Term time holiday

[Mumoftwo367743]

Has anyone ever taken their child for 18 days for a holiday during school term time? What was the outcome?

How many school days will you be loosing? 12? What year group?

Will depend on the LA policy but I would expect both parents to be fine, and that could be a whole topic or more missed in maths.

Our LA sent out a letter saying if a child misses less than 15 days of school they will be issued a fine (for 1st and 2nd offence, 3rd offence will be taken to court), if they miss more than 15 days of school in one go then they will consider taking the parents straight to court.

Each LA is different though.

That's a very long time to be off school-wise. Considering they have 190 days in school, they'll miss a significant chunk.

At my school, you'd get a fine for both parents.
How old is the child?

My kids are 7 and 5 (year 2 and year 1)

@madameimadam this will be my first offence

So will I likely get a fine or go to court?

18 days or 18 days off school time? I think they can be off rolled if they miss 15 consecutive days.

Why do you feel its necessary to take them out for so long?
It's a pain for teachers and they will get behind in their schooling. As a teacher, I find it very disruptive.

Have you had previous fines?

so could I get a fine or go to court?

@Organisedwannabe yes last year around April 2024

@DancingHippos 18 school days

So it's not your first offence then as you previously said?

Wouldn't surprise me if it went straight to court for prosecution. 18 days plus a holiday less than 12 months ago..

@Organisedwannabe 18 school days

@Acc0untant it is my first offence because the new ruling started in August 2024 I went before that

You will definitely get a big fine if not court.

When are you taking them out? And are their classes full?

I think you’re taking the piss! What’s the reason for such a long absence and why can’t it be done during the summer holiday?

I wouldn’t be surprised if school off roll them and offer places to others if they have a waiting list. The policy on that depends on where you live.

I can't see anything that says prior instances of unauthorised absence don't count towards the new fining system.

@Muchtoomuchtodo you’re right

If it's that important that you take your DC out of school in term time then, to avoid a fine of prosecution you might consider deregistering them from their school (as if you were going to home educate) but you run the serious risk of there not being any places available when re-applying for places. Your decision, really, depending on how great your need is.

@DrivingThePlot thank you

Why do you need to take 18 days off school for a holiday??? If it's 18 school days, it's almost 4 weeks. A half-term is only 6 or 7 weeks so that's a huge amount of time. Where are you going?

@Lisbeth50 2 weeks and a half

2 and a half weeks won’t be 18 school days

So 18 days in total including weekends?