Taking kids out of school - fines?

[we*luv*orlando!!]

Has anyone asked permission to take their child/ children out of school in the last couple of months? There was a lot of debate awhile ago about parents doing this risking fines but it seems to have gone quiet. we are taking our 10 year old out of school for the last three weeks of the summer term. She will not miss SATS or any exams, and she is a very bright child, top of the class, so we considered she would not miss anything. I was talking to my DH about getting the permission form and he got really worked up about it, wondering if we would be made examples of, etc. we would appreciate any feedback of recent experiences.

 

[disneydolphin2]

Hi there
Just thought id share our experience with you.

We are going to WDW 10-24 May this year for the first time and had already booked when we heard about the schools/fines uproar on the T.V.
Like yourselves we were a little concerned to say the least! However i sent letters to both my childrens' schools explaining that we had booked family holidays and that our children would be willing to catch up with any missed work.
My ten year old daughters' school arranged for her to take her end of term tests (SATS next year ..would never let her miss them!!) a week early and that was that..no problems.
My thirteen year old sons' school sent me a letter saying.....

"When children miss work or are absent because of illness such absence, under new legislation, is recorded as 'authorised'. The school does not give official leave of absence for holiday absences but your child's absence from school will be covered by your letter."

Not very clear and straightforward im sure you'll agree but there was no mention of fines or being made an 'example of' so that'll do me!!
Hope this helps you.........if i were you i would contact the school and ask what their policy actually is. Personally, i think that the government are attempting to target those who show no regard at all for the school term and swan off many times throughout the year.

 

[Clarey]

I'm taking my 9 year old son out of school for the week before half term in October. I have asked the school for a holiday form and also asked whether she thought it was going to be ok and she said they were still allowing the children 10 holiday days each year.

 

[mandymouse]

We're off to WDW this week and my DD's will miss the first two weeks back after the Easter holiday. I filled in holiday forms with both my DD's schools giving about a months notice, and both schools replied straight away with no problems giving us permission for authorised absence.

 

[signtalker]

were taking our DS out of school for 3 weeks(2 of these term time)in just over 2 weeks time, one of these weeks is his SATS which we didnt know when we booked over a year ago, we filled in the obligatory school abscence form and have had no trouble, ours sons class teacher even said to us, "Not to worry about his missing his sats, as they know what grade he will acheive". Our son also has fulltime support at school due to being disabled, the school couldnt be nicer, dont worry I think kids learn just as much having a good holiday as they do being in school. Lifes to short!!!

jules

 

[Melcatfish]

I just thought I would add my voice to this thread. I am a primary school teacher with a class of year 2 children who are about to take their SAT's exams.

Our school policy is that two weeks of additional holiday time may be taken during the regular school term time. This is counted as "authorised absence" meaning that it has been explained by the parent and noted by the school. I haven't come across parents wishing to take their children out for longer but my guess would be that anything extra to those two weeks would be noted as unauthorised absence.

Obviously I would have thought most teachers would prefer that their pupils holidays were taken within the 13 weeks allocated school holidays but we all realise that due to parents work commitments or prohibitive prices in holiday time this isn't always possible.

I wouldn't panic about being media hype regarding fines and being made an example of - it's most unlikely.

The best advice is to talk to your childs school and be up front with them - I know from experience we would much prefer to be told about your plans than for parents to think we were unapproachable unrealistic misers!

As a final point though - avoiding times such as Exam periods is really helpful, chances are a lot of the hard work your kid has been doing has been leading up to their SATs or End of year tests.

Regards
Mel

 

[we*luv*orlando!!]

Thanks to everybody who has taken the time to reply to my question. You have all made me feel alot better and I will definately talk to the school next week. I'll let you know how I get on!

 

[PoohBears#1fan]

I'm a bit late as you've already had plenty of great answers but just wanted to add that we've taken DD out 2 years ago for 2 weeks, and are taking her out for 1 week next month (week before half term so that we only had to take her out for the week) both times I've let the school know and filled out the form as soon as we'd booked so that they had plenty of notice.

This time round I did speak to the Headmaster before confirming to check KS1 SAT dates as I didn't want her to be absent for them.

I've never heard about fines either as a parent or as a school governor BUT it is down to the discretion of the head teacher, I'd talk to other parents at the school to test the water first.

 

[cheryl.UK]

Whether or not a school chooses to fine parents will have a lot to do with the school's attendance figures. All schools are set targets by the DES, ours is 90%, Schools who are struggling to meet targets are asked very tricky questions by the DES and their LEA about what they are doing to meet them. If a school can't prove they are doing everything in their power to put it right, pressure will be put on them to make use of the new legislation.


So ask yourself this, in the league tables last year, did your child's school

1 have an attendance figure of less than 90%?
2 have a 5 or more A*-C pass grade % lower than the national average?
3 have a high unauthorised attendance figure.

If the answer to these is yes then you stand a far greater chance of being fined especially if they have ofsted looming in the next 18 months.

 

[SidB]

The object of this "rule" is to eliminate the serial offenders. You know the type. They take the kids out of school to go shopping etc.

As per all of the replies, be honest, check out the exam timetables, and make sure your kids catch up with their lessons.

 

[Goofyish]

I got the impression from reading all the articles about this subject that these new measures were to stop the large number of parents who take their children out of school (for holidays or 'other' reasons) without informing the school or obtaining permission - this is classed as un-authorised absense and as someone said above counts against the school.
If you go through the proper procedures for your school and use a bit of common sense on the timing of the holiday (away from SAT or exam times), then I'm sure there would be no problems.

 

[Disbabe]

The last 2 years I have taken my children out of school time as they are only at primary school and are top of their classes but as one of my children are doing their SAT's it's going to be 2 weeks this year.
My job (staff nurse) means that I have to share with other work colleagues the school holidays so it's almost impossible to get 2 weeks!!
However when my eldest starts senior school I shall have to insist as I feel that education is more important then.
I feel disgusted that they would even consider fining if the children aren't absent for any other reason.

 

[signtalker]

When we booked our holiday over a year ago, the school did not know the dates of the SATS(hard to beleive I know), I do take offence at people saying(avoid taking children out of school in exam times") Our son is multiple disabled, WE all know the grades he would acheive, fulltime support of 30 hours is in place for the transition to high school in september, it is already known what sets(group) he will be in.
Obviously I can appreciate this isnt so for every child taking sats, I refuse to feel guilty, when i have worked hard with the school over the past year keeping them notified etc as to this holiday happening(This is the first time ever! we have taken DS out of school), my sons attendance is 100% with no aunthorised absences(infact we have certificates of achievments to reinstate this). We dont live in an ideal world, nor are some familys lucky enough to be able to plan round school holidays,live throws us a raw deal at times!!!.
The smile on my sons face, and the releif on me and my husband to get away from the daily problems we are faced, out weighs an exam!!, im sorry, life is too short, and honestly if you keep the school up to speed on what is happening, and dont take them for a ride, I cant see the problem.

Jules(off soap box now!) :