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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you got fined or not

108 replies

BanginChoons · 10/07/2018 13:00

For taking your children on holiday in term time?

I'm not asking if you should or not, just if you got fined. And if you did, how long did you take them for? Did you ask for permission first? And how long did it take for the fine to come through? Thanks.

OP posts:
Cantcarryonforever · 10/07/2018 16:11

Yes. 1 week holiday in October. Fine issued end of November. Also referred to attendance officer or something similar as the holiday was early in the school year so dc went below 95% attendance.

kitchenrollinrollinrollin · 10/07/2018 16:12

No. Our schools were fine about it.

OhTheTastyNuts · 10/07/2018 16:12

In our LA, you might get fined if you take DC out for more than 7 days. I think each LA has slightly different thresholds, so you need to check your council's website...

www.durham.gov.uk/media/8481/Factsheet-Penalty-notices-to-address-poor-attendance-at-school/pdf/FactsheetPenaltyNotices.pdf

FFSJake · 10/07/2018 16:14

Oh dear Tjz you sound like someone who's pushing their dc to do better in life than you did 😂

they can be sick in the bathroom. And a bit of horrible parent too.

Anon12345ABC · 10/07/2018 16:15

Nope. Took out for over 2 weeks. Letter saying they would monitor DCs attendance for 6 months but no fine. Know someone in work who said the same happened to them. They aren't issuing fines in our area at the moment.

Snowysky20009 · 10/07/2018 16:15

Took both out of high school for a week and no fines.

kitchenrollinrollinrollin · 10/07/2018 16:16

If they need to be sick they go to the bathroom.

How much do you think your children are learning in that state?

How pleased do you think your school is that you are sending infectious children into school (advice is to keep them off for 48 hours after d and v) when it could negatively impact the learning of an entire class?

How do you think your children will grow into adults who are able to take care of themselves when they are ill?

Do you stay off work with d and v?

kitchenrollinrollinrollin · 10/07/2018 16:17

That was *tjzmummabear

Steviea88 · 10/07/2018 16:17

Took my eldest out twice. Laat year and this year. Both for a week.
Both times I have be given a £60 fine for myself, my husband and her biological dad.
When i spoke to the council yo ask how comes 3 of us got fined they told me to speak to the headmaster of my daughters school as ultimately tgey are the ones who decide to fine or not. This may not be the same in all areas

Headmaster said its anyone with parental responsibility and also any adult who lived in our home who came on holiday with us . Hmm

My daughter has excellent attendance otherwise so thats not an issue.

Steviea88 · 10/07/2018 16:19

I had filled in holiday request forms too.

itbemay · 10/07/2018 16:20

took dc out for a week last year and again for 4 days this year, no fine and a lovely phone call from HOY to say dc is a great boy, attendance excellent and to have fun.....

han01uk · 10/07/2018 16:26

Skaross - not quite sure where the figure of 5 days has come from? A friend has just been fined for two days absence (mon and fri),and our school is now fining all unauthorised absences,regardless of attendance record or previous unauthorised absence.

Bizarretortoise · 10/07/2018 16:31

There are families at our children’s school who take them out at least once every year for a week or more. I’m stressing over two days for husband’s 40th 😂

Skarossinkplungerridesagain · 10/07/2018 16:35

Sorry 5 days is our LA rules, I assumed it was the same for everyone. Apologies

ElectricSeal · 10/07/2018 16:36

The whole missing school argument is a bit of bollocks considering every fucking music lesson takes place within school lessons so they miss chunks of different lessons all the time. So much so that we have stopped them for our children in secondary.

Or the school trips that take place during term time whilst the rest of the year group are all in school still learning. It happens in lots of schools. Or the days missed for religious celebrations. I myself attended a Catholic school so spent a lot of time in chapel on days of obligation and mass every week.

