term time holiday

[susyp]

i've booked a holiday in term time to celebrate being 5 years cancer free - next month is when i'll get all-clear. as you can imagine, we've been through the mill the past few years, and this is a major milestone as reaching the 5 year point dramatically reduces the odds of it coming back.

I wrote last week to my head to ask for authorised leave as extraordinary circumstances - not heard back yet - just wondered if i was right in thinking these were exceptional circumstances? Can't find anything on net about what are exceptional circumstances. I've said we don't plan to take her out again. If it's at head's discretion - does this sound a reasonable request? I appreciate it's all about me rather than my daughter but she's not been immune to the stress of the past 5 years - we've all been through this together.

susypx

[srisky]

Oh congratulations! To me that sounds like an exceptional circumstance and one to be celebrated with the people who were by your side.

I have no experience of asking for term time holidays and I don't work in a school so have no useful advice to offer, I'm afraid. Here's a link to a recent BBC new story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-25733272 which I hope doesn't happen to you, as I think that would be pretty unreasonable.

Enjoy your time together!

[Medusa]

I believe the law has just changed and I suspect you wouldn't qualify under the new terms. 'Exceptional', I think, would cover things like funerals, emergencies, etc, not events of (in your case massive) personal significance.

What *some people* do in your situation is find that their child comes down with a tummy bug.

I hope you find a solution and congratulations on your five-year anniversary!

[susyp]

Yes I saw that story which is why i am a bit concerned. except what i think happened is that they didn't pay the fine on principle and so were taken to court. I've already asked for the leave so can't go down the tummy bug route, although surely this legislation is just leading people to do this! anyway, just trying to work out if i get fined, whether to make it a big deal etc or just accept that's the way it works. Although, from what i can work out, the head refers you to the authorities to get fined so the head could just say no and leave it at that. In the end i suspect making a big fuss would only affect my daughter negatively and it would probably just be most sensible to accept it - even if it seems unfair?

cheers

Susypx

[Carbonara]

How old is your daughter?

Heads do still have some discretion, and they have discretion as to whether they report you and you get fined.

Good luck, and whatever happens, the main thing is that your continued good health be celebrated every day.

[SE22mum]

Such good news and a really lovely idea to celebrate!

Whilst on a personal level the Head may well agree with you s/he is constrained by the rules. It also depends on the absence figures for the school in general. You might just get a letter back saying the absence is not authorised but that they have noted it, ie they will not expect your child to be there on those days.

[Saffron]

SE22mum Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Such good news and a really lovely idea to

> celebrate!

>

> Whilst on a personal level the Head may well agree

> with you s/he is constrained by the rules.

Yes, but, isn't that precisely susyp's point? What are the 'rules'? What is an 'extraordinary circumstance'? Isn't it still at the discretion of the head to make that decision, or is there now a standardised protocol for headteachers to decide what qualifies as 'extraordinary'???

[SE22mum]

Yes, that's what one would assume and hope would be the case! But talking to teacher friends of mine it seems that some schools and Heads are under pressure to make sure their attendance records do not slip and so have to be very strict in what qualifies as "extraordinary". But what they can do sometimes is not give permission but then not do anything when you do take your child out of school anyway.

I agree that a higher level of discretion would be best...

[BeccaL]

We had an absence noted but not authorised last year when we were invited to a wedding which was on a Friday in Dublin Zoo. The school still called on Friday morning to see where daughter was, however...

[2degreesfrommadness]

Why not ring the Head ad discuss it with her?

Or make an appointment - a personal and direct approach is far more likely to get a decision.

Has your child got a good attendance record, which will help.