£1,000 fines per parent per child to be trialled in Lancashire

[mummymeister]

Aibu to think that this will disproportionately hit poorer families, those not in private schools (where fines don't apply) and those people with jobs where you cant just take time off in school holidays.

Not sure how many people have seen this news item but it was pretty inevitable that the fines would go up massively to deter days off in term. The trial is for £1,000 fines per parent per child - so £4,000 for a family of 4 making it less attractive to take the odd day at the start/beginning of a holiday.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/parents-to-be-fined-%c2%a31000-for-taking-children-on-holiday-during-term-time/ar-BBSuKFY?ocid=ientp

Jakeyboy1

I do understand - we've not had a holiday for 4 years because we've not been able to get annual leave at the same time.

My husband works for a massive company and they are divided into areas - only 2 people per week allowed off out of 100 employees. 6 weeks are allocated by a draw but I have to book my holiday 18 months before to have any chance of getting anytime in the 6 weeks. The chances of us getting coinciding holidays is next to none.

I'm not allowed anytime in December, my husband is allowed 1 extra day between Xmas and New Year - it's very difficult.

And where I worked was mainly women with kids, so most of us were affected.

Instead of fining people wouldn't it be fairer to stagger the summer holidays to ease the demand and lower prices. I don't mean all schools pick their own as obviously then people with children in different schools would be buggered but stagger it by LEA/area eg all schools in Lancashire get June and July, all schools in London get July and August, all schools in the NE get August and September etc.

Frequency

I've often wondered that.

There are lots of sensible solutions out there to solve this issue of non attendance but as usual the government adopts the one size fits all approach and wields a massive sledge hammer that doesn't even crack the nut. The real issue of absenteeism is around kids who have one day off a week. Has these levels changed or do these parents wriggle out of the fines the same way that they wriggle out of their responsibility as parents. If these fines come in then holidays out of term time will go up. Then only the rich will be able to afford school holidays whilst the super rich go in term time.

I'll probably be slated for this but really what's the problem with the odd day or even week out at the end of a term? I remember holidays really clearly from my childhood and would say the experience gave me far more than an end of term week at school. Give families a break FFS, a good holiday at a decent price does everyone a world of good. Obviously having people filling school places then hardly being there, or missing exam periods isn't on but persistent absence is a very different problem.

Frequency

because if there is no peak time the prices will go up to allow for losing a peak price.
It's all about max profit, like any business.

Until about 15 years ago we had ‘wakes’ weeks. So off early July then back in August. Then another week off in late September. It was stopped as August born children were starting school age 3 not 4 and teachers were employed by Lancashire county council on contracts from September so staff moving would have a few weeks with a new class then go to new post.

2 week May and October half terms would help. So more people have a chance to have a holiday at half term stopping the pressure on summer plus more flexibility, could go weds to weds rather than having to do sat to sat if you only have a week.

I would prefer longer at May as it’s a bit cooler. I don’t want to go away in Europe in August particularly especially with small children.

DD has a friend who is a off a day or two every 2-3 weeks because she feels ‘unwell’ and they do nothing to tackle that. It’s far more disruptive than DD missing a few days every few years (when she has a 100% attendance otherwise).

I have been tempted to go away this year at the end of summer term. DD did nothing for the last 2 weeks last year to the point it was ridiculous (she watched a film every single day). I know teachers have to tidy up but literally she would have missed nothing at all.

We took a week off to go skiing the first week of term. I felt bad, but not bad enough not to. Don’t think I’d do it every year though. Not heard anything about a fine but it wouldn’t be a deterrent. Prosecution on the other hand...that’s what’ll deter the middle classes.

I just can't wrap my head around this at all.

I didn't register my kid for school. There has never been anyone who has come to even check she is still alive let alone being educated....but take your kid out of school for a week and you get a 1000 pound fine?

Madness, utter madness.

See I do care about daughters education but due to her health I was unable to take her in holiday before starting school.
She was in hospital for years and then on so much machinery at home and in a single mum it wasn’t visable.
This year is the first time when we could manage it but as a single mum on carers etc the summer holiday prices are just too much for me to do so it would mean us never having a holiday.

