She has now left that school although the Head is trying to talk her into going back but my daughter flatly refuses to work there again.
Shropshire school refuses boy leave for mum's wedding
The head teacher of the school, Mary Lucas, said parents are welcome to talk to her about any issues
A nine-year-old boy has been refused leave from school to attend his mother's wedding.
Claire Whitelegg, who is getting married in Cornwall on Tuesday, asked Clive School in Shropshire if her son could be absent for three days.
She believed her marriage fulfilled the criteria of "exceptional circumstances" necessary to legitimately take children out of class in term time.
The school said it received the request seven days before the absence dates.
'Couldn't wait'
Ms Whitelegg said: "My partner and I both work full time for the police and we do shift work.
"It's almost impossible for us to get leave at the same time as each other in the school holidays, so we couldn't wait until then."
She said she would ignore the decision and would appeal against any fines.
Head teacher of Clive School, Mary Lucas, said: "The school will only authorise leave in exceptional circumstances.
'Open door'
"On 16 June 2014 we received an application for a pupil leave of absence from 23 to 25 June."
Mrs Lucas said the school had a "very clear open-door policy" and she "would have been happy to talk to the parents about this request".
In a second statement, she said the school had received a "brief request" five working days before the proposed absence "which did not even make clear that it was the pupil's mother's wedding".
"If she had come into school to...explain it was her own wedding and why it had to be on this particular date, such as her working patterns, then it would have been quite likely that we would have agreed," she said.
The school said fines would only be given to a parent in cases of five days' unauthorised absence or more. "It appears that this is not the case in this situation," they said.
Shropshire Council said the head teacher of individual schools decided whether any case was exceptional.
Although fines can be imposed for unauthorised absence, it is at the discretion of the local authority.
So if the HT would have "quite likely" agreed to the absence if she'd known from the start that it was the mother's wedding, why couldn't she reverse her initial refusal once she knew? Hubris?
ReplyDeleteIt's not just children that are the prisoners. My daughter is a Primary teacher and she recently requested 2 hours off to attend her grandmothers funeral - whom lived at my daughters house until she passed away, the school Head refused my daughter the time and gave no reason. My daughter handed her notice in immediately and informed the Head she was taking the time off for the funeral no matter what.
ReplyDeleteShe has now left that school although the Head is trying to talk her into going back but my daughter flatly refuses to work there again.
And I'm absolutely certain these "heads" are "Common Purpose Graduates"
ReplyDeleteNollidge....I think so too. My daughter often comments on how irrational the system can be sometimes. She gets really frustrated. I can see my daughter changing career in the not too distant future
ReplyDeleteMy daughters friend who was also a primary school teacher left teaching completely last year. Her reason she claimed was that she could no longer work within a system she totally disagreed with. She wanted to open a crech for pre school but personally I think she'll hit the same authoritive brick walls she did within the school system.
If it's designed to hinder learning then it will start from the very bottom as early as pre school, 'They' will make sure of it
Leading beyond authority.
ReplyDelete