AIBU to expect my daughter not to be fined

dotMH1901- that’s a strange rule for your grandson. The rule is stay at home for 2 days after the symptoms have gone.
Breda I’m glad your children have done well being off school at the start of a school year. You and your children are obviously not those parents who take children out at the start of term then complain that the children are confused in their new class/ aren’t sitting where they wanted/ have to do an assessment task that others have already done or can’t do something that has been taught in that first week.
If all parents were like that, perhaps we wouldn’t have made absence at the start of term unauthorised.
I’m surprised the head hasn’t used discretion and authorised the absence. I’m with Rosiebee on her opinion about this.

So, VQ the child’s teacher would probably prefer her to be taken out of class and it could be that the headteacher is taking the easy option of not having to make the decision? The fine paperwork would be the job of the the school secretary not the head. In which case, perhaps an appeal with a cc to the governors giving the head more work may make for a change of mind! Worth a try?

Sorry just read the OP again. It is a July wedding. There will definitely be no work being done on that day. The head teacher's hands are tied but your GD definitely won't be losing out or affecting the teacher/other children in the class if she's not there. In fact, when I was teaching, the less children who came at the end of the Summer Term the better. It meant I could get on with sorting stuff out.

Is it a July wedding? If it is I can virtually guarantee that she won't miss any work. The end of the school year is about sorting stuff out. All the work is done.

I understood from my DC that a head can give permission to take a child out of school provided the child’s attendance is very good - ie over 90%. If this is the case for this little girl perhaps the parents could agree to ensure she does all the school work she’ll be missing. It being the last two days of the school year, I’m sure the structured education in place should mean this is easy enough to provide.

Furthermore, in my experience the last few days of the school term tend to be very relaxed in most schools and I cannot see that an absence of two days at this stage in the term is likely to seriously damage the child’s education.

In order to make the most of my husband’s holiday entitlement we used to take our holidays at the end of August and our four children regularly had a week off at the beginning of the September term. Each of the four of them achieved well and went onto university gaining their degrees. We also take our grandchildren away these days and the head teachers of their schools have regularly given permission for the children to have a week away encouraging the children to enjoy their family holiday.

As an ex primary teacher, I would say let her go to be with her family and enjoy the day. Pay the fine if it comes to that, but the child will suffer much more if she is forced to be at school, knowing that she has missed out on being with her family, plus the experience of being a bridesmaid. Heads are on a hiding to nothing and shouldn't be put in that position. It is not fair on them. They are there to lead their school and nurture the children, not to enforce Gov directives and targets which do not take into account the whole child . The poor girl would probably be so upset for the two days, that she wouldn't learn a great deal anyway. Enjoy the wedding together. x
Retired 7 years now but still easily wound up!!

It's one day. That's not going to cause major problems for the teacher, the child or the rest of the class. Whilst children need good attendance one day isn't going to do any harm and, as I said earlier, at the age of six everything is a learning experience.

I think the current system is ridiculous. It doesn't stop the parents who have no interest in whether their children attend school or not but simply punishes those parents who do try to get their children to school as often as possible. My daughter was told to send my grandson, who had been sick during the night, into school. She questioned what they would do if he was sick again at school and they said they would ring her to come and take him home again. She left him at home with me instead. No wonder so many illnesses are spreading around at schools - I have seen clearly unwell kiddies standing in the playground coughing, sneezing with runny noses, when they clearly should be at home getting better. Should be at the discretion of the Head and Class teacher.

GillT57.

I love to render people speechless.............

As many have said, the school doesn’t make money out of it. Heads do have discretion and I’m surprised it isn’t being used here. Teachers, above any other group of workers know about having to take holidays in the most expensive times of the year.
Absences do make a difference and over time I’ve worked with several families who had 2-3 holidays per year in term time because they “couldn’t afford to go at peak times”!
They asked for work to take with them- ignoring the fact that actually, teaching is more than just handing out a worksheet. We refused to give work, but ask them to do a diary and share it with the class. Many didn’t bother. The children needed help to catch up but despite giving it, I often got complaints when the child returned and couldn’t do what the rest of the class was doing straight away.
The fine has cut down on that sort of absence.
We do class swaps at the end of term to get the children used to the new teacher/ class.
I do sympathise with the OP.
Write to the head and chair of governors explaining and ask to see the school policy on absences.

What some parents don’t seem to realise is that the curriculum is highly structured these days. Granted little gets taught the last two days of term, but otherwise there are educational consequences if a child misses school.

An example, in a linear subject like Maths. Knowledge is build up bit by bit, introducing new concepts and practising examples of these. If a child misses the introduction to a new concept eg equivalent fractions (yes taught in Year 1) how are they going to catch up on the ground work introduced in that 50 minute lesson? Should the teacher or the TA take them to one side and try to make up the lost opportunity? And while they are doing this the rest of the class are gaining competence by practising the new skill, which the missing pupil is now missing out on, plus the attention of the TA or teacher is focused on the one child.

