HELP School refusing letter for performance licence in Leeds

[Amandalee241]

I just wondered if anyone could help. My son has been cast as an understudy in a Pantomine in Leeds which we are all extremely proud of. I requested a letter from the headmistress which she has refused and so has blocked this fantastic opportunity for my son. I have appealed to the board of governors and i have spoke to the LEA in Leeds who said they would not not against the schools decisions. Please can anyone help

[x_sugarplumfairy_x]

Im afraid theres not alot that can be done if school have said no :'(. The LEA are able to overide the schools decision but if they are not willing to do so it makes it quite difficult . All you can really do is maybe arrange a meeting with the headteacher and talk through the benefits he will get from taking part, offer to take school work to complete at home to keep him up to date, talk about how good his attendance record is etc and try to change their mind but its horrible when they're so unsupportive . We had the exact same thing with an tv commercial my daughter was cast as the lead in and the headteacher would not consent to time off (it was only 2 days!!) And my daughter lost the job as a result. I have since pulled her out of the school and moved her elsewhere as i was not willing to keep in her in a school where the headteacher was so unsupportive about something my daughter loves xx

[supamum]

We had the same problem when my daughter was cast in Emil and the Detectives at the National Theatre, I had meetings contacted the governors and they would not budge. Our local LEA issued her licence so I still allowed her to do the show but it was unauthorised absence. I have since moved her to another school who fully support her taking part in the performing arts out of school. Good luck with everything.

[biscuitsneeded]

Our LEA now has a permission form for schools to sign prior to issue of licence which says clearly on it that the absence can be recorded as authorised under code C. It's worth befriending the person on your LEA as they will push the schools if you can get them on your side. Somewhere on this site there's some text circulating that can help in these situations. I will have a look...

[biscuitsneeded]

Here's the wording:

Child Performer
The amendments made to regulation 7 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 on leave of absence do not affect the section that allows the parent of a child performer to seek leave of absence from school for their child to take part in a performance. The amendments affect section 3 and 4 of regulation 7, which relate to leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday.
Section 2 of Regulation 7 (which has not been amended) still enables a head teacher to grant leave of absence for a pupil to undertake employment during school hours for the purpose of taking part in a performance within the meaning of section 37 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963.
Legislation sets out that a local authority licence must be obtained before a child can take part in a performance. Where the license specifies the dates that a child is to be away from school to perform, then the head teacher should authorise those days. However, where the terms of the license do not specify dates it is at the discretion of the head teacher to authorise leave of absence.

[biscuitsneeded]

You should also look at an old thread on Can You Help, called something like 'permission refused, is headmistress being unreasonable?'. There's a lot of info there but the main thrust is that LEAs do and should override schools. One parent was initially told by the LEA that they couldn't go against the school, but wrote a letter which she has included in the thread and got the decision overturned. Have a look. Good luck!

[Thesca]

Hi
The school legally have to give a reason as to why they are refusing the letter
Feel free to give me a call if I can help
Tarquin Shaw-Young FEAA MD Stagecoach Talent Agency
01989769547