Hally, I'm similar when taking the kids out of school for holidays. We have always taken them out and never had a problem, we have action packed holidays and they learn so much while we are travelling I think it's great life skills, but there is always at least one teacher that doesn't see it that way so I've learnt to keep pretty quite and leave a message or send a note on the final day. we have always taken the view that it's not the teachers responsibility to provide work in advance or ensure they don't miss anything, but we are careful to catch up with other parents and kids before and after a trip. Our eldest is going into her final year of high school so we won't be taking her out of school during next year but we have every other year and never had a problem.
In regards to the PC think about getting your money back and purchasing a stove top one, after using the stove top for a few months I find it much better than the electric one and it really should last a lifetime with just seal replacing whereas the electric really do have a limited life and much more prone to problems from what I can tell.
