Unauthorised school absences

I did in the 70’s, widowed with 5 and 7 year old, we had taken them every year in Wales, did not want to explain to them we couldn’t afford to go during school holidays .

We didn’t go overseas as a family, although I went with a couple of school trips, my daughters do take theirs skiing, often the last week of term before Xmas, havn’t been fined yet.

This isn't exactly news. Parents have been doing this for years. My son is in his late forties and we did it when he was at school. I do however think we were allowed 2 weeks in term time back then. The prices in school holidays have become astronomical. I had a shock reading some of the conversations on Mumsnet. They are paying thousands, not hundreds. That's for a fairly ordinary package holiday to Spain.

How about fining the travel companies for raising their prices so horrendously during the school holidays ?

The next step is rumoured to be taking parents to court for taking the children out of school in term time, resulting in a criminal record.

Where do these rumours come from?

MissAdventure

Where do these rumours come from?

BBC news tonight.

Mollygo

The next step is rumoured to be taking parents to court for taking the children out of school in term time, resulting in a criminal record.

There is a fine of £X

If that isn’t paid within X amount of days the fine increases.

If the fine isn’t paid parents can and have been taken to court.

Ah, well that's at least credible.

Is that a crime matter, or a civil one?

Have never done it but I don't think a couple of days does much harm After all we all missed days through sickness.
I was surprised to hear that yesterday in my grandsons primary class 7 children did not turn up for the new term.

Yes, I know someone who was taken to court for failing to make her teen go to school.
The fine and court made no difference, as she still couldn't make her go.

MissAdventure

Is that a crime matter, or a civil one?

Not 100% sure, but I assume criminal.

Only going on that it’s illegal for a child not to be in education (of an approved sort) from 5-18

The BBC seems to be saying that it's a tightening up of existing legislation.

Sixty pound fines will become eighty, doubled if not paid. And something or other (court?) If thr same occurs within three years.

Years ago I asked three teachers friends if they'd take their kids out of school for holidays if they weren't teachers and they all said yes but that was before fines etc.

I think that schools must be more flexible in Ireland, or like Scotland they must have different term times, because when we travelled to Spain the other year out of season we saw a fair few Irish families with school age children. Perhaps we could take a leaf out of their book and stagger term times, with schools taking their summer break earlier or later, maybe starting in June or ending in September etc. Then families won't need to take their kids our of school.
And for goodness sake something should be done about the price of holidays peak season, is beyond extortinate, and not every holiday destination can say it is because that is their only season, with everything closing in September, because these days people travel year round to these destinations, so they make enough money. Massive profits are being made. Is obscene.

We took our children out of school for holidays a couple of times when they were at primary cause.

The reason had absolutely nothing to do with cheaper holidays but simply that DH could not get leave over the summer months. He worked in the offshore energy industry supervising and managing the towage and installation of platforms and rigs. Leave during the summer weather window that ran from April - October was effectively forbidden. One year we had our 'summer' holiday in early March during the spring halfterm.

I fail to understand this belief that to have a 'good' holiday you have to spend a lot of money. We never spent much on holidays, but we always had great fun. They were almost always self-catering, The three years we took the children out of school in late September, we went to the Lake District, not the best choice at that time of year, but despite rain and the occasional gale, we developed family holiday traditions that remain with us still.

We have recently returned from a gite holiday in France with DD. She insisted that we had to take a Fray Bentos Steak pie with us, otherwise it wasn't a proper summer holiday. This tradition started with the Lake District holidays.

I was always taken out of school in the 60s and 70s.

It was a private school. They didn't appear to be particularly bothered.

I was very lucky and got taken on amazing holidays.

My father used to insist on going during term time, not due to price, due to the fact he didn't like children! Obviously thought that there would be less sprogs around.

We used to take our children on holiday the first week in September when the school year started. DH was a farm manager and it was impossible to go anywhere in August because of harvest. This also applied to nearly all the kids in a small village primary.

Harvest tends to be earlier now due to hotter summers so it may no longer be the case.

As a teacher obviously I did not take holidays in school time so nor did my children.
I don’t think cost is a good enough reason. Prices should not be so high.
I have sympathy with agricultural workers and others whose business prevents them going away out of term time.
But teachers should not be expected to give up time to help children who missed lessons to go on holiday. I expect I have said this before: as a French teacher, lessons involved lots of speaking and listening. Text books and worksheets cannot compensate for that. A child who missed the teaching of a new tense struggles to catch up. The same must apply in other subjects.

merlotgran

We used to take our children on holiday the first week in September when the school year started. DH was a farm manager and it was impossible to go anywhere in August because of harvest. This also applied to nearly all the kids in a small village primary.

Harvest tends to be earlier now due to hotter summers so it may no longer be the case.

If we had not taken our children out during term time, we'd have had no holiday in 30 years (4 children born over 20 yrs).

Nuns gave us the lessons, children missed nothing.

We too never took the children out of school, like kitty we went on holidays we could afford - camping. As a teacher I never agreed to taking children out of school.

I dont blame parents being annoyed at having to pay extra during school holidays and preferring to pay the fines.

The travel industry needs sorting out for the way they fleece parents/families in this respect. In many cases its not just a couple of hundred pounds difference. The price can almost double. So some parents are going to bend the rules to save money.

I have always deeply resented the "single suppliments" which package holidays charge. You pay the suppliment and end up with a miserable little room overlooking the bins. No thank you.

This was one of the reasons why I began travelling independently/off piste and booking direct with the hotel. Hotels with empty rooms do not want you going off somewhere else. So I have never stayed in one that was not willing to negotiate. Last time I visited Venice (December) I got a double room with balcony overlooking the Grande Canal for the same price as a single. With a package deal you have no such leverage.

Children have to attend school, it is the law, or be receiving “some type of education”
I very much doubt that any modern day children would consider it a privelage really, I certainly didn’t all those decades ago in Primary school. It was just something you had to do. Most of the time I loved it.
Holidays are an important part of family life and childhood too and within reason the authorities should ease up on parents wanting a couple of weeks a year to holiday at a time that suits them.

I never knew that it's mandatory for kiddies to have a holiday abroad, as a lot of parents imply in their whining attempts to justify breaking the rules.

And when they put forward the threadbare argument "oh, but Ibiza/Benidorm/Tenerife/Majorca has a museum - so it's an educational trip as well, innit?" I feel like laughing for a fortnight.