (She must be a closet Disney fan!)

I was expecting to get the 11th day as unapproved leave (as I thought you could only apply for 10 days?) so I'm really pleased with that. The other Mums were telling me to phone in sick for the extra day but that's not me - I like to be upfront and tell the truth.

My Dad who is a retired teacher has always maintained that Children can learn just as much on holiday as they can in the classroom - eg different cultures, currency conversions, modes of transport, foods etc. However, as he was a teacher I never had time off school for holidays so it feels really "naughty" to me.

It's just one more thing to tick ofF my "to do" list!

Now we can start planning how we're going to tell the girls we're going.

 

[scottish mum]

Thats great news you will have a brill time. We went last september and it was possibly one of our best holidays. Still very hot but not as crowded.

Our head teached is very good about giving time off, we just do extra homework before we go so that we don't have it to do while away or when we come home. She also agrees that you can learn a lot on holiday and both DS's had to do a report when they came home. One did AK and the other did WS.

Unfortunately oldest DS is going into secondary school in August so know more term time holidays for us

 

[Joanne UK]

Our HM is the opposite I'm sorry to say.

He will only approve absence in very special circumstances and a trip to WDW doesn't come into that category in his book. He won't even approve time off for family weddings!

We were given a letter recently saying that unapproved absences would now result in fines of up to £100 per child.

 

[T16GEM]

Glad that you got your approval, I completley agree with your Dad, our kids learned so much while we were away.

I think it's very silly of head masters to fine you for taking your kids out of school. DH and I run a shop, we have no staff and the only time that we are able to close the shop is after Christmas as it's very quiet round here then, we usually go the for the first couple of weeks in January, I guess I will be paying fines as I will not be able to go for holidays any other time of the year with them.

 

[thelittlemermaid83]

Our HM is the opposite I'm sorry to say.

He will only approve absence in very special circumstances and a trip to WDW doesn't come into that category in his book. He won't even approve time off for family weddings!

We were given a letter recently saying that unapproved absences would now result in fines of up to £100 per child.

Ouch!

 

[wideeyes]

Great news - I agree, My DD learnt loads during our trip to WDW that she wouldn't have learnt at school.

 

[mandymouse]

That's good news

 

[Goofysmate]

Good news

 

[natalielongstaff]

Fab news

 

[wilma-bride]

Great news - I'm weighing up whether to apply now for ours, even though we don't go till October. Not sure whether they will say we have to wait till the next school year

 

[higgy66]

Great news - I'm weighing up whether to apply now for ours, even though we don't go till October. Not sure whether they will say we have to wait till the next school year

The school secretary told me to apply as soon as we knew as they just mark it in the school diary. I didn't dare admit we'd already had it booked a year!

Also one of the comments the head made in her letter was thanking me for giving the advance notifcation and that this had worked in our favour when making her decision.

Hope you get as good a response

 

[BingsingsWaltDisney]

in our local authority the decision has been taken out of the hands of the heads completely. You have to ask for permission from the LEA, as they have carte blanche authority...easy get out clause for those heads. On their website it states that only under exceptional circumstances can they have time off. it is stated in bold and underlined that having a holiday is not an excuse to take your kids out of school.....for this reason a work colleague is'nt even going to attempt to ask, as she knows that the answer will be no....so she is going on holiday and saying the kids are sick....yes i know she is taking a bit of a risk, buts how she has to play it.......

 

[higgy66]

in our local authority the decision has been taken out of the hands of the heads completely. You have to ask for permission from the LEA, as they have carte blanche authority...easy get out clause for those heads. On their website it states that only under exceptional circumstances can they have time off. it is stated in bold and underlined that having a holiday is not an excuse to take your kids out of school.....for this reason a work colleague is'nt even going to attempt to ask, as she knows that the answer will be no....so she is going on holiday and saying the kids are sick....yes i know she is taking a bit of a risk, buts how she has to play it.......

This is where the system goes wrong.

You should be able to take your children on a family holiday as time spent together as a family is so important to children. I do agree you should have to "apply/notify" of the time off required as it stops parents just having day trips/shopping trips whenever they feel like it - which is why the "approved" days started in the first place.

However, By making it too hard to get approval you force parents to go down the "phoning in sick" route which can be stressful for children who have to "go along" with the lie when they get back to school. Also what does it teach the kids? Rules are there to be broken and it's oK to lie?

As usual Government has gone too far!

If I hadn't been granted approved leave I would still have gone (obviously) and it would have been noted on their school record that they had unapproved leave. I have to admit though that it would have taken the shine off the holiday which is why I was so chuffed with the Head's letter.

 

[aaronandterri]

i do wonder if they can even enforce the fines if they are even legal.....?

 

[wils]

I must admit I was relieved to get approval last year - luckily I got it the same day as I applied so I didn't have time to worry.

