Was the school correct in refusing this boy's absence?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail....aribbean-wedding.html

Although I have never condoned truancy or parents taking their children out of school for a variety of unnecessary reasons, I think in this case the school was vastly unsympathetic in not granting this woman's 13 year old son absence from school, so that he could attend his mother's wedding.

[tamborine]

Yes, teachers cant educate absentees. Pay the fine & save £s on exotic hols

[sherrardk]

Considering she paid £8k for the wedding paying the initial fine of £50 shouldn't have been a problem. I am all for term time holidays but if I was refused permission to take any of my children out of school then I would just pay the fine. Daft woman needs a good shake.

[anotheoldgit]

sandyRoe

/// Nearly the same question. ///

To which I have given you an answer, referring to your use of the word Bastard.

[sp1814]

All

Have a look at the link again, then the comment section and sort the comments into 'best rated' order...and prepare to feel depressed...

[ummmm]

Sp - hmmmmm

[andy-hughes]

From the evidence presented, the school is perfectly within its rights to follow the guidlines presented.

If the school grants this absence, it sets a precident, and will have difficulty in refusing other absences. the way to avoid that situation is to apply the guidelines fairly across the board.

This mother knew that permission had been witheld, she should have paid her £50 and considered it a modest cost to have her son attend her wedding.

Making a stand against a court on a 'principle' is only adviseable when the law, and natural justice, are on your side - in this case she has neither, so may increase her wedding costs fro £8K to £9K.

[LazyGun]

They were absolutely correct in my view. A 2 week absence in term time? For a luxurious wedding booked a year ahead?

She should just have paid the fine, I do not see what principle she is attempting to defend.

[sp1814]

"She says that when she realised the wedding would not fall in the middle of his Easter holiday, as she had expected, she repeatedly tried to email his headmistress Dr Rose Hegan at Marple Hall School in Stockport."

Strange...all she would've had to do is contact her son's school and ask, "When is the Easter break next year?"

She would've been told, and then could book the wedding to take place during the break.

Unless of course...she knew that the cost of the flights and accomodation would be that much more expensive during the break, so took him out during term time deliberately to save money?

[sp1814]

I believe the reason there was a discrepancy between policies is that her younger son is only six years old. Taking a couple of weeks off school at that age is hardly going to impact your learning. However at 13, you're right in the middle of gearing up for your GCSEs. Taking two weeks off at that point is a much bigger deal.

[sp1814]

triggerhappy

Excellent...I'm afraid I don't really have much sympathy for her.

[Mamyalynne]

She should just have paid the fine and got on with life, as many others have said before me.

[joko]

factor - she applied for permission a year ago!
plus she repeatedly contacted them - they didnt reply until very shortly before they were due to leave saying no.

i would have took my kid too - this is utterly ridiculous.

[rockyracoon]

I would have taken my child too, I just wouldn't have whinged about a £50 fine, I'd have just paid it.

[factor-fiction]

Joko- I agree that if the school ignored her request for 12 months (and I don't know whether we know all the facts) that was not good and they need to explain themselves. Nevertheless when the school's policy is for holidays not to be normally allowed in term time she shouldn't have assumed it would be okay.

[sp1814]

Joko

The article says she 'tried to email' the school.

Any sensible person would've followed up an email with a phone call. It stretches credulity that the school simply ignored her emails...but hopefully she's saved them as evidence...

[joko]

well for them to finally say no one month before means they must have received a request.

regardless - she is entitled to have her son at her wedding - she cant rearrange a whole family of people because of an awkward school.
she says it was the only time everyone invited was able to come.

i think schools have to much power over this type of thing these days.
they could quite easily have said ok - its not like she didnt ask and its not like she didnt have a good reason

they are just being petty.

[sp1814]

joko

Absolutely...I agree that she's entitled to have her family at her wedding, but why not check on the school's website for the dates of the Easter break, and then book accordingly?

Just because the school responded to her a month before the trip doesn't actually prove that she'd been mailing the school for a year.

Within that year, there would have been PTA meetings - she could have brought the subject up then too...

Also, there's something else that smells fishy about this story...she was planning a wedding a year in advance, and that was the only week that the whole family could attend?

Well, have a look at the photos again. There's her, her new husband and their two kids. Whose schedule was so important a year in advance that they could not have we'd during the Easter break? the two kids surely could've made it, which leaves the bride and groom.

So, with a year's planning, why couldn't they have go over in the Easter break?

It just looks very avoidable.

[sp1814]

By the way, it's true that families find the cost of travelling during the school holidays expensive, but then again, they get child allowance - perhaps that should be squirreled away for exactly these reasons?

[Brimoan]

We do not know the full facts but I know some schools are unreasonable.
A child in our family had to have an operation which resulted in him being off for 6 weeks.
The parents managed to get the operation done about 2 days before the end of July and the headmaster said it could be done the day after the school closed for the August holidays but every parent wanted similar operations done that day.
The child was about 10 days late back to school which the headmaster did not like but about 6 follow up appointments had to happen.
Again the headmaster wanted the follow up appointments to happen outside school hours but again every headmaster wanted this to happen.
I really think the parents did their best to minimise the lost time as most of the appointments were made before 9.15 am so the child was in school by 10.30am.
The hospital was about miles from the school.