school holidays
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
hi, i thought a request for 10 days authorised time off for my kids was pretty reasonable.thankfully so did the head mistress.this was our first holiday as a family in 6 years,the kids attendance was excellent prior to the holiday. and the knowledge they gained by visiting the eden and a different way of life in cornwall will stay with them forever,i dont think they would have been taught this in school.peteref
Our Head would probably have taken the same line as you and authorised it. It just proves you can't legislate for every conceivable situation. Every decision either from parent or school has to be balanced with a modicum of common sense. I was just pointing out that it isn't quite as clear cut as might appear.
hi jane,i agree with you there,i dont think a rule covering all pupils would work.what needs to be looked at is previous attendance/upcoming sat tests and is your child behind or ahead in their schoolwork.then you could have a talk with the headteacher,if any of my kids were behind with their work we would not have went on holiday.merry christmas peterf.
this subject has been brewing for some time now, it has been in the papers on occasion in the last couple of years, but it appears to us that there are a lot of "experts" giving out false information. Our own head is threatening thousand pound fines and reports to social workers for more than 5 days absence from school, whist handing out lea leaflets which say that we can have ten days authorised if we have good reason , such as seasonal employment restrictions. we contacted the lea for confirmation and were told that 10 days could be authorised provided that attendance otherwise was good, they will consider a £50 fine for longer absences. so as far as we can see the head is telling porkies to intimidate parents. He is still refusing to authorise 10 days because we are flying on fridays and so will be away from school for 11 days. when all is said and done if every parent or grandparent decided to holiday in august the holiday industry would not cope and most businesses, hospitals etc wouldn't have enough staff to run.
Since starting this thread we have looked at the dfes website, their advice dated November this year is that heads can authorise as long as the parents want, ie there are no formal restrictions, and parents wishes must be listened to. it seems to us that the lea and schools are making up policy as they go and hoping that nobody will check that they know what they are doing.
we are in the process of challenging the school and lea via the formal complaint procedure . mind you they seem to be making that up as they go allong aswell!!
Since starting this thread we have looked at the dfes website, their advice dated November this year is that heads can authorise as long as the parents want, ie there are no formal restrictions, and parents wishes must be listened to. it seems to us that the lea and schools are making up policy as they go and hoping that nobody will check that they know what they are doing.
we are in the process of challenging the school and lea via the formal complaint procedure . mind you they seem to be making that up as they go allong aswell!!
nice bit of research there richard well done.as ive said it seems like if your a caring parent and try to do things by the book,you will be hauled over the coals,but if you dont give a damn and get your kids a social worker you might even get free holidays.its a strange world we live in. 