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A terminally-ill mum of three was shocked when her son’s school refused to let him have a day off so the family could spend one last holiday together before she passes away.

Angela Rose, 36, from the UK  has terminal cancer, she wrote to her eight-year-old son Carlo’s school and asked that he be granted the time off, explaining she may only have months to live.

In a post to her Facebook page, that has since gone viral, Angela said, “I had to fill in a form to give the reasons I wanted to take my son out of school during term time. I clearly stated that I had terminal cancer and this could be our last holiday together.”

School authorities refused her request saying leave could only be granted to students in “exceptional circumstances”.

She was shocked at the school’s response.

“If a dying 36-year-old mum wanting to take her boy on holiday for one last time isn’t an exceptional case then I dread to think what is,” she said.

Stanton Middle School in Buckinghamshire has since apologised and granted Carlo leave.

“Although we knew she had health issues we did not realise the full extent of them. We should have checked further – we didn’t, and we’re very sorry,” a spokesperson for the school said.

“In the light of this we will of course grant this leave of absence, outside of normal school holiday time.”

The UK mum would have been slapped with a fine if the school hadn’t changed its mind.

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  • How rude and 100% shocking of the school.

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  • Im glad that they changed their mind, but it should not have happened in the first place

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  • Can the authorities at the school not understand the meaning of TERMINAL Cancer?
    How did the person/people concerned get their qualifications to be employed at a school?

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  • I’m so glad the school did a turn around so they could have one last holiday. Unfortunately for me, my husband booked a final holiday for us to make some memories but he passed away last week. I know how you would have felt.

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  • This school needs to follow the three R’s with their staff …clearly the first “Reading” needs some work.
    No seriously I believe this school only did the 360 when the internet community got involved. This lovely lady states she clearly filled out the form stating that “she had terminal cancer and this could be our last holiday together.” Shame on this school, also clearly they have no interaction with parents, otherwise they would have know this families health issues or do they not care.
    Wishing this family much love and wishes.


    • I think so too, shame on this school !

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  • I wouldn’t have asked, and just taken him and sent an email explaing why he wasn’t there. Do not understand why schools have the right to stop parents taking their children on a holiday during school times as some people cannot get time off during the school holidays. My dad was a fireman and never got time off during the school holidays, we always took school work with us but never needed to get permission from the school to go.

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  • That is so awful. I mean, they’ve so much to deal with already, why add extra unnecessary stress and problems?

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  • Wow, common sense has prevailed but only after this story has gone viral. Absolutely disgraceful form on the part of the school. What about the sense of community, knowing this family is dealing with this and supporting them.

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  • Wow, that’s ridiculous! I mean as far as it goes so long as students aren’t having long regular absences, why should forms even need to be filled out? The odd day off here and there isn’t going to hurt!

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  • It would appear not enough attention was paid to the details on the form! The circumstances are indeed exceptional and glad they corrected their error.


    • I was thinking the same thing! Maybe if they had read the form properly they might have seen she said terminal



      • I hope their processes and procedures and checking skills have improved and this never ever happens to another family. It is the very last thing any family needs at such a distressing time. Schools and communities need to support families and the children in their schools during these times.

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  • Crazy, this school should feel deeply embarished !!

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  • This is the last battle this mum needed. Wish the school got it right in the first instance. If they didn’t believe the body of the letter they should have given mum a call. I’m guessing they don’t have a mental health plan either. Let’s hipe they approve leave for mums funeral first time around.

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  • What is happening to this world when a dying mother can’t take her son out of school for one last holiday and if she did would be slapped with a fine?

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  • Compassion seems to be a thing of the past. Glad everything worked in the end

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  • Clearly someone wasn’t paying attention when processing the form. Makes me frustrated that many times to get like this don’t get resolved until the internet gets angry

    Reply

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