Taking children out of school

[blutarsky]

2 hours ago, Jay Pee said:

My Wife is one of those teachers.  It is such a good set up there.  The kids love it

Would you mind DMing me details of how she got involved? I'm a teacher and would be really interested in doing the same. 

[Jay Pee]

7 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

Would you mind DMing me details of how she got involved? I'm a teacher and would be really interested in doing the same. 

Of course. She has done it for a few years now and is part of the dependable crew.  I ain't on Facebook but she has all sorts of shenanigans on there with the organisers. I will speak to her later and ask for information on who you can connect with etc

[MikeandSan]

I'm gonna be honest here, whilst it is educational and of massive cultural significance, I'm bringing the kids (12 and 5) because a) They'll have a boss time, b) They're a good laugh to be around, and c) The 12yr old will look after the 5yr old while I go and watch Patrick Topping b2b Eats Everything.

[ilovelanegan]

Just now, Jay Pee said:

Of course. She has done it for a few years now and is part of the dependable crew.  I ain't on Facebook but she has all sorts of shenanigans on there with the organisers. I will speak to her later and ask for information on who you can connect with etc

Would be keen on taking the minis next year- is it easy to book into the school? I presume you have to prebook not just rock up on the day?

[incident]

1 hour ago, ilovelanegan said:

Would be keen on taking the minis next year- is it easy to book into the school? I presume you have to prebook not just rock up on the day?

Pre-book, and apparently it fills up very, very quickly so you need to be on it. Not quite Glastonbury ticket day, but not far off.

[irnkrtn]

1 hour ago, MikeandSan said:

I'm gonna be honest here, whilst it is educational and of massive cultural significance, I'm bringing the kids (12 and 5) because a) They'll have a boss time, b) They're a good laugh to be around, and c) The 12yr old will look after the 5yr old while I go and watch Patrick Topping b2b Eats Everything.

I never get broody for cutesie kid things, only when someone says their kids are a good laugh! 😄

Hope you all have a cracking time! I am certain any teacher will be totally understanding of the amazing experience. 

[ilovelanegan]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Pre-book, and apparently it fills up very, very quickly so you need to be on it. Not quite Glastonbury ticket day, but not far off.

Noted- thanks!

[DarrenVonBoathook]

We had DVB Jnr booked into the Bearded Theory school in 2020, our event tickets have rolled over since then but I don't believe his place at the school has, which is a shame as his school are really driven by attendance, and it might have helped with the forthcoming conversation as I haven't yet talked to them about taking him out for BT and Glastonbury.

We have friends going to this years Glastonbury with us and are taking their two kids. They had an honest and informal chat with the school who basically said "sounds good, have fun", but when they formally contacted them to say they would be out for those days, the response was they would be fined per child, for each week (or part of the week, they don't differentiate) the child missed. That means a fine for the first week AND a separate one for the second week as the child would have an unauthorised absence on the Monday. I understand negotiations are ongoing and they may have got it down to not being fined for the second week (ie missing Monday).

If we get fined for taking DVB Jnr by his school, so be it.

 

[Sawdusty surfer]

I'd love to see Glastonbury follow the example of Bearded Theory and get teachers involved so it's officially classed as school but suspect that thefestival would hen be overwhelmed with children.

Our two, now adults, were able to be granted permission every Glastonbury but we, erm, used a loophole in the regs.

[Mrs Dubs]

On 4/15/2022 at 9:32 AM, Melm00 said:

I am taking my 7&9 year old children to Glastonbury this year. This will be their third Glastonbury but they weren't at school the last time they went. We're taking them on the Wednesday so they'll be missing three days of school. I don't want them to lie or to feel they can't talk about it with their friends so we're going to be honest with the school. How would you play it? Just ring up on the day & say they're not going to be in or request authorised leave in advance & if it is not granted go anyway (we will be going anyway!). Has anyone experience of this please? They've never had anything other than time off for sickness & even that hardly ever. Will we get fined do you think? Massive thanks. 

We took our 15yo in 2019 and same as you didn’t want him not to be able to talk about so wrote the school a letter, trying to say it was an experience and could be classed as educational and so on. Didn’t get authorised leave but because it’s under 5 days, we didn’t get find and he was just marked as on unauthorised leave. Could be different where you live though. 

Turned out to be a good job we told them because one of his friends saw him on the telly at Stormzy and he was the talk of his class the following week as the kid who went to Glastonbury 🙈🤣 

[Bagger]

On 4/15/2022 at 9:32 AM, Melm00 said:

I am taking my 7&9 year old children to Glastonbury this year. This will be their third Glastonbury but they weren't at school the last time they went. We're taking them on the Wednesday so they'll be missing three days of school. I don't want them to lie or to feel they can't talk about it with their friends so we're going to be honest with the school. How would you play it? Just ring up on the day & say they're not going to be in or request authorised leave in advance & if it is not granted go anyway (we will be going anyway!). Has anyone experience of this please? They've never had anything other than time off for sickness & even that hardly ever. Will we get fined do you think? Massive thanks. 

