Time off school refused?

[Viks2030]

Please can anyone help my friend
.
Her DS 's school are refusing to give permmission for 8 days of possible filming.

Is there actually a law that says they can do this ,or is this just the schools decision and can it be overruled?

The DS has had good attendance and the last day adsent was Sept 2012 ,i believe he is uptogether with his studies.

Any info would be greatly recieved.

[changemystory]

Hi Viks2030

Thankfully not had this situation arise for my DD (Y8), where absence hasn't been authorised, but we did have a long meeting with the Deputy Head of her secondary school when she first started about any possible absences for work. They were very clear that they would not authorise absence during any exam period and that for other dates they would review attendance (which would need to be above 95%) and need to be happy with her academic progress (a minimum wasn't spelt out for this ) On the few occasions she has needed time off, they have actually been very cooperative/ supportive and wished her luck with it all.

The main problem your friend has is if her DS is taking time off school, he is likely to need a licence to work/ perform. The local authority won't grant a licence without a letter from the school authorising the absence and the filming company won't be able to use your friend's DS without a licence. If the work is likely to take place during school holidays, a licence is still required, but the school's permission isn't.

In your friend's shoes I think I'd ask for a meeting with whomever the school like you to talk to in the first instance and then work it up the chain if need be e.g. form tutor, head of year etc, or ask the school who authorises absence and then request a meeting with them to have a chat about how much performing gives to her son's wellbeing/ confidence/ self esteem and how much more motivated he is likely to be about completing school work/ keeping up to date with his studies if he is given permission to take time off on occasion. The work itself has an intrinsic value regarding work ethics, being part of a team and understanding employer requirements and being commited about what he does. She might also ask (nicely how demotivated he is likely to be if permission is refused.
Good luck!

[Viks2030]

Hi Changemystory and many many thanks for the in depth reply.

I believe that a meeting is going to take place and will pass on all that you said.

many many thanks again .
Viksx

[riverdancefan]

I hope they might be reasonable, but they are within their discretional right to refuse (apparently) and like has been said, the LEA will not license unless the Head gives permission...
My Ds's school are very good, but I am not sure they would so accommodating if it was 8 days of extra work...a juicy role maybe...
also depends on the school year, I know DS would not be likely to get any time granted in GCSE years..
I think this DS is younger so I can't see the big deal....hopefully with a little more insight they may be happier to give him the time.

[wissymo]

Thanks for all replies,school meeting is going ahead at this very moment!!!
ds is in year 4.
The role is to be back up to an overseas shoot so he doesn't even actually need to be off school at all on this occasion but
all future filming dates are now under question.
devastating really,feel backed up against a wall here,either he ends up being home schooled which he wouldn't want or gives up on what he loves...very sad.
Hopefully they may reconsider in the meeting xx

[puck]

Possibly too late to be of help but I have found in the past that one of the reasons schools won't authorise time-off is because of the pressure over attendance statistics. Some schools get round this by marking the absence as 'educated off-site' which doesn't count as an absence!

[sapphire]

Possibly too late to be of help but I have found in the past that one of the reasons schools won't authorise time-off is because of the pressure over attendance statistics. Some schools get round this by marking the absence as 'educated off-site' which doesn't count as an absence!

That's exactly what DD's secondary school used to do!

[wissymo]

I think this is what our school used to put it under but our old LEA (An experienced one) left and new one (new to job) have told school they can't use that code
so that then made his absence look a lot worse than it did before

[islandofsodor]

You can appeal the decision via the LEA. The regulations say that there has to be good reason to refuse.

[changemystory]

I'd forgotten about the coding. DD has far more sessions of Approved Educational Actitvity than she does Authorised Absence She says she could do with a bit more of the Approved Educational Activity mind! Primary schools never really minded her taking some time off, and although very few occasions where she might be out for a full week to be fair. It was more the odd day here and there. Since they all mark in morning session and pm sessions, we would also try to make one or other of the sessions as far as possible to minimise the absence and keep the attendance level up as high as possible. I really hope you can work something out with the school - if he'd broken a leg or similar (as another DD of mine did and was subsequently absent for nearly 9 weeks, and it really didn't make any difference to her progress - she was at primary school) he would be absent for a lot longer - and the filming work is likely to be such a positive experience. Hope the meeting went well Wissymo.

[WendyB]

There is a lot of useful information on this post - I'm going to "favourite" it because I might just need it.
My DS had 4 days authorised in December for panto with no complaints at all. He's now got a job which will take a single day later this week. The head replied to my email request with her permission and wishing him luck. However, I've since received a letter from the school stating the LEA's policy on absence during term time and saying that a total of 10 days can be authorised, but it's by no means a right. And then saying that this time it will be given as "authorised absence" and again wishing him luck.
Has anyone had days refused because they go over the 10 days? I assume the school can't authorise it if you go over 10 days in a year? What about "unauthorised absence"? Is that the same as refusing permission and so you wouldn't get a license?

Any news on how your friend's meeting went?