Page 12 | Kids missed 3wks school, council taking me to court!

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:22

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 26/09/2025 14:20

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”.

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Ah some more government control! But don’t give us ID cards 😂😂😂

DriveboyDogboy · 26/09/2025 14:23

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 13:26

So I have just read this thread and have been following the thread on ID cards for the UK …

Im assuming all the posters who agree with the notion that parents shouldn’t be taking young kids out of school are also pro ID cards. I mean, talk about government control!

What's in your tea?
OP enrolled her kids in government provided education of her own free will and accepted that there would be conditions. Where's the control there? School isn't mandatory, or even opt-out.

Mildmanneredmum · 26/09/2025 14:23

Questionairballoon · 26/09/2025 13:21

Genuinely we could not afford the prices which is why we have only gone this year. We assumed the fine would be sent and we would pay it, and yet it would still be cheaper than full price summer tickets… of course it may be a different story now with a higher fine!

also, I was a teacher too and the lack of flexibility is one reason why I switched jobs. I know teachers have it extremely difficult which is why I left that role. Other jobs are also equally difficult and restrictive, sadly.

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Which other jobs? I don't know of any jobs that would let you take 3 weeks off when you're not supposed to. That's not being "restrictive"!

travelallthetime · 26/09/2025 14:23

Namechangerage · 26/09/2025 14:17

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”

also OP, I can almost guarantee they will NOT send you to prison for this! They are full, people who actually commit a serious crime do not go to prison these days, a hefty fine, perhaps (although I would be arguing in court over the amount of the fine) but not prison

Autumunalspice · 26/09/2025 14:23

travelallthetime · 26/09/2025 14:20

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.

Exactly this, those who are working incredibly hard to give your kids what they need and saving the best they can to take the kids away and make memories are the ones who are getting put down, but shouldn’t examples be made of those who don’t take their kids to school through just not being bothered too not those who think they’re doing the best.
OP cannot change the fact she took them out of school she isn’t saying that she’s looking for advice going forward.

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:24

DriveboyDogboy · 26/09/2025 14:23

What's in your tea?
OP enrolled her kids in government provided education of her own free will and accepted that there would be conditions. Where's the control there? School isn't mandatory, or even opt-out.

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But apparently you can deregister from that school and hope to get your place back again. The government clearly doesn’t even then know if you are schooling your kids.

BernadetteJune · 26/09/2025 14:24

As others have said 3 weeks is far too long! It's not like missing the last couple of days. As a teacher I hated it when parents emailed in to say they were going on holiday and asking for resources to cover what they were missing. In secondary - they would often ask the form tutor to gather work for the various subjects. They have no idea the time and work involved in that!

Thepeopleversuswork · 26/09/2025 14:24

Legalmamaof2 · 26/09/2025 14:14

Wow OP I think you are getting a lot of undeserved stick on this. Memories are much more important than the last few weeks of term. Our children absolutely do wind down the last few weeks of terms - sports days, recapping what they have gone through already, colouring, movies, crafts, transitions days, trips out etc. please don’t be so hard on yourself - it will just be protocol and I hope you have a fair judge on the day. Please come back and let me know how you get on. X

"Memories are much more important than the last few weeks of term"... this is self-indulgent nonsense which doesn't stand up to basic critical thinking. Who's to say the "memories" made on this family trip will be more important than the "memories" made at school with friends?

I see so much rhetoric around at the moment that "holidays are so much more important than school": wake up call: a holiday can be taken any time in your life. School is the foundation for the start of the rest of your life. Yes you can afford to miss the odd day here and there, but if you approach school as something optional which can be dropped like a hot brick in favour of something more "memory making" you're never going to be able to deal with the responsibility and routine which comes with adult life. People need to grow up about this.

Oh, and that's before we've factored in the disruption to teachers and school administrators involved in kids dropping off the roll for three weeks. It's just entitled and disrespectful.

With attitudes like this I'm not surprised there's so much awful behaviour in schools. Ridiculous.

Hoppinggreen · 26/09/2025 14:24

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:10

So you’re allowed to have your child NOT registered in any school at all but you’re not allowed to take your kids on holiday with their family during term time? 😂😂😂

Edited

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If you deregister and then want school places you will have to do an in year application.You will get offered A school place by The LEA but not necessarily at the one the DC left and not one you might choose. The 2 DC could even get offered places at different schools

Digdongdoo · 26/09/2025 14:25

What overkill! Whilst I wouldn't personally take my DC out for 3 weeks, as a one off in primary school it shouldn't be a criminal matter. Ridiculous.

spoonbillstretford · 26/09/2025 14:26

TFICoffeetime · 26/09/2025 14:15

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.

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Education can be provided at home, or while travelling, it doesn't have to be in school.

BCBird · 26/09/2025 14:26

3 weeks off is a lot. As for nothing happening in the last 3 weeks, that's unlikely. The teachers may have just been saying this. They might have been relaxing but learning would still would have taken place. As an ex teacher it used to annoy me when I had to spend time providing purposeful work that I knew would not have be done. You no doubt saved a lot on cost of going in term time. U have to pay.

