Mum taken to court over son's 'term-time holiday'

picnic

if schools are going to stop holidays in term time then it should be ALL schools nation wide. in the LEA im under my daughters school (secondary) allows 10 days, my sons school (primary) complete ban, last year we took the both away was fined £50 each (per parent) from sons school but daughters school were fine about it. also if its going to be a complete ban then the holiday companys should be forced to reduce the cost of the holidays in term time to match non-term time.
although this wont solve the problem for some parents that cannot have there holidays in peak holiday season.....
but you cant please all the people all the time..

o_t_e

Hi picnic - when you say you were fined £50 per parent can you explain who did the fining and on what legal basis was the fine imposed? If it was the headmaster or governers of the school what would have happened if you had said that you would not be paying the fine?

frank_potter

o_t_e wrote:

Hi picnic - when you say you were fined £50 per parent can you explain who did the fining and on what legal basis was the fine imposed? If it was the headmaster or governers of the school what would have happened if you had said that you would not be paying the fine?

I think picnic was probably fined under the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003.
These fines are explained on Devon County Council's website:

http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/learning/schools/attendance/absence-from-school.htm

The site explains that a Penalty Notice will only be issued to parents if the pupil has at least ten, half-day unauthorised absences recorded against their name within the previous six months.

frank_potter

picnic wrote:

if schools are going to stop holidays in term time then it should be ALL schools nation wide. in the LEA im under my daughters school (secondary) allows 10 days, my sons school (primary) complete ban, last year we took the both away was fined £50 each (per parent) from sons school but daughters school were fine about it. also if its going to be a complete ban then the holiday companys should be forced to reduce the cost of the holidays in term time to match non-term time.
although this wont solve the problem for some parents that cannot have there holidays in peak holiday season.....
but you cant please all the people all the time..

The Devon County Council website quoted in my earlier post states:

"In order to comply with Human Rights legislation it is essential that Penalty Notices be issued in a consistent manner".

I can't see much consistancy in the case that picnic describes.

o_t_e

Thanks Frank - so it seems if you pay the penalty you won't be considered for prosecution under section 444(1) of the 1996 Education Act for irregular attendance - but what if you don't accept the penalty?

10 sessions equals one week, so take your kids on holiday for a week and they will issue a penalty notice; if you refuse to accept the penalty notice then ten sessions can't meet the legal definition of irregular attendance for a proecution under the 1996 act so ... what happens then?

GUMPO

Finishrich wrote:

Because of the job my mum and dad did I was always kept off school and it didn't do me any harm.

Bet you didn't half check the rest of your post for spelling mistakes after an opening like that.

Bagpuss1973

Haven't actually got children but have been reading this thread with interest.

Can't the parents all get together and speak to the school concerned? Surely if everyone is unhappy something could be done.

Now I am not condoning children having time off all through term time but for the odd week once a year for a holiday I cannot see a problem.

I am generalising here...but either

a) Your child is extremely bright - the week will not matter
b) Your child is average - the week could encourage other interests and a different educational experience and I am sure they will soon catch up with the work
c) Your child is not the brightest lightbulb in the packet - but they will enjoy their holiday and even if they attend every day they might not pass any exams for the league tables anyway

Plus maybe you should all be speaking to your schools about the time that they close for "training" surely this could be scheduled into the proper school holiday period? And any teachers out there...yes this would mean you went to work whilst the children were off but so do millions of other working parents on an almost daily basis

lesley_rod

I'm a single mum with 2 kids (15 & 10) and until last year never took them out of school for holidays, I consider my kids education very important however since my daughter started high school (she's in her 4th year now) I've become more and more frustrated by the school's attitude to the last weeks before a term finishes. Most subjects stop teaching two weeks before, kids are playing games, watching films etc then on the last week they generally have fun days with people in doing nails etc. None of the kids want to go in and it's tough work forcing them (although I manage it!)
End result is that last October I took the kids out for a week (2nd week was school holiday), basically it cost £30 more to go for 2 weeks AI to Canaries than it would have to have just gone for the school week.
I've decided until the high school (primary school are much better) actually start teaching kids right up to the end of term it won't be my highest priority. I've booked another holiday for this October and will just be writing to the schools to let them know. I think this is a subject that needs to be debated otherwise the only winners are the travel industry.

lesley_rod

Sky_Digiman

Theres someone in my class who has like 3 2week hols a year :-o

GirlRacer_2

lesley_rod wrote:

I'm a single mum with 2 kids (15 & 10) and until last year never took them out of school for holidays, I consider my kids education very important however since my daughter started high school (she's in her 4th year now) I've become more and more frustrated by the school's attitude to the last weeks before a term finishes. Most subjects stop teaching two weeks before, kids are playing games, watching films etc then on the last week they generally have fun days with people in doing nails etc. None of the kids want to go in and it's tough work forcing them (although I manage it!)
End result is that last October I took the kids out for a week (2nd week was school holiday), basically it cost £30 more to go for 2 weeks AI to Canaries than it would have to have just gone for the school week.
I've decided until the high school (primary school are much better) actually start teaching kids right up to the end of term it won't be my highest priority. I've booked another holiday for this October and will just be writing to the schools to let them know. I think this is a subject that needs to be debated otherwise the only winners are the travel industry.

lesley_rod

I agree with you here. The last two weeks of the summer term are a complete waste of everyones time. I have to argue with my children who don't want to got to school because 'nobody else goes' and there's loads of 'free lessons'. I'm classed as the worse mother on this earth!!! Why do they do this. It was the same when I was in school some 17 years ago.

If the government want to stop parents taking children out of school for holidays they really need to regulat the travel industry and stop them hiking the prices during the school holiday time. I could certainly not afford to take my children away in July/August, yet in May or September/October time te prices are much more realistic to my pocket.