Now absences due to sickness are unavoidable and teachers have to deal with these scenarios time and time again. But never imagine that missed days off school don’t cause extra word for the staff and have a knock on effect on the other pupils.

It's such a shame to have to lie about it but I suspect she will be 'down with some illness' on the day. Makes me so cross because that is setting an example to kids to lie to authority and yet, what choice do they have?
Two: miss the wedding.
Leave the child at home, as we used to.
Shameful.
Her parents have already asked for permission which has been refused, therefore the school will know they are lying and will fine them.
Just because it is Law - doesn't mean it is right
Yes it is. If the Head gave permission then other families would apply and he would be unable to refuse.
I had a class where over half of the children had been absent for five days or more, some of them for three weeks holiday in the middle of term, and it was increasing. This is why this law was introduced and as a result attendance is far better. Sad that it takes a law to do this, but having read some of the comments on here I can understand why. Education is clearly not valued above a drunken family event and I use that word advisedly; don't think your grandchildren don't see, remember, tell their teacher and show the photographs.

Travellers claim their 'Romany heritage' as a reason for missing school, sometimes months at a time, and the school is powerless to refuse. When the children return they have to be given extra tuition, the cost born by the school. The family I taught would return for SATs week; their children's poor scores would ensure extra help, taking priority over the needs of those children who attended regularly and also resulting in the school's average score being reduced.

Apparently primary education is not important but secondary is!

I live in Northern Ireland and my six year old GD has had several days off. The head teacher happily turns a blind eye to it. I don't know about the law but a few days in the year won't harm a child's education.

Exactly what I said earlier.I am surprised so many would be prepared to lie for a £60 fine and risk the poor child being quizzed about it later by the school.

Just pay the fine. Its the easiest, most truthful option.
I don't think it sets a very good example to expect a child to pretend to have been ill.

She's attending a wedding. All experiences are educational at that age. She'll learn about weddings and will also practise her social skills in a mixed age environment.

Sadly OFSTED doesn't see it that way. Schools are tied to ticking boxes. We no longer educate our children and help them develop a love of learning. We force little round pegs into square holes then wonder why some children struggle and our young people leave school with poor social and learning skills.

I don't understand why this thread has turned into a rant about teachers and gypsies. I am not and have never been a children's teacher (though I taught adult literacy for a couple of years toward the end of my working life) but I really object to the statement that children learn bullying from their teachers. There may be isolated cases where teachers behave badly but to tar a whole profession in that way is wrong. I would say there is a far greater likelihood of children picking up bullying behaviour in the home.

I don't think parents should say their children were ill. Their children would have to repeat the lie and, apart from it teaching dishonesty, it may well produce a lot of anxiety in a child trying to maintain a story that he or she knows to be untrue.

Although I don't agree with these restrictions on holidays in term times and the fines applied, at the present time parents must be prepared to just pay the fine. It is unfair though because for those who are comfortably off it will not be a major issue but for less well off people meeting extra costs can be a real struggle.

I went to school in the 50's and 60's in a fairly working class area and I don't have any recollection of having to share text books. At primary/junior school we had dictionaires and other books and kept them in our desks. At secondary school we often had to lug them around from class to class - and they were heavy. These days children seem to have far fewer text books but lots of photocopied sheets that get crumpled up and lost.

I think the whole issue of fining parents for their children's absence from school is pointless It's just another money making scam. Children in Year 1 do very little work during the last few days of term, so call in and say she's ill and take her to the wedding. Do it when she's not around to hear you then you're not encouraging her to lie. She will learn more from travelling and attending the wedding than she will from tidying toys and cleaning shelves in her classroom.

I do think that regular attendance from the age of 11 is important, especially when they are studying for exams. But children should be in school because they want to be there, not because a law says they must be. When the parents are fined it doesn't keep the child in school, it just adds more worry and financial burden to the family. I worked in a secondary school and regularly saw parents come into school and sit through lessons with their children to try to keep them there, the children were embarrassed and hated it. Then at morning break or lunch the child went to the bathroom and legged it! One single mother was jailed twice because of her child's persistent absence. That same child now runs a successful business despite never having taken a single exam.

We really need to rethink how our education system and schools operate. I'm not blaming the teachers, in my experience they are hard working and have to tolerate a lot of difficult situations. But something needs to be done. Fining the parents is not the answer.

It is unhelpful when people arrange weddings on weekdays. They put others in a difficult position. Is the money saving really worth it?

If child goes ill on this Thursday after requesting day off it is suspicious and your dd will still be fined. The aunt getting married must have known how inconvenient a Thursday/Friday wedding would be to their guest yet went ahead anyway. A Saturday would not have caused an issue. Pay fine is best option.

Really knicka? Explain why not?

Eazybee - some of the worst things about this world happen because people 'don't make an issue'. Just because it is Law - doesn't mean it is right.