The school where my friend teaches never gives approval for holidays within termtime

Happy planning

 

[Minniespal]

Great news

 

[eyeore]

ok i was thinking about writing a letter to my sons head but i'm not sure how to word it..
hubby is self employed with numerous staff who all need holidays too, so this is the only time that suits us. any advice?

 

[PoppyAnna]

This year in Sept we're taking the girls to WDW and so had to apply to the head teacher for approved leave.

I know they're only 6 & 5 but I still feel really guilty taking them out of school but I don't think they could cope with the heat of August just yet (they need to get used to it thought as we plan to go again ASAP)

Well today I got a lovely letter from the head saying they could have the 10 days approved leave and also the 11th day she would put down to approved leave for exceptional circumstances. (She must be a closet Disney fan!)

I was expecting to get the 11th day as unapproved leave (as I thought you could only apply for 10 days?) so I'm really pleased with that. The other Mums were telling me to phone in sick for the extra day but that's not me - I like to be upfront and tell the truth.

My Dad who is a retired teacher has always maintained that Children can learn just as much on holiday as they can in the classroom - eg different cultures, currency conversions, modes of transport, foods etc. However, as he was a teacher I never had time off school for holidays so it feels really "naughty" to me.

It's just one more thing to tick ofF my "to do" list!

Now we can start planning how we're going to tell the girls we're going.

Congratulations, how fantastic to have an understanding Head.
I agree with your Father (my Grandfather was a Head) not all learning is done in the four walls of a classroom.

Our HM is the opposite I'm sorry to say.

He will only approve absence in very special circumstances and a trip to WDW doesn't come into that category in his book. He won't even approve time off for family weddings!

We were given a letter recently saying that unapproved absences would now result in fines of up to £100 per child.

Glad that you got your approval, I completley agree with your Dad, our kids learned so much while we were away.

I think it's very silly of head masters to fine you for taking your kids out of school. DH and I run a shop, we have no staff and the only time that we are able to close the shop is after Christmas as it's very quiet round here then, we usually go the for the first couple of weeks in January, I guess I will be paying fines as I will not be able to go for holidays any other time of the year with them.

Even if the fines are enforcable, it's still cheaper than going during school holiday time so the fines are not a worthwhile deterent, in my opinion.

This is where the system goes wrong.

You should be able to take your children on a family holiday as time spent together as a family is so important to children. I do agree you should have to "apply/notify" of the time off required as it stops parents just having day trips/shopping trips whenever they feel like it - which is why the "approved" days started in the first place.

However, By making it too hard to get approval you force parents to go down the "phoning in sick" route which can be stressful for children who have to "go along" with the lie when they get back to school. Also what does it teach the kids? Rules are there to be broken and it's oK to lie?

As usual Government has gone too far!

If I hadn't been granted approved leave I would still have gone (obviously) and it would have been noted on their school record that they had unapproved leave. I have to admit though that it would have taken the shine off the holiday which is why I was so chuffed with the Head's letter.

I agree, when DD (who is in year 1) started school we were told by the Head that she used to be able to approve ten days a year, but due to LEA changes it is now none. I'll be honest with you, I have known my head teacher to lie about other matters and this was a carefully worded "untruth".
The school is in a fairly wealthy area where many families are used to taking a number of holidays a year (skiing, holiday homes abroad etc). I believe this, coupled with the fact that the school is only six years old and has a lot to prove (so does the head ) she says this to "scare" a number of families (like us ) into not taking term time holidays to balance the books on those that still go ahead. Children having too many days off does harm the reputation of the school, that is a fact and our Head struggles to maintain her attendance stats to a high level.
When a child hits a certain (low) percentage of attendence a letter is generated that gets sent home as a warning, this starts an odd culture, parents start sending ill children to school, not good. I was horified the friday before this half term when my DD had a hospital appt at 2pm. I went to collect her and the secretary called through to classroom to say I was there to collect and said to her teacher "apparently she has a medical appointment to attend". My DD was having an op the following Monday and that adminstrator thought I was off to catch a flight after getting her afternoon registration mark! Luckily her teacher came out and made a point of wishing her luck for the op and the secretary looked pretty shepish at me. We'd even paid for her to go privately so we could secure a half term op date to minimise the time off school.

i do wonder if they can even enforce the fines if they are even legal.....?

I wonder this too. I have tried to research it but all the info I found was pretty vague.

 

[Tinks1984]

Glad you got your approval!

I agree with the others, sometimes children can be more enriched by taking a family holiday alongside school. I remember my parents taking both me and my brother out of school for three pervious Florida trips and we never suffered as a result.

My parents always made sure we got extra work, which was done before we left or once we returned home.

Have a great holiday with your little ones!!

 

[Cyrano]

We were given a letter recently saying that unapproved absences would now result in fines of up to £100 per child.

I know the education systems and authorities are different in Scotland. So I'm interested in experiences of our English neighbours regarding these fines
Are they legal and can they be enforced? What happens if you ignore the bill?