Head threatens to take child off the roll.

[Berta Mason]

In my daugher's school (a Community Junior school) the head writes on the Bulletin that she will not authorise holidays during term time; if you take an authorised holiday she will take your child off the roll and bring in the next child on the waiting list. Your child's previous attendance record is not taken into account. So she writes in the Bulletin, nearly every week. Can she really do this? Thank you.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

yes she can do it,as long as the governors and her local education authority back her,which i assume they have or she would not have posted it on the schools bulletin.

[johnny37]

Holiday prices are subject to the law of supply and demand which is why they are cheaper in term time. The school year is so short is it fair to take a child out of school when most parentsd comply? If would be chaotic if everyone did it. The Head quoted above has probably been plagued by it.

[Berta Mason]

The Head has most definitely not been plagued by it. She has just alienated a consistent minority of parents. I have never taken my child out of school for cheaper holidays because it just happens we can afford to go on holidays in high season - but many can't. Nothing has changed in our school, our truancy rate has always been consistently low compared to national average - but just in the last couple of years the Head has tightened the screws on the less privileged. I don't see your point Johnny37 - the less privileged (not me) have always taken their children out of school to go on holidays and I have never known the school to be chaotic because of it! Normanthedog, could I pick your brain - which Act of Parliament allows the Head to do this? Many thanks.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

i dont think there is a act of parliment to say she can do it,but as i said some heads and education authorities are more leanient then others,its really just a case of where you live and how the relevent authority handle the problem,and what your head is doing is quite within her power to do ,my kids schools were the same,very strict about it.

[buildersmate]

So what would you think if a few of the teachers decided to take holiday during term? You and your child has a contract with the school, in the same way as you expect a reasonable std of education in return. Contrary to your answer, this concept of wanting to take kids out of school is a habit developed over the last 20 years. The Head has my support.

[froggequene]

Contact your Local Authority and ask to speak to the Education Welfare Officer for the school, they should be able to clarify what the current policy is.

[Berta Mason]

From the replies I conclude that the head has no legal right to kick out a child. She is only making an extremely broad interpretation of her discretion. Froggequene's suggestion is a good one though, I think I shall take it up. Just to be absolutely clear about this, I have never taken my child out of school to go on hols when it's cheap. I can afford not to. But - I could not care less if the head took two weeks off during term time. The school would not sink. Actually I am not the only parent who thinks our Head is useless. I myself think the Deputy is much better than the Head anyway. And, Head Teachers' salaries are in fact pretty generous I gather. Heads don't have to worry about the cost of holidays. What about my friend whose husband is a postman? She works a few hours in a local creche, as much as she can. It is very difficult for them to afford a decent holiday with three children. They are the kind of people I am thinking of. Not myself.

[Suzyboo]

How is challenging the Head's authority on this issue going to benefit the school? Absence during term time would increase which cannot be a good thing for the school and once you challenge their ruling on this, other people may follow suit and challenge other rules you actually agree with. The school has taken this stance for an educationally sound reason and would not be such a good school if they didn't care about attendance. If you don't like the school, take your child elsewhere

[johnny37]

Berta, so you think it would be a good idea to stagger school holidays acording to the parents income? It is diffcult enough running a school without keeping a register of 'who's on holiday' and making sure they are all up to date on lessons. Surely the right to an education is higher than the (theoretical) right to take extra holidays. If it were legal (which I dont think it is), you would be contravening the human rightsd of the teachers to take time of when they feel like it. Contrary to popular belief they do not get massive holidays. My son, a newly qualified primary teacher, works to ten every and night and weekends marking, assessing, reporting, and doesn't have much time to himself in the 'holidays' either.

[Suzyboo]

Can I also add (even though I'm showing my age here!) that in my day, if you couldn't afford to go on holiday during the school holidays then you just didn't go away, there was never any question of going in term time because it was cheaper

[Berta Mason]

Thank you for the replies.

[TVFan]

YES they can take children off the roll if this is supported by the LEA or school;basically thousands of parents in the UK are breaking the law when it comes to taking holidays in termtime and the law of the land says your child has to have an education whether home or school. If the head or LEA or school or ALL of them are tightening the screws on this then I'm sorry I'm with the teachers/headmasters and headmistresses on this and NOT THE PARENTS EVEN THOSE WHO CAN'T AFFORD IT TO DO SO. Just because you get cheaper holidays in termtime and just because mummy and daddy and family can't afford it during the holidays is NO EXCUSE for taking holidays in termtime and disrupting the child's education. The headteacher and many up and down the country who are doing this are 100% right. The parents/families of the children who regularly take kids off in termtime to go on holiday only have themselves to blame, the school(s) aren't wrong.