Kids missed 3wks school, council taking me to court!

[Questionairballoon]

Hi all,

I am very unsure about what to do.

DC aged 6 and 8. I took them on holiday this summer. missed the last 3 weeks of school (July 2025).

For context, their attendance is always good. Only time they ever miss school is when poorly. They enjoy going. Last time we took them on holiday they were 3 and 5 and they missed maybe 2 weeks of nursery/school.

Before we left this time, I emailed the head teacher and spoke with the staff partly to apologise and also to find out what they might miss for the last 3 weeks so I could cover with them if needed. For what it’s worth, both kids do well in school. Teachers wished us happy hols and we left on a positive note.

The holiday was 2 weeks in Europe and 2 weeks in America. They had some fantastic experiences and got to meet relatives who live abroad. We were back in August, they had almost a month to recoup and then back to school business as usual!

We expected a fine but got nothing. This week, I’ve received a court order telling me to expect paperwork where I’ll be “pleading guilty or not guilty”.

I’m gobsmacked tbh. Has anyone been in this situation? Any advice at all? I don’t even know what to say!

You might want to Google the Children Act 1989, and we are also part of the UN - looks at UN Rights of Children. A right to education is a human right that is enshrined in England and UN. These are principles courts are guided on. Education Act - I could name more but basically it's a fundamental human right that we subscribe to. So yes they are your children but you raise them in a country where the laws exist to protect your child. If you disagree there are laws around home education etc but it's not a pick and mix.

The fine was never going to be under £200 though! The amount is per child per parent. So as a minimum it would have been £320 with 2 children.

‘Not sure why everyone is getting aggressive about the fact that I was a teacher? I’ve been employed in England and in the Middle East as a teacher, I wouldn’t make that up to score points with strangers 😂’

People, Iike me, are just ‘gobsmacked’ that you should be so surprised. Being a teacher you should know better than anyone!

There's a real push on attendance at the moment. Its more likely you'll be made an example of than you'll get off lightly.

Why would you think the fine would be under £200?

Well the information is out there that if the duration of the absence is exceptionally serious, it could go straight to court.

I don't want to kick you while you're down and I really hope they don't fine you the maximum. You need to be very contrite when you appear in court. And unfortunately you will have zero leeway in the future.

Have you missed a letter or somthing from then? I thought it only went to court if people didn't pay the fine?

Apparently has nothing to do with protecting the children’s right to an education. It has to do about the teachers.

If you can simply deregister your child from the school and hope to get your place back then nobody is checking whether your kids are actually enrolled in a school anyway.

OP, I found this on my local authority page:

“Legal action may be taken if a family goes on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Instead of a penalty notice, the case could go directly to the Magistrates for their consideration in court. If found guilty by the Magistrates, parents could each face a fine of up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment”

I didn't know it was a criminal offense. I thought it's just a fine and that's it.

3 weeks is taking the piss, OP. It's not one rule for you and a different rule for everyone else. You should have thoroughly looked at the ramifications for your decision, and you didn't. Best of luck.

Oh wow

Unfortunately your choice to take a pay cut in order to spend more time with your children means you cant afford to 4 weeks worth of foreign holidays in a year outside of term time. Its the choice you have made. I would make the same, time with children is more important than cash for holidays and other tangible luxuries for me.

However I also value their education, and I want them to value it. And that means making tough decisions on missing holidays in order to show them that their education is our priority, even at a young age when what they are learning seems less important, it is the fact that they are learning that is key.

You made a mistake in not looking into what happens when your children miss that much school. I hope that your fine is not too high and that you avoid a criminal record. It's a hard way to learn a lesson anticipating consequences before acting.

I'm so confused as to why you didn't check what the possibilities were (surely all parents of school age kids know that the rules around time off have changed?). And why the teachers didn't warn you, do they have an issue with you?