My wife says (who’s a teacher )get a holiday form and be honest and that you can not be fined unless the kids are off for 5 consecutive days or more. I should mention we will be taking our 11yr old and her friend this year to keep her company and our school has been fine ,we did take her out last time (2019)and they were fine with that too.  Have fun, it’s a different festival with kids but still great. You’ll see stuff you might not normally see. 
 Have a great festival it’s going to be magic again 🥳

[Justcalledtosay]

On 4/15/2022 at 9:43 AM, Bucketsquad said:

On a side note, Bearded Theory has Ofsted teachers onsite and you register your kids with their festival school and they are classed as at school.

That’s awesome.

As @The Red Telephonesaid i’d write a letter to the school extolling the virtues of them attending an arts festival all the different things they’d experience and different types of people they’d meet etc.

Failing that I’d say fuck them and take them  anyway!

[Jay Pee]

29 minutes ago, Justcalledtosay said:

That’s awesome.

As @The Red Telephonesaid i’d write a letter to the school extolling the virtues of them attending an arts festival all the different things they’d experience and different types of people they’d meet etc.

Failing that I’d say fuck them and take them  anyway!

I'm guessing some of this comes down to the colour of the local council and dare I say it, whether the head of the school  is a Guardian or Telegraph reader.

[PassingCloud]

I have no qualms about taking my son out of school. As far as I see it this is a musical and cultural education that few kids get. This will be far better than sat in a classroom while the sun is shining. 

I have the advantage of him having completed SATS so he's really not missing much education. 

I haven't told school yet but will do closer to the time. If necessary I will also point out that I am not in a position to be able to take him on an expensive holiday during school holidays. 

 

[Nice hymer]

As a regular attendee, we've told the truth as well as blagged excuses on various occasions.

This year, it's tummy upset Weds/Thurs followed by positive covid tests on Friday, which will also cover Monday's absence.

The school is under a lot of pressure (as most are I'm guessing), this just seems the most stress free way to approach it this year. Hope all the parents and kids have a wonderful time!

[Miathedog]

We handed in our absence request form on Friday, coming clean and asking for one day for Bearded Theory and three for Glasto. It will of course be unauthorised but that’s always a given. We took him out for two days for Glasto previously with no fine. Hoping they will be kind again. We will report back with whatever result we get!  

[Cheesey]

Personally I don't think teaching your kids to pull sickies and lie to their teachers is the best way forward.

We've got two school age kids, and we've always been honest with their primary school and applied for an authorised absence using the relevant form. They've never approved it, but we've never been fined either, and the teachers themselves have only ever been positive about the whole thing. I think the guidance from our local authority is that you will only be fined for 5 or more consecutive days of unauthorised absence, but that might vary across the country.

For my son it's the last year he can go for free. This will be the first time that we've gone through this process with his secondary school, so it might be more problematic if their ridiculous draconian policies on school uniform are anything to go by. It's not going to stop us though.

[Cabaret_Tent]

I am bringing my 6 and 9 year old for the first time. Does anyone know if you need to phone the school each day to say they're not coming in if unauthorised or do you just leave it at that? I'd rather avoid an awkward phone call at the start of each day!

[Glastoboy]

As per most of the advice here, just fill out the forms. It won't be authorised by any school because they can't, so there is no point writing flowery explanations about the positive experience.

You are very unlikely to be fined but if this is worrying you then you will need to lie instead and phone them in sick. You have to play the system however you think best.

And just a reminder to all, we have ex education secretary Michael 'raver' Gove to thank for these laws/fines. 

 

 

[e_p]

Ex teacher here.  Fine is £80 a day. Impossible to enforce. 

and - draconian uniform policy the only way to go.  Weak uniform direct link to weak behaviour.  

[blutarsky]

3 hours ago, Cabaret_Tent said:

I am bringing my 6 and 9 year old for the first time. Does anyone know if you need to phone the school each day to say they're not coming in if unauthorised or do you just leave it at that? I'd rather avoid an awkward phone call at the start of each day!

Do it via email and avoid the phone call full stop. 

[donshakey]

Does anybody know about taking other peoples kids (as if my 3 wasn't enough!)? My 12 year old really doesn't want to go so might be able to soften the blow if she has a friend with her.

[Cheesey]

2 hours ago, e_p said:

and - draconian uniform policy the only way to go.  Weak uniform direct link to weak behaviour.  

As an example, I don't see how being forced to wear extortionately priced school-branded black PE socks instead of plain black PE socks will improve behaviour. I can only assume the school is taking back handers from the clothes company.

[Hugh Jass II]

We found out our school doesn't fine for taking kids out.

Those suckers are going to Glastonbury!

(Ticket permitting)

[Cheesey]

We didn't get fined this year either. My son's secondary school sent us a sternly worded letter about referring us to some higher authority (I can't remember the exact wording), but nothing else happened.