Do you agree with school absence fines?

Sadly a lot of the parents whose children are struggling don’t give a stuff no matter how much we engage with them! Their parents saw no importance of education so neither do they and will continue down to their children’s children sadly.

It’s challenging enough managing a class without having to spend time, energy, and the disruption to the other children, of teaching little Johnny long division separately because his parents chose to take him to Benidorm for two weeks in February when it was being taught the first time. Even more fun when he gets a sniffle and has to stay off for another two weeks. At this point little Johnny has missed a month of school - around a 9th of the school year, half of which was entirely avoidable.

We know that performance is linked to attendance. Why wouldn’t you want to give your kid the best chance of doing well for the sake of a few hundred quid? If the fines make at least some parents think twice then that can only be a good thing. If they removed them I can only imagine that attendance would become patchy across the board, especially from the kids who probably need to attend the most.

Oh and my kids have fantastic attendance. I have also never taken my kids out of school for a holiday.
They have missed a week of school due to a bereavement and it was absolutely the right choice .

It would help in the future. And for next year people need to start saving! DH and I are already saving for our holidays next year.

Likely but will it make any difference? Most likely not.

I disagree with them because

1. they disproportionally impact disabled and SEN children whose needs are being so poorly met in the educational system at the moment that it’s insult to injury to then fine them
2. where there are more ‘truancy’ type issues it’s a poor way of trying to fix them
3. holidays in term time have no impact on attainment. The evidence is that poor attendance is associated with poor attainment but since this is also linked with SEND we can’t really say there is ANY causal link between a family holiday and attainment.
4. Fundamentally parents know better than schools what their children need and I don’t think state parenting is a good concept.

Presumably the idea is it’s a deterrent so parents don’t do this?

Weve taken our children out a few times (longest 5 days). The money didnt come into it... it was around their fathers time off work. Which was rhen authorised, as he us in the Army, and Military parents can get an exemption... which is unfair, as other jobs can have similar issues.

I dont think the fines have much effect on the larebts paying £10k for Florida or Thailand etc.

Why is it ridiculous? The children aren’t getting the fines the parents are.
1 child missing 1 week isn’t going to make much difference but multiply that by 30 children at different times of the year and it’s very difficult to catch everyone up!!

I work in Higher Education so it's clear education occupies a high value in my and my family's life. But I deeply believe that family experiences such as holiday are at least as important as formal education for a child's wellbeing (if not more). Also, what about children of mixed origins, such as mine? I'm originally from Europe and going home to see family with my kids is much more than just a vacation, it's connecting to roots, culture and some of the most important people in our life. If we couldn't afford to take them during school holidays, I would absolutely take them out of term, providing it's not exam time.

my two have left school now but I never took them out of school for holiday. I’m very against it personally and that stems from being taken out of school myself for holidays as a child (not every year but a few times) as my dad had to take set holidays. I hated it. Teachers with their 13 weeks off a year made snide comments and although I was/am very intelligent and left school with all As in my highers so it never impacted me academically it made me stand out. Whether it’s the same these days as it seems more common who knows. I also hate going on holiday outside of school times and places still being overrun with kids. That said I don’t think I agree with fining.

No, I strongly disagree with school absence fines.

Every time one of these threads comes up and, as you yourself have pointed out, it's highlighted that fines do very little to deter absence and are simply a money making exercise. If the Government actually cared about children being in school, they would invest in education and healthcare. That's the real crux of the matter.

You should get an allowance of say 5d per year you can take without issue. Just inform and use them.

Switzerland has something like that.

So work with parents to keep their kids engaged with learning. Fining them doesn't increase attendance but does negatively affect the family.

The point you made "if children are allowed to take holidays during term time, then so should teachers" is a bit ridiculous.

The difference between the students and the staff is that the staff are employed by the school, they are paid to be there teaching the students. Also, the staff are adults who would be the ones booking holidays, not children who realistically have no say on when the holiday is booked.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a child missing a week of school to go abroad, it's easy enough to catch up. Home educating parents prove every day that learning can actually happen outside of a classroom.

Doesn't help low paid families 2026.

No. Its worth pointing out here that the fines don't just apply to holidays, they apply to children who are grieving the death of a relative, children who are neuro diverse, children who are refusing school because of mental I'll health and bullying, and it's almost always the Mother who gets the fine and gets sent to court, not the Father. There is no evidence it helps the country overall, and lots of evidence to show it is cruel and damaging. Australia doesn't have fines and it's normal to go away. Their society hasn't collapsed as a result.

Maybe they need to stop punishing Mother's and look at how they should change schools so that kids actually want to attend.

Oh yes young children get that from getting moved to another school by school system for no other reason than a few weeks off on holiday. I see..

Oh lord.

Those poorer children are ones who need to be in school more! A quick google and from my own observations in school children from poorer families are more likely to be lower achievers so holidays in term time makes it even worse!!

What would be the point of that? What would you care?

I don’t agree with fines. That’s the system we have though so I don’t agree with whinging about getting one if you take a term time holiday.
We haven’t taken DC out for holidays but she did have weeks off through illness and being in hospital and she, we and her teachers didn’t think she’d missed anything major. They were extremely supportive of her absences, no stress about attendance at all and they suggested a staggered return so she continued to miss half days, no complaints at all.

By making sure they don't miss out on their education and stops them having a belief the rules don't apply to them.