Yes I took my 2 children out of primary school for 6 days. I was fined, but it did take a few months to come through. The leaflet that accompanied the fine said 4 1/2 days is okay, 5 days and we fine you. That was 4 years ago. It was the last week of term and also the week after year 6 SATs.

Our primary says take them out, there is nothing they can do to stop the fine but life is too short.

eyycarumba · 10/07/2018 16:37

I did it for one Friday. The request was denied but we were told it was just for paperwork purposes and we received no fine. It really comes down to the school, but if we purposely took DC out during school time I would expect and allocate 'holiday budget' to cover a fine. I would not take him out for a full week though.

Hoppinggreen · 10/07/2018 16:37

I’ve done it a few times and it’s been unauthorised but The Head hasn’t referred us to the LEA for a fine, although I do know people who have been fined.
I have a very good relationship with School and know most staff very well, no idea if that helps

Hoppinggreen · 10/07/2018 16:38

Also, if I got fined I would just pay it.
I know the rules so if I choose to break them then I should pay

CtrlCandCtrlV · 10/07/2018 16:40

WHO is actually happy about the attendance nonsense, and what can we do about it?

What I mean is that giving more - or all- power on that aspect to the headteacher and remove the attendance rate from Ofsted report would be a good start?

We all agree that fighting truancy is one thing, but penalising genuinely unwell kids another entirely. The holiday fines are not a deterrent, parents just include them in their holiday budget.

Why do we all accept that mess, I haven't found one person - head teacher included - who believe the current system is ok.

didofido · 10/07/2018 16:43

Way, way back, when I was in Primary School we asked for a 'Holiday Form" every year and had a caravan at the seaside. Always the last week in June/first in July. Still passed 11+.

Gingerninj · 10/07/2018 16:47

I took mine out of school for 2 weeks in January for a holiday, we were supossed to go on the 27th of December meaning they would have only ended up missing about 3 or 4 days of school. However certain reasons meant we ended up rescheduling it for a few weeks later. I asked for permission, neither schools (primary and secondary) gave us permission, I'm not surprised missing 10 days is a lot. But we decided to go anyway. DS's primary school fined both me and his dad £60 no fines from DD's secondary

15star · 10/07/2018 16:47

You can get fined for 5 or more days. My child's school is very unpredictable, a few have been fined and others haven't. I think it depends on attendance here. They won't authorise anything but I don't know what criteria they use to fine. You are probably better off asking the school mums if anyone's had a fine recently

Workerbe · 10/07/2018 16:57

I took my yr2 child out last summer for 10 days right at the end of term. Had the official 'no you can't' letter handed to me by the head whilst she wished us a lovely holiday... No fine.

We both work for emergency services and can't pick leave as it is built into the roster... Apparently that isn't classed as exceptional circumstances though....

drspouse · 10/07/2018 16:58

The trouble is, the groups that either care less or understand less about the importance of continuity are the ones whose children will be impacted more by missing education.
So, a family that has only recently moved to the UK and still has a lot of family overseas, the children's English isn't great, yes they see that school is important but there is a family wedding back home and it's Mum's only sister. It's in term time because nobody there thought to ask the family and Mum can't not go. In their home country it wouldn't be an issue so why should it be here?

Or a family that don't really bother making the children go - it's their birthday, keep them off, Mum isn't feeling well so needs someone to look after the little ones, keep the 12 year old off. Mum didn't go to school that much either so why does it matter that the 12 year old has missed a good deal.

Apart from that one week, DS has had one late and two half days missed for medical appointments, this school year. Thankfully he had chicken pox before CSA!

HollyGibney · 10/07/2018 17:03

I have taken my child out every year for seven years. I got fined this year for the first time. We have a new HT and a member of staff has just been employed to come down on attendance so personally I put it down to new broom, overzealousness on their parts. My child has autism, I am a single parent and previously a blind eye was always turned. I paid the fine the day it arrived, not worth quibbling about. It's certainly not a deterrent, I will take her out again if something great comes up.