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:26

Hoppinggreen · 26/09/2025 14:24

If you deregister and then want school places you will have to do an in year application.You will get offered A school place by The LEA but not necessarily at the one the DC left and not one you might choose. The 2 DC could even get offered places at different schools

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But who’s checking that when you deregister your child that they are getting an education somewhere else. I’m just laughing at the idea that these rules exist for the benefit of the children.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 26/09/2025 14:26

JC89 · 26/09/2025 13:56

And still cover childcare for the other 12 or so weeks of school holiday in the year...

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I think this is what irritates me most of all!

Parents who use their annual leave to take children away in term time, then have the children sat bored in the house or on screens whilst they “work from home”. All the while citing the “important life experiences” the kids had on holidays - well they would have better overall experiences by being in school when it’s happening, and then have their parents on annual leave when there’s no school, even if they’re doing something more modest like a cheaper holiday or day trips etc.

And those parents probably moan about the school holidays being too long and not having enough annual leave!

User79853257976 · 26/09/2025 14:27

Looks like the fine could be up to £2.5k per child.

jellyfish2121 · 26/09/2025 14:27

We have a child at our school who has missed the first FOUR weeks now of the new school year. They are expected back in next week. Apparently they do it every year, get a fine but claim they can't pay it so nothing happens! !!!???

Everleigh13 · 26/09/2025 14:27

Three weeks is a long time. Anybody could have predicted the school / council wouldn’t be happy. It isn’t up to the teachers to spell out the consequences for you beforehand. My advice would be to accept responsibility and move on.

Digdongdoo · 26/09/2025 14:28

Thepeopleversuswork · 26/09/2025 14:24

"Memories are much more important than the last few weeks of term"... this is self-indulgent nonsense which doesn't stand up to basic critical thinking. Who's to say the "memories" made on this family trip will be more important than the "memories" made at school with friends?

I see so much rhetoric around at the moment that "holidays are so much more important than school": wake up call: a holiday can be taken any time in your life. School is the foundation for the start of the rest of your life. Yes you can afford to miss the odd day here and there, but if you approach school as something optional which can be dropped like a hot brick in favour of something more "memory making" you're never going to be able to deal with the responsibility and routine which comes with adult life. People need to grow up about this.

Oh, and that's before we've factored in the disruption to teachers and school administrators involved in kids dropping off the roll for three weeks. It's just entitled and disrespectful.

With attitudes like this I'm not surprised there's so much awful behaviour in schools. Ridiculous.

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Daft thing to say. A holiday lasts a couple of weeks. School is what 38 weeks a year for 14 years or something? Foundations can be set just fine in the rest of that time.

Iloveyoubut · 26/09/2025 14:28

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:22

Ah some more government control! But don’t give us ID cards 😂😂😂

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I don’t think there’s anything wrong with legislation to stop travel companies from exploiting us to an unfair level. Digital ID or lack there of is not comparable at all.

Hoppinggreen · 26/09/2025 14:28

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:26

But who’s checking that when you deregister your child that they are getting an education somewhere else. I’m just laughing at the idea that these rules exist for the benefit of the children.

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I believe that you would be asked where your DC were getting their education.
I am merely saying what would happen if you De register as suggested to avoid a fine, I offer no opinion on what OP has done and the consequences for her

Zebedee999 · 26/09/2025 14:28

Questionairballoon · 26/09/2025 12:58

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!

Your kids education should come before a holiday. Fundamentally it's poor parenting. Same lot probably create the threads on MN where they are taking sickies off work because they fancy a duvet day etc.

Nospoonreq · 26/09/2025 14:29

Does anyone at the school know you’re being taken to court OP?!

Gherkintastic · 26/09/2025 14:30

ITSJUSTBRIDGET · 26/09/2025 13:36

My husband is a governor in a primary school. When they see the stats of children not meeting standards compared to time away from school in term time - there is a clear correlation

I do have sympathy, we have primary aged children and the cost in school holidays is outrageous - but it's not forever

Yes and correlation is not causation. A high percentage of persistently absent child have SEND and are not having their needs met by an over stretched system. Of course attendance is importance, but the stats aren't as straight forward as you are suggesting.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 26/09/2025 14:30

Ontheedgeofit · 26/09/2025 14:22

Ah some more government control! But don’t give us ID cards 😂😂😂

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When did I mention ID cards one way or another?

And regulating a market is perfectly normal - happens for all sorts of things.

NameChangedForThis2025 · 26/09/2025 14:30

And quite aside from all the reasons I’ve written in my post above (let’s face it, every parent will have their own reasons for breaking this rule) - do people on here really support the fact that it can be a criminal offence for taking your child on a fucking holiday?

Because I find that unbelievable. Really?

It’s a massive massive state overreach. Not to mention all the many other, much more serious offences, that aren’t properly prosecuted and this is what we’re wasting time on instead? Ridiculous.