Hi allwe have an invite to attend the wedding of our close relative. Unfortunately this is taking place during term time. Can anyone advise on how to approach the school with this request and any idea what is generally school's response to this? My daughter is in Year 7 and has full attendance to date.

Thank you and have a great day.

This is from the Absence Request Form on your school's website:

LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Pupils of school age must, by law, attend school regularly. If your child is to be away from school you need to ask us to approve the absence in advance, which we will do when there is an exceptional reason.
A pupil’s absence during term time can seriously disrupt their continuity of learning. Not only do they miss theteaching provided on the days they are away, they are also less prepared for the lessons building on that after theirreturn. There is a consequent risk of under achievement which we, working in partnership with parents, seek to avoid.
If leave of absence is not agreed by the school, then the absence is recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Absence requests are authorised for:
 Music/dance exams
 Non emergency dental and medical appointments
Absence requests are not usually authorised for:
 Occasional visits
 Family days out
 Holidays

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Easier to ask for wedding to be organised during school holidays.

agree ! are the people arranging the wedding not aware that it is term time / midweek (often why venues etc are cheaper) ? Unless the wedding is abroad in which case it is more like asking for a longer holiday time than just a day off.

A lot of wedding seem to be on Fridays nowadays as venues are cheaper and less booked up. And tbh those booking are probably not in the "children at school" loop to know the difficulties (unless they are teachers themselves!)

Thank you everyone but the wedding is abroad and it is in the week commencing 19th Feb ( half term is the week before). Not sure what to do .

Well if you want to go, I guess you could submit the request and see what the shcool says? If it's a no, though, you'll probably have to decline the wedding invite.

As streathamum suggests, you could apply but be aware that, according to the rules laid out clearly in the admissions policy, the school will likely say no (understandably). Or just you go representing your family? I am sure the close relative will understand, having jumped through the hoops to get entry to Tiffin that it is really important that your daughter not miss a week or so of her education.

Or go anyway and face the consequences of the unauthorised absence if that is what the school deems it. Is that week a school holiday where the wedding is being held, or are weddings an acceptable reason for taking time off school? (Or is your DD the only school-aged child invited?).

Is there a friend with whom your DD could stay for a few days, if the school won't authorise her absence but you still want to go to the wedding?

Cross-posted with KCG

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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

You are a bit stuck, TGS have quite a big waiting list so you will not make yourself popular if you request a foreign trip.

Quite simply it messes up the teaching if you deliberately miss lessons, and if you slow the rest of the class as your daughter is needing something explained because the learning needed prior to the current lesson remains outstanding, you wont be helping her.

Probably safest to decline the invite, especially if you require more than one day off, and the wedding is not immediate family.

Sometimes better to leave the requests to another day, as you may need them later. As an example our daughter is now in year 11, and we were grateful there was no questions when we needed to go to her grandmothers funeral whilst in year 9 after a years battle with cancer (she was healthly when our daughter was in year 7).