Keeping children out of school for 11+ preparation

[mystery]

I think the rules can vary greatly from one school to another and they don't always take into consideration a reason for a child's absence. I know someone who got in trouble with their school over a few days' absence in one term, all of which was genuine illness, confirmed by a doctor's letter.

Got into trouble equals snotty letter from snotty head I guess. Ignore, ignore, ignore and take note as it equals silly uncaring head.

[Kata girl]

When DD took 11+ she was in school until the test. The 12 + was a Saturday. Having endured 6 months of our daughter being 'given' a poor to mediocre education I could not have cared less what the school thought when we were took her out of school - I think it was three days.
We spent Weds and Thursday going over some worksheets and the rest of the time relaxing - baking, watching a film etc , I took time off work and then on the Friday a few Bond NVRs just to keep her hand in as she liked them anyway.
Never for a moment did it create more stress for her. I am certain the stress would have been if she had felt unprepared - as a previous poster said - many of us would not dream of taking an exam and not flick through a few things for a few days before.
On the morning of the test I laid out all the test papers and booklets FPTP, CGM, Bond etc neatly on the dining table and said 'Look how prepared you are.' I handed her a pretty card with a motivational quote and a little lucky charm of a little item she had been given at an open day at the school of her choice. She qualified. I would never undermine teachers or school rules until the day they stopped earning our respect as educators. And earlier in the year at the crack of dawn we visited the Tower of London poppies with an elderly aunt. No finer education. So on both dates I sent a note in. Edited to remove ambiguity of my original post.

[mystery]

That sounds good. I have done similar educational things and told school what we have done and it has been unauthorised. I don't think we should feel obliged to lie about it. There are potential consequences to unauthorised absence if it exceeds a certain amount and I am happy to take those consequences for sound reasons. It is very controversial though I know.

[Rosy Pippin]

DD had about four days of absence from school for exams and a bit of revision. They were individual days spread out over four weeks. In each case we wrote to school in advance and explained the reason. The absences were marked as "unauthorised" which affected...nothing actually. I didn't really think about the pros and cons much at the time - just did it (so selfish)!

[Kata girl]

Mystery and Rosy's approach is probably preferable. We hadn't really contemplated telling the school as we were new to the school/ area and had been told by a couple of those in the know the school will not authorise anything. Naively - we hadn't really given thought to the fact that for the odd unauthorised absence there are no real consequences. DDs old upper lacked and still lack any insight into where they could improve and did not really recognise that some pupils were not being stretched and for us to say she needed a little time out to mentally prepare for a 12+ later that week (which they would almost certainly have been surprised that she had been entered for) would have been dismissed. It would never have been an issue in her primary school or her current school. But, I am talking about a pretty poor upper. Far better to have an open dialogue and a relationship based on trust.

[mystery]

Unfortunately, it did not lead to a good relationship or one that was based on trust - I had asked to flexi school one day a week for a limited period with some very specific educational reasons why this was necessary and a good plan which showed she would not fall behind but rather was more likely to accelerate with what was, in effect, one to one tuition. When they refused, with no good explanation (it is at their discretion of course but they needn't have got me to send in all the detail they required on an application if they were just going to give a blanket no) I explained that I would go ahead anyhow.

It has had several different and unnecessary negative repercussions from school staff I feel. However, I'd still do it again if I thought it would be of benefit to my child and I wouldn't say my child was ill when when they weren't because a) I just feel really uncomfortable about doing that and b) if I ever were at prosecution point (highly unlikely it would seem in an area with fines) it would be awful to know that there were fake sick days on the authorised element of the absence.

[RomfordDad]

I'm seriously contemplating taking my child out of school for these last 2 weeks of the term, in order to spend time on 11+ preparation.

Is there a way it can be done so that in would be classed as an authorised absence?
Flexi-schooling?

Thanks

[ToadMum]

I'm seriously contemplating taking my child out of school for these last 2 weeks of the term, in order to spend time on 11+ preparation.

Is there a way it can be done so that in would be classed as an authorised absence?
Flexi-schooling?

Thanks

Is there a particular reason why you don't want to tell the school the truth? Or won't you be able to afford a fine on top of the tutors fees?

[Guest55]

It's been a long school year and your child is tired - a break is needed not more work.

I would also seriously question whether a highly selective school is right for them if they need to take time out of school for more preparation.

[RomfordDad]

It's been a long school year and your child is tired - a break is needed not more work.

I would also seriously question whether a highly selective school is right for them if they need to take time out of school for more preparation.

1) More bored than tired (not own words). I'm sure we can use the time from 8am to 4pm more efficiently so that the child can actually get a break.
2) As an OOC applicant who has to score much higher than IC just to get in, coupled with the ratio of OOC vs IC, your concerns are simply not valid.