Absence from school for audition

[hollydolly]

Hi my ds has an audition coming up which will require him to be absent from school for a whole day. Have heard in the past that children are allowed a certain number of days absence per academic year for auditions etc. Does anyone know if this is correct, and if so, how many days they are allowed? Would appreciate any advice. Would prefer to be honest with the school than tell a lie and keep him off sick. Please help?

[janine]

when my daughter first started needing to miss school for castings, we were informed that the school was allowed 12 days per child , per year for certain abstances, which included auditions & performances.( it is a private school but I image the same rules apply) However we found that a meeting with the head where we explained our position & that our daughter would be absent , cleared up all confusion, meant we didnt need to lie ect.The head will need to sign a consent form anyway for any agency or licence, & in an awful lot of cases they can be reasonable & constructive in these matters.At least ours was!! Good luck at your sons audition !!

[Irishdancer]

The trouble with taking whole days off for auditions is most schools like there children to have I think its 92% attandence rate so if u take a lot of time off for auditions then the school might get a bit funny, so I have told the school that I do not want to take ds out of school for auditions, luckly we are 12 miles outside of London so can get up to West End with in 1/2 a hour, I feel I would rather keep days off for filming rather for auditions which I am not sure he will get. Head only has to sign a form if yr child gets the part not to get time off for auditions

[oliveral]

As far as I am aware there is no legal maximum as such so long as your child is receiving 15 hours of tuition per week..depending on the school audition days are marked as authorised...if the school marks as unauthorised then that is when the problems kick in with regards to 92% etc....if your child is up to date...bright...and otherwise has good attendance then I'd be asking why they don't give it as authorised..

Obviously when I say no maximim you have to be sensible about it ...my kids have been spread across state school, private school and grammar and it has been the same with all...authorised so it doesn't have an effect on the school attendance figures...

Saying that I know of a few schools that refuse point blank to authorise...which is such a shame!!

[janine]

with regards to missing school for castings, I think this will depend on your proximity to Our Great Capital. We are 21/2 hrs by train from London & would get no actual work without our daughter missing school to attend casting. However if you are lucky ,like Irishdancer & live near, then I also would try to arrange the castings at a time after school. Just to clarify my earlier pointr re the head. The point I was trying to make was that at some point whether it be for an acency or for when your child requires a licence( for a commercial/film/ proffessional theatre,ect) your child will require the signature of its headteacher, so better to get them on side now & I find honesty the best policy .

[hollydolly]

Thanks all for your informative replies. DS attends many auditions and has never missed a day off school for these - always manage to get them arranged for after school. However, on this occasion it is a recall (original audition outside of school hours) and he needs to be there from 10.00 am for two hours. We only live 30 minutes by train from Charing Cross but what with the added tube journey would probably need an hour each way for travelling, therefore, he wouldn't make it back into school much before 2pm, which is hardly worth it. DS has been fortunate to secure a number of roles and, as such, has missed a few days for filming which were all authorised by the head of school, in order to get his performance licence. However, we now have a new headmistress and not sure how she feels about such things. Will maybe write a letter requesting the day to be authorised and offer to go in and meet with her if she deems it necessary. Don't want to upset her just in case he gets the part and needs time off for performing. Thanks again - will keep you posted.
Holly

[oliveral]

If you get back for 2...I'd still send him in...it shows willing and also as he will get an afternoon mark it will be one less missed school session if they are keeping tabs xx

[janine]

OHHH!!! FINGERS CROSSED for him, & a big well done on getting so far.Keep us posted!

[hollydolly]

Thank you - will keep you updated.
Holly

[hollydolly]

What is the situation if I ask permission from the school and they say no? Do I keep him off anyway and have it marked as unauthorised ?

[julie4travel]

Hi
we had the same thing for the final round on horrid henry. It was on a school day and potentially you could be there all day.
I emailed our head mistress and explained it and how he had done all the other auditions/recalls for it in the holidays.
I asked what her preference was for it and she advised me on this occasion to put it through as holiday yet it would be unauthorised absence
I was happy with this as meant i could be reassured that the school were aware of why he wasn't at school.
Good luck to your ds

[Angel's Mum]

All State schools have to aim to meet the National Requirements of about 96% attendance rates. Anything less and OFSTED will be on their backs! If a child can register in the morning then leave to go to the audition it won't be recorded as an absence. Schools are usually happy with this butit is always a good idea to keep the HT informed as they are the ones who will ultimately be signing the forms granting permission (or not) in order for a child to get a license if they are successful in their auditions. Many HTs will see success in the Performing Arts as a real benefit to the school. There is no minumum or maximum amount of time that a school is allowed to grant as an authorised or unauthorised absence. All children are expected to attend school unless they are ill. Hope this helps!

[hollydolly]

Once again thank you for all your replies - all extremely helpful. Well, I emailed the headteacher yesterday explaining the situation and apologising for the fact that this particular audition is in the middle of the day and asking her to authorise ds's absence from school. She said yes !!!!! So relieved - now we can go to the audition with a clear conscience. Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

[janine]

HOORAYY!!!!! Thank God for common sense & understanding heads. Now you can concentrate on his audition!