Anyone been fined yet for taking kids out of school?

mountainofdebt

GobbledyGook wrote: »

Perverted sexual education? What kind of schools are you talking about? Most schools I've worked in have a lack of decent sexual education, but certainly no perverted education.

I'm guessing any sex education that says that homosexuality is normal

Taadaa

My friend works in a school. She said many parents e mail in each day to say the child is sick. That may not sit well with your morals. In these instances, there is nothing the school can do. Even if said child comes back with a tan.

Nicki

peachyprice wrote: »

No, it has to be over 5 days.

Where is this info contained please peachy? I can't find it in the Education Act or the new regulations. Is it a county by county thing?

There was once a right to up to 10 days (not sessions) authorised holiday at the head's discretion but that has now gone.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

children with above 90% attendance parents are being refused holiday leave for their children, I agree if it were below 80% not to permit it but higher than 90% c'mon.


I think it is a step too far with these fines though, next the local authorities will issue fines for not having the correct school equipment per item.

Spendless

Nicki wrote: »

Where is this info contained please peachy? I can't find it in the Education Act or the new regulations. Is it a county by county thing?

There was once a right to up to 10 days (not sessions) authorised holiday at the head's discretion but that has now gone.

Nicki, I've just this minute copied and pasted this from info on my son's Secondary school website.


4. CONSEQUENCES OF TAKING AN UNAUTHORISED HOLIDAY

Taking a holiday without authorisation will have an impact on a child’s
learning. Parents who choose to take an unauthorised holiday must
accept that this will have an adverse effect on their child’s educational
achievement. The school may therefore ask the Local Authority to issue a
fixed penalty fine where an unauthorised holiday has been taken. Details
of fixed penalty fines are included as Appendix 2. The fixed penalty fine is
collected and kept by the Local Authority, not the school.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances a fixed penalty fine will be
issued:

a. When the holiday absence causes the child’s attendance to fall
below 90% in the previous twelve months

b. When there has been a previous unauthorised holiday(s) in the
same academic year of 5 or more days.

GobbledyGook

I wouldn't mind the fines so much if they were used to benefit the school. So extra wage for someone helping kids catch up for example.

Nicki

Thanks Spendless

Ive just searched on my local authority's website and in our area, penalty fines are issued after 6 sessions are missed.

A Penalty Notice may be served on an individual parent/carer per individual child basis when
the child has had 6 sessions (3 days) of unauthorised holidays/leave in term time. Where 2
parent/carers take 3 children on unauthorised leave in term time then they will receive 3
Penalty Notices of £60 each - £180 per parent and £360 in total. There is no right of appeal.

So it looks like each local authority can make their own rules and there is no blanket get out clause of 10 sessions being OK across the whole country.

GobbledyGook

I think the 10 sessions at the Heads discretion was the old rules. It was also up to the Head to decide if the issue needed escalated. Now the Head can only not report it if it is exceptional circumstances.

The thing is very few holidays went through as authorised absences, they were always mostly recorded as unauthorised. It's just that the Head has lost any discretionary powers.

*Louise*

I've never known anyone to be fined or even threatened with one.....the only time I have taken mine out of school for a holiday I wrote to ask permission, the high school had no issues and the primary school said it's okay but it will be marked as unauthorised absence.

daisiegg

*Louise* wrote: »

I've never known anyone to be fined or even threatened with one.....the only time I have taken mine out of school for a holiday I wrote to ask permission, the high school had no issues and the primary school said it's okay but it will be marked as unauthorised absence.

Was this in the last couple of months? Because the fines have only just come in. That is the point of the OP's question...