When I was 14 and in the 'third year' (year 9 now) my mum took me out of school to go to Canada for a month - it was 'educational' but also bloody good fun meeting cousins I didn't know I had and doing things I never would have at home etc! This was in the mid 70s so nothing was said and I was simply given work - write a diary and write about the historical places you have seen, oh and here are some sums if you get time ...However, I missed the last month of term, the school play I'd wanted to be and all sorts of other stuff, including O level preparation, so it wasn't all good.

A week perhaps - yes we did that twice for our kids when there was a 10 day allowance in the early 2000s, but I do see why it needs to be stopped. If I can sill remember how difficult it was from 1978,then there must be a downside for the kids

I think she will. And I think people are just annoyed by her responses. I really think big picture is this is not a great deal. The magistrates will have lots of cases far worse and will use reason and logic. There's not going to be an excessive response so she just needs to accept that.
I personally rate holidays but if I did this I would expect that I would be treated no differently to anyone else.

Me too! I can't believe they can bypass a fine and go straight to court

I have a terminal illness and my children's attendance was 85% last year. Thank God our headteacher is understanding

Like you,i would have thought first time school have reacted to the absence,it would be eighty pound fine. Court fines can be much higher. I would phone the school and ask for advice. Perhaps also phone the free legal hour on lbc. Taking them out for three weeks was too long really. Its only the last week when things get really slack at school.Good luck sorting it out. You are not a criminal, just doing what you thought best for your family.

People are seriously getting their knickers in a twist here. These kids are 6 & 8, not doing their GCSE's for christ sake. Yes, I too would have expected the £80 per parent per child fine too. There is nothing to say if its longer then xxx days then it is straight to court so I have no idea why they are doing that.

My parents took me out for two weeks (second and third week in september) every year of primary school. As did loads of parents as I always made friends while on holiday. I passed all of my GCSE's with A's & B's, it had zero impact on my education or life as it is now.

Lets quit all the drama and hand wringing from the drainers and have some autonomy for our own children. Having worked in a school, this should be in place for the parents who literally dont give a shit about their kids, the kids who have 50% attendance because their parents cant be bothered to get their arses out of bed to get their kids to school. Lets stop punishing those parents who simply want some family time away from the stress of life and to give their children an experience.

Tbh whilst I strongly disagree with taking kids out of school, I do think it would be possible to legislate to prevent the huge price differences.

Something along the lines of “a package holiday or travel product cannot cost more that 1.25 times the cost of the same product in the preceding or following week”.

Yes, I’m only saying this so you can be prepared. Not to “rub my hands in glee” or whatever.

Any evidence you can gather as to why it was important to go at that time, family members with old age, impact of COVID on amount you have seen your family, work schedule. Anything to say it wasn’t just a holiday to save money.

Search back - did the school or LA send comms about the attendance policy? If not it could help your case but if they did then it’s tricky.

They'll be jealous, they don't give a shit about the OP's kids education 😅

Having worked in many schools I would say it's more the last one week that doesn't matter as much.

@Questionairballoon I’m going to struggle with this issue too.

I think some posters forget that some families are multi national and seeing parents/grand parents on one side of the family requires travelling distances and dealing with jet lag which means any trip really needs to be 3 weeks. Also when distance/ cost means you can only visit parents/siblings grandparents every couple of years, 2 weeks visit doesn’t cut it.

Then seasons mean that travelling during summer holidays here means arriving in middle of winter there and being unable to do many activities with parents/grandparents due to the weather. And travelling just before Christmas is prohibitive financially, which leaves flying on Boxing Day and missing a couple of weeks of school.

It’s not about going on holiday it’s about being with one side of your family and having some quality time and memories with them to make up just a tiny bit for all the time you miss together. When my kid and I are old are we going to be glad for a couple of extra weeks spent in school/work or glad for important memories and time with family who we don’t normally get to see?

I don’t think many people on mumsnet understand this because they have family they can see regularly. Or at least see yearly within a 2 week trip.

This would be excellent!