It is what is needed, 6 pages of whinging and moaning, no thought about the conequences to the teachers involved.

I was a teacher. I had no problem with eother the odd holiday or the (very) occasional day out. Until gcse years - then I did. Most teachers I know (not all) are similar. Its the ones persistently off or off a day here and there every couple of weeks that bothered me.

swimming do you think that the £60 fine has done anything to change the persistent absences? Overall attendance will have gone up for sure but with no real interrogation of the data its difficult to tell if it has made any difference at all to the persistent day off a week/fortnight kids. I just wondered what teachers saw in their class room. has it made any difference to the attendance of these kids?

Im not currently teaching but I'd love to know. It seems to me to be all about statistics and getting higher attendance rate overall without necessarily addressing the repeat offenders. But I really dont know.

I really am shocked our school has moved to instant fines. One child has a medical appointment in London. I Do know you can't routinely take the other child out for hospital appointments, but I'd planned to take both for her first appointment, visit a museum and "pop into" the appointment to make it less of a big deal for her as shes anxious enough as it is and it will be a few hours on the train. Our old head would have been fine with that and that explanation if it was the only day off that year.

I do know quite a few friends have "sick" children fairly often. I don't know if sick rates have gone up....

I don't feel I can lie and was much happier informing school for the odd thing every other year and accepting these days it was unauthorised.

My son is a secondary school teacher. A child was taken out before a half term holiday. Parents later complained that teachers hadn't sent their child the missed work plus homework when the child asked for it - during the school's (and teachers half term holiday).

I guess if you take your children out that is up to you but you shouldn't expect teachers to make up for the work your child missed

If I had school age kids these days I would be home-educating them, no way would the State be getting their claws further into them.

I have never done term time holidays, and we have ‘cut out cloth’ and had great times within our modest means. Taking kids out of school is not for me.

But I am surprised that this ‘fining ‘, outside of a court or judicial system is legal. It is indemocratic and removed choice from parents in a way that I think is way too heavy handed of the state.

I took DD out in prep school for a week once. We went in June after their exams during a time that is not academic. School were happy to support, given the enrichment value of the trip.

She’s missing one day after half term this year due to flights. No flights apart from a Monday. I don’t expect teachers to catch her up. But missing out on seeing family we rarely see for the sake of one day of school? No contest.

Blue - but there are lots of ways kids miss out on what others have. We have great holidays to far flung places, others have mums who don’t work so they don’t have to go to wrap around. If we’re talking about schools protecting students and parents feelings how about they remove every book they send home talking about having a sibling, sibling photo days, sibling priority over location in admissions, sibling discounts in wrap around because it really upsets people suffering secondary infertility. No? Well absolutely- kids needs to learn the world is not an equal place. You often sacrifice one thing for the good of another.

There should be 10 days where kids can be taken out of school. We used to go to Devon for two weeks every year in term time - my dad wasn’t allowed holidays during summer holiday. We needed that time as a family. I got the top a level grades in my school. It’s fine to miss a bit of school. Most parents are sensible about when to take their kids. Most parents will
Do some work whilst away. We don’t need a nanny state.

I don't buy it that holidays are enriching. That's just simply not the case. Children need time with their parents and parents need time to connect with their family without daily distractions. However, do you honestly think children benefit more from a 5* hotel in Mauritius with all inclusive meals or from a week on the beach in Cornwall with their mum and dads full attention, making picnics and eating chips on the beach? Clearly the benefit is only for the parents in that situation!!!!

I don't buy it that holidays are enriching. That's just simply not the case. Children need time with their parents and parents need time to connect with their family without daily distractions. However, do you honestly think children benefit more from a 5 hotel in Mauritius with all inclusive meals or from a week on the beach in Cornwall with their mum and dads full attention, making picnics and eating chips on the beach? Clearly the benefit is only for the parents in that situation!!!!*

You actually have no idea the holidays we took. None of which are beach holidays, or “5* hotels in Mauritius”. They’re holidays visiting family we rarely get to see.

Its horrendous and obvious erosion of civil liberties. Of course, more kids will be "off sick".

I don't buy it that holidays are enriching. Its irrelevant whether its Cornwall, Mauritius or Antarctica. None of government's business.