Do you agree with school absence fines?

What impact do you see exactly?? These children in primary will go onto high school. How do you know what path a child will go down? How are you aware of the kids grades? No child will sudden fall behind in 5 days. Give over!

How are all our kids doing since covid? Will they fail sats? Will they not take high school exams? Honestly my child is doing perfectly fine despite covid.

You are right about one thing people like me will continue to go on holiday mean while... more serious issues fail to go unoticed within schools.

Supply and demand... prices go up IN ORDER TO price out would be holidaymakers because there are not enough flights and hotels for everyone who wants to go in the summer (should prices be "reasonable"). We'd all be in a queue to buy holidays - like ticketmaster for concerts.

The fines are to stop us lower middle class, always guilty, angst ridden parents from taking kids out.

Poor folks (I dragged up from there through education - ironically) can't afford holidays. Rich folk pay the fine (or holiday when you want tax).

On the whole no, I don’t like that level of state intervention into a parental decision BUT people are morons and can’t be trusted, they take the piss so I can see why they’re necessary.

Hard disagree. I went to a C of E primary school in the 90s. I rarely remember a naughty child. We were taught rules and disapline though. Kids were far better behaved in those days. Nothing like today what you see in some primary schools today. You would go to the headmasters head office for good work and I can remember very occasionally a child would be sent to the head masters office for misbehaving.

I have seen parents turning up at 15.20 in a dirty dressing gown to collect their kids! I don't remember that at all in the 90s.

We don’t have absence fines and I agree with that, I think it’s overreaching.

If this is set in the school acceptance ( yes we accept a place and we will adhere to the schools conditions) then the parents have been warned.
If they are then unrolled the parents will need to find a place .
The same parents who thought missing school was a good idea to go on holiday.

They're not. It's more expensive at busy times. That's business!

All compagnies or just travel buisness? Supply and demand isn't only about travelling.

They can. And do.

If attendance drops below a certain level and or there is persistent lateness then school can refer the child to the Children’s Reporter to consider a Children’s Panel. The panel can the put compulsory measures in place and there are legal consequences for failure to comply.

How? it's a private business - like a hotel can charge whatever they like and so can airlines

where does it stop - shops have fixed prices for food items so theres no competetion

thats a ridiculous suggestion to ban holiday companies charging high prices lolz

On the whole, yes.

A holiday isn’t a human right. It’s nice, but you’re not entitled to it. Your job can dictate when you take your leave and it’s a good precedent to set, that you need to consider other responsibilities before going away.

The parents who kick off do my head in. Save for two years instead of one and go in the holidays.

It’s supply and demand, they charge what people will pay unfortunately

I think if attendance is otherwise very good, child is not in year 10 or 11, the absence is no more than one week in a school year and parents will ensure missed work is caught up on, then it should be authorised

Companies just need to be banned from putting the prices so high up, it's extortionate; they're the problem.

⏰ THE FINAL COUNTDOWN — ONE MONTH TO GO!

There is just ONE MONTH LEFT until this petition closes — and we need to keep talking about why fines and prosecutions are NOT the answer to school absence.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱.

A prosecution won’t remove the stress, overwhelm or barriers a child is experiencing. And it certainly won’t magically ensure that their needs are understood, supported and met.

And here’s the thing: not everything is about HOLIDAYS or the COST of a holiday!!

Families need flexibility because life doesn’t fit neatly into a school holiday calendar.

It’s about:
💙 A child’s or a parents additional needs
💙 Family weddings and important events
💙 Family dynamics and circumstances
💙 Spending precious time with loved ones when that opportunity is actually available
💙 Parents who simply cannot take time off during school holidays

Fines do not address any of these things.

❌️𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆.
❌️𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀.
❌️𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.
❌️𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
❌️𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

‼️𝗣𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.‼️

We need a system that listens, understands individual circumstances and puts children’s wellbeing and needs at the heart of the conversation.

📢 ONE MONTH LEFT.

Please sign the petition. Share it. Talk about it. Help us make sure this issue cannot be ignored.

Because children are not attendance percentages. They are human beings with individual needs, circumstances and lives.

#finalcountdown #SchoolAttendance #fightschoolfines

I have one child in primary and one in secondary. Neither of their schools will fine you if their attendance is at over 95%. We went away for a week last year and no fine.

Fair enough.

I live in a fine free country. Schools are obsessive over attendance. Classes have competitions, win parties, prizes etc.

Fines would do nothing. The cost saving from eye watering surge pricing in holidays, and avoiding crowds, is worth it for most families. I don't see it a lot, but admit we've done it a few times - not now DS is in high school (much to his disgust!!)

The big issue is people who don't value general attendance. DD's friend misses a day a fortnight for child custody arrangements. Another's DM decided to take her 2 DC out for 3 weeks to visit a grandparent, when holiday time would have been just as easy.

It's hard to take attendance seriously, though, when schools waste so much learning time. Fridays from about 11am is craft & games for year 5 Dd10 as some kids go to interschool sports fixtures & apparently that's ok because the school says so. I'm taking DD out last Friday of this term to leave early on holiday. Why send her to do nothing?

That’s fine you keep on believing it has no impact. As I said we’ll agree to disagree

Surely the state doesn’t intervene for poor attendance at all? I’m in Scotland - kids in primary - and the amount of parents that can’t be arsed to get their kids to school is staggering. Middle class area and atleast 2/3 kids won’t turn up, 4/5 are 15-30 mins late most days. They really need to clamp down on attendance badly here.

Nobody wants you to understand it. Most just want society not to be foolish about missing a week or two of school. For most children it has no real impact what so ever.

whether people agree with it or not the fines aren’t enough to deter people from taking kids out - if they want this to work the fines need to be more substantial
it is also a “postcode lottery” with some schools authorising “exceptional circumstances” and others fining - even if circumstances are exceptional eg travelling abroad for a family wedding
they all need to be singing off the same hymn sheet

I’m not being dramatic!! I work in schools so see it first hand!!
We’ll just have to agee to disagree as you’ll never convince me that a holiday is more important than a child’s education!

Most children cope just fine for a week or two. Don't be dramatic.

Most children cope just fine for a week or two. Don't be dramatic.

Often there is only a week given in the curriculum for an area of learning so how do you propose that your child catches it all up?
You can argue till you’re blue in the face but I’ve seen the impact of holidays on children’s education on top of days off for illness etc and you’ll never convince me otherwise!!
You’re well within your rights to want to take your child out of school for a holiday and I’m well within my rights to disagree because it harms a child’s education.