School Holiday Fines

maman

sevenhills wrote: »

I like to follow rules, I like to obey the law, those are different things.
I rarely get speeding fines because the speed limit are guided to what is safe.
There are laws/rules which are in place to keep us all safe, term time fines are not one of those.
These are rules that I would gladly help people overcome, they are wrong. Are there any rules/laws which you disagree with?

There are both rules and laws that I don't like but there are ways and means of protesting and trying to get them changed. I don't like the current school curriculum or the obsession with testing and league tables but to campaign against them or sign a petition or write to my MP is one thing to ignore them and keep a child away illegally (it is the law that a child should attend school) is not the way IMO. I'm especially concerned about the message it's giving to the child.

In any event, most parents are not keeping children away because they're on some sort of educational campaign. They're doing it to have a cheaper holiday.

To use your analogy : if you were driving in an area where you believed the speed limit was set too low as a cash cow, you're unlikely to deliberately get caught (although maybe not) knowing you could just pay the fine and it's worth it just to get your own way and make a point . That's what many parents are doing as the fines are low compared with the saving on a holiday.

sevenhills

maman wrote: »

In any event, most parents are not keeping children away because they're on some sort of educational campaign. They're doing it to have a cheaper holiday.

The money involved here is above £200 which is a sizable ammount to a poor family.
All holidays are educational, better than being sat in front of a mobile phone, even schools use part of term time when they organise school trips - probably just to save a few pounds.

onwards&upwards

sevenhills wrote: »

Local authorities do choose not to proscecute if just 5 days holidays are taken, but schools can only give permission in exceptional circumstances, funerals and weddings have been deemed not to be exceptional.

Funerals? Are there really headteachers who have denied kids permission to go to funerals? :eek::eek::eek:

JGB1955

Funerals? Are there really headteachers who have denied kids permission to go to funerals?

Absolutely...when it's their grandmother,,,for the fifth time!

sevenhills

A family has been fined for taking their son out of school to attend his grandmother’s funeral in South Africa.


https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parents-fined-for-taking-child-out-of-school-for-grandmothers-funeral-in-south-africa_uk_5d5d3a13e4b063487e957cd8



Two parents have received a written warning after their children missed school to attend their grandfather's funeral.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10759580/Parents-reprimanded-for-taking-children-out-of-school-for-family-funeral.html

LilElvis

sevenhills wrote: »

A family has been fined for taking their son out of school to attend his grandmother’s funeral in South Africa.


https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parents-fined-for-taking-child-out-of-school-for-grandmothers-funeral-in-south-africa_uk_5d5d3a13e4b063487e957cd8



Two parents have received a written warning after their children missed school to attend their grandfather's funeral.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10759580/Parents-reprimanded-for-taking-children-out-of-school-for-family-funeral.html

Attending a funeral would typically entail one or two days - the cases you have cited are for absences of twelve days and a week. Hardly surprising that they weren't authorised.

foxster99

sevenhills wrote: »

Local authorities do choose not to prosecute if just 5 days holidays are taken

That's not necessarily correct. It varies between LAs and by schools within LAs. If attendance has already been a problem or this is not the first term-time holiday then a school may well ask the LA to prosecute.

but schools can only give permission in exceptional circumstances, funerals and weddings have been deemed not to be exceptional.

Depends entirely on the school. Generally though most schools will authorise short absences for both of these.

onwards&upwards

onwards&upwards wrote: »

Funerals? Are there really headteachers who have denied kids permission to go to funerals? :eek::eek::eek:

sevenhills wrote: »

A family has been fined for taking their son out of school to attend his grandmother’s funeral in South Africa.


https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/parents-fined-for-taking-child-out-of-school-for-grandmothers-funeral-in-south-africa_uk_5d5d3a13e4b063487e957cd8



Two parents have received a written warning after their children missed school to attend their grandfather's funeral.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10759580/Parents-reprimanded-for-taking-children-out-of-school-for-family-funeral.html

Well that’s just horrible.

What lesson are they trying to teach there?

sevenhills

foxster99 wrote: »

That's not necessarily correct. It varies between LAs and by schools within LAs. If attendance has already been a problem or this is not the first term-time holiday then a school may well ask the LA to prosecute.
Depends entirely on the school. Generally though most schools will authorise short absences for both of these.

That is why these fines unfair. It varies, but not in the interest of the child, if the parents are devorced, if the parents are in the police or services, if the parents work shifts; it should be more relaxed if the its junior or secondary school. There has been cases where the teaching staff take term time holidays and parents with a child in different schools that have different holiday schedules.


The rules before this was that a parent could be fined if they failed to ensure their child attended school regulary, it worked.

foxster99

sevenhills wrote: »

That is why these fines unfair. It varies, but not in the interest of the child, if the parents are devorced, if the parents are in the police or services, if the parents work shifts; it should be more relaxed if the its junior or secondary school.

It is exactly in the interest of the child. They have a legally guaranteed right to an education and the fines are there to discourage parents from denying that right for a cheapo holiday or whatever.

Parents who chose to have children and chose careers with restricted holidays knew what they were getting into. They have made those decisions and have to suffer the consequences - not their children by being denied a full education.

There has been cases where the teaching staff take term time holidays and parents with a child in different schools that have different holiday schedules.

This is vanishingly rare and and in all my years in education I have never come across it. Teachers simply do not get term-time holidays authorised and they would put their jobs seriously at risk if they went without authorisation.

The rules before this was that a parent could be fined if they failed to ensure their child attended school regulary, it worked.

All that has changed recently (due to the Jon Platt case) has been more clarification of what "regularly" means. Basically, it means attending as required by the school i.e. attending every term-time day unless authorised otherwise by the school. It works better and is fairer now.