School Holiday Fines

foxster99

I think it has been explained here before but if not...

When you take your child out of school then the lessons for the other children continue. When your child returns they have not only missed several lessons, they also struggle to catch up because they don't have the basis for next few lessons. This can actually have a fairly long-term effect, it sometimes leads children to becoming disengaged and on-going problems.

When children go on a school-organised trip then this is planned for. No learning is lost and arrangements are made to delay lessons until the children all return. Minimising the impact.

As for teachers loving trips: For some this may be true but most I work with consider it somewhere between a necessary evil and a chore.

cwc1899

So for those who would actually like to holiday without children, it would seem that the school holidays are the best time to go!

foxster99

cwc1899 wrote: »

So for those who would actually like to holiday without children, it would seem that the school holidays are the best time to go!

Umm, not sure if you are joking.

The best time to go on holiday and you have no children is any other time than the school holidays because the prices are much lower and the crowds less.

Here is a really handy tip that is rarely mentioned for organising your foreign holiday with children:

Make your travel arrangements yourself and book them in the country directly, not via UK travel or booking agents/sites. Many foreign countries do not hike the prices like they do in the UK and those that do often don't have the same school holiday times as the UK. This might take a little more organising but you can save a lot of money. Holiday house rentals in Florida are a good example.

onwards&upwards

foxster99 wrote: »

When children go on a school-organised trip then this is planned for. No learning is lost and arrangements are made to delay lessons until the children all return. Minimising the impact.

I really don’t think they are, school carries on as normal with a bunch of kids missing, usually.

FBaby

Such is the punitive effect of Ofsted.

And there lies the problem, the overarching power of Ofsted. Schools are desperate to get a good rating, firstly so that they !!!!!! off and don't come back for a few years as the effect of their visit on teachers is just additional areas they don't need, but also because parents are naively misled thinking that an excellent rating will mean a better education, and vice versa. Naively because that's what they read and hear even before their kids are born.

Ofsted is like CQC, it is a body that evaluate the worth of a school/hospital based on one particular time frame. Those who are well rehearsed in knowing what they look forx(and it always help to know someone who work for them) will know which boxes to tick to get those good ratings.

Ofsted are all focus on attendance. Forget whether the school offer enough outdoor space so all pupils can get involved in a variety of sports. Forget the appauling quality of the food they get at lunchtime, or whether kids have enough time to have lunch and enjoy some time outside which leads to a num er of secondary kids skipping lunch all together so they have time to play football.

If pupils have an attendance of 94% rather than 95%, the school must be failing. I'm so pleased that my kids secondary school, despite not always being to the absolute top has always stick to an ethos of individual kids' circumstances prevailing over the mass and tick boxes. They have shown flexibility when they have the leave has has been reasonable.

This year, my DS has had his worse attendance record in his gcse year. Sadly, its been a bad year sickness wise for him where he suffers three boots of tonsilitis. The school called me but not in a judgemental way. They listened, showed sympathy and asked if there was any way it could help. A very different attitude to laying blame and assuming that he was just skiving.

I do believe that most schools would show more flexibility if it wasn't for their fear of the Council/Ofsted scrutiny.

Lelhel

I’ve been told the fine, if paid promptly, is £60 per PARENT per child. So a 2 parent family with one child will be fined £120!!

jackieblack

Lelhel wrote: »

I’ve been told the fine, if paid promptly, is £60 per PARENT per child. So a 2 parent family with one child will be fined £120!!

Yep, and a 2 parent family with 3 children, £360 - but it's probably still cheaper than school holiday price increases

maman

jackieblack wrote: »

Yep, and a 2 parent family with 3 children, £360 - but it's probably still cheaper than school holiday price increases

That's right. Many parents are reportedly just taking the hit and factoring in the cost of the fine.

foxster99

maman wrote: »

That's right. Many parents are reportedly just taking the hit and factoring in the cost of the fine.

It can be a dangerous game to play now though after the high court clarification that regular attendance means attending every school day unless authorised by the school.

Education Welfare Service referrals are made for prosecution now if there is a pattern of unauthorised absences, including annually. So you can end up in court where typically you'll get several hundred £ fines each plus costs plus a criminal record that can disbar you from some jobs & make other things in life difficult, like applying to live here as a European post-Brexit.

It's no longer as easy as just factoring in an extra £60 on your holiday budget.

maman

foxster99 wrote: »

It can be a dangerous game to play now though after the high court clarification that regular attendance means attending every school day unless authorised by the school.

Education Welfare Service referrals are made for prosecution now if there is a pattern of unauthorised absences, including annually. So you can end up in court where typically you'll get several hundred £ fines each plus costs plus a criminal record that can disbar you from some jobs & make other things in life difficult, like applying to live here as a European post-Brexit.

It's no longer as easy as just factoring in an extra £60 on your holiday budget.

I'm not saying I think it's a good idea (far from it) or condoning it but just making a statement that it happens.