Permission to have holiday from school

[mskitty]

I work in a school and it doesn't really matter if it is authorised or not the parents can still take them on holiday. They have advised of their intention so there is no safeguarding concern on the schools part (they know why the child is not in school). The only difference is that the decision will impact on how the absence is "coded" (authorised or unauthorised family holiday) and a potential fine.

The other thing for them to keep in mind is that a week out at the start of the year has a massive impact on the overall attendance % and if the school has a big push on that it could mean lots of follow up calls, letters and meetings. If this happens just tell them to take it on the chin. It's just one of those things that schools are measured on these days so they have to be seen to be doing something about it.

[Smilesonfaces]

I would work on the assumption that it will not be authorised. It doesn’t sound to me like it meets the criteria. It will go down on the records as unauthorised and your daughter will need to wait to see if the LEA issues a fine.

We kept our daughter off school for one week a couple of years ago. It took school about 4 weeks to write back advising that it would be recorded as an unauthorised absence. The school won’t rush, it is exam season, there has just been a school holiday and to school it isn’t a priority.

Our head teachers PA told me that state schools in England no longer have discretion to allow holidays unless in the most extreme cases. The discretion comes with reporting the absence to the LEA. Other than that holiday our daughter had 100% attendance and probably still had one of the highest attendances in the class. We never heard anything from the council and were not fined. I assume the school did not report the unauthorised absence to the LEA.

[lottiesmum0]

Just to also add- it sounded like in one of your posts that the parents are no longer together? If that is the case please be aware that both parents can be fined. We’ve had this issue arise at the school where I work.
I think it’s unlikely that absence will be authorised with the reasons given- especially missing the first week back is crucial

[Excited6910]

Our school only contact if there is a problem with the application for leave. We don’t get charged a fee.

We may have more of an issue with our eldest this year in high school but we booked before he started so we couldn’t seek permission at the time. We’ll see how it goes in September 🙈

[taylaboo]

It was a no brainer for my daughter on our last trip in 2015. She saved £1300 minus the £120 fine. Her two children had good attendance levels and were both near the top of their class. It was the week before half term and grandson had the choice of a football tournament with the school in Europe or a Florida trip so would not have missed much anyway. We took our two away in term time as it was too expensive to do summer holidays. They both went on to get degrees and great jobs. We are doing the same this year. Our last big family holiday to Florida. Hubby is 72 this year and there are other places we want to visit on our bucket list. You can't beat family time and making memories that will last a lifetime.

[Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by Bobbins

How old is the child?

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7 hrs old


Many thanks for all your responses.

Clealry the wait between asking and authorisations is a long one

Son in law will not take him out of school if unauthorised

My original question has now been answered

Thanks everyone , I will let you know what was said

[Guest]

Originally Posted by lottiesmum0

Just to also add- it sounded like in one of your posts that the parents are no longer together? If that is the case please be aware that both parents can be fined. We’ve had this issue arise at the school where I work.
I think it’s unlikely that absence will be authorised with the reasons given- especially missing the first week back is crucial

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If this is the case (separation) you also need to be aware that the child cannot cross international borders without permission from both parents (usually the parent not travelling needs to give written authorization).

If you do travel without permission (or with verbal permission and no proof of this verbal permission) the other parent can report you to the authorities and you will be arrested foe removing a child from its parent.

It would take a vindicative parent to ruin a child's holiday like this, but people do the strangest things