School fine

paddyposh

Took my kids on holiday in term time and have got a letter today, which I expected. 

It’s titled “notification of a formal warning”

it then lists the section of the education acts and says “this may result in a penalty notice up to £120”

 anyone had experience of this? Is it likely that I am going to be fined, or just a warning

i kind of expected it anyway, and it’s fine as I saved hundreds on the holiday but just wondering what others have had if similar 

marcia_

 I was just speaking with another mum today who got a similar letter about 3 months age after their holiday. Shes not received a fine. 

eskbanker

paddyposh said:

anyone had experience of this? Is it likely that I am going to be fined, or just a warning

i kind of expected it anyway, and it’s fine as I saved hundreds on the holiday but just wondering what others have had if similar 

Enforcement policies will probably vary according to which local authority it is, as well as individual circumstances (e.g. one day out of school versus a fortnight, which year the kids are in, what was missed, repeat versus first time offenders, etc), so you might find it worthwhile to give more detail to try to encourage experiences of others that are actually relevant to your situation....

paddyposh

Yeah fair point. It was 5 days so one week, he never misses school unless he’s really sick. Perhaps 1-2 days since September. Year 1. Northamptonshire 

sammyjammy

My sister is a head of a junior school and has never given a fine for such holidays, she even says its good for the children to experience different places and things.

HampshireH

sammyjammy said:

My sister is a head of a junior school and has never given a fine for such holidays, she even says its good for the children to experience different places and things.

Whilst I don't disagree with that I think it's really bad that it's basically a lottery.

It would be interesting to know (I'm not asking you just pondering) whether the areas which do routinely fine are in those with higher levels of low income and school funding or those in more affluent areas. Or whether it's pretty 50/50.

I really do feel in this case it should be one rule for all or no rule at all.

eskbanker

HampshireH said:
I really do feel in this case it should be one rule for all or no rule at all.

There is one rule for all, in that unauthorised absence is an offence under the Education Act 1996.

However, enforcement of that rule varies by local authority, because education policies are devolved to that level:

https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/legal-action-to-enforce-school-attendance

eDicky

If the possible fine is only <£120 it's likely to be dwarfed by the savings made by avoiding travel during school holidays, so why worry? The schools probably know this so don't bother to do more than send warnings.

frankie

If you do get a fine ask for a refund to cover the children's lost education due to teacher's striking.

CKhalvashi

paddyposh said:

Yeah fair point. It was 5 days so one week, he never misses school unless he’s really sick. Perhaps 1-2 days since September. Year 1. Northamptonshire 

So you expect to break the law and not be prosecuted for this?

Is there any reason you feel this should be the case?

Leave is as per the law for sickness and any authorised circumstances only, not neisure travel, which by your own admission this was.

sammyjammy said:

My sister is a head of a junior school and has never given a fine for such holidays, she even says its good for the children to experience different places and things.

As a former classroom (not management) teacher, it's disruptive and increases an already high workload. It should be fined every time and would be counterintuitive to deviate from this policy.

frankie said:

If you do get a fine ask for a refund to cover the children's lost education due to teacher's striking.

One party is acting legally in this scenario, OP is taking their children out of school illegally.

I'm against striking in general, but at the same time I wouldn't tolerate the salary I'd be on now working in education and it does appear in that particular case there is very little other than striking to solve the situation at this time.

Bigphil1474

OP, it sounds like they have a policy of sending a warning for the first 'offence', and may fine next time, or maybe not because they have looked at the particular circumstances.

Personally, i think you did right. They could probably teach all the important things we need to learn at school in about 5 years, so going there from aged 4 to 16 is probably 7 years too long. Plenty of time to fit in a few holidays, and maybe teachers should look at teaching more effectively. 

The fine, if one was issued, is an alternative to prosecution in court, so yes, plenty of people break the law and aren't prosecuted for all sorts of things.