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!

We don’t take holidays during the school year

I don't think you should say that in court, or mention what a good time they had while missing school, or that it was to get cheaper flights. It'll look really bad.

Once I had a lovely girl who started y7 a week late- holiday booked. Poor choice by parents.

Isn’t it £60 per child, per day, per parent?

So £3600 for the fine of them being out of school for three weeks.

It won't be unless someone is very wealthy and pleads not guilty.

It's based on your weekly income. It is per parent, per child though, so it will add up, but people are talking nonsense when looking at the figures (it also won't go up higher than the magistrates court unless the OP appealed the level of fine).

It's likely to be 75%-150% of her relevant weekly income, which is after tax. So a few hundred each for each child I expect. Then take a third off for guilty plea and add on costs of probably £100-150 per parent, per child. It'll probably be £1500-£2000 all in depending on income.

I am not going to mock you but you are behind my girl. People who want this free lifestyle simply home educate this day and age. Otherwise yes, you are subject to the authorities.

I regularly missed one week of school for a holiday and one year I missed two. the only time I missed a lot of school in a year was when I was unwell. Teachers did provide work for me at home when I was ill. I caught up super quick when I got back. No-one was fined, no-one was prosecuted, no-one lost their shit or made a fuss. What a kind and sensible system it use to be relative to what we have now.

Yet another thread where you think ‘well done that school’. This is great news! Now can someone come and start fining every parent who brings their kid to school 15 mins late every morning too. Ruins the start of the school day.

As a taxpayer, I expect you to make every effort to ensure your children attend school every day. Millions of children around the world would love to have this opportunity.

You broke the law. There isn't a parent in the country that doesn't know what the rules are. You made the wrong choice, and you will have your day in court.

Honestly, I wish this 'fine' system could be abolished. It's no different from the '£200' threshold to be arrested for shoplifting - it encourages retail crime.

Nobody is exploiting you. Supply and demand and the resultant pricing is expected in a free market economy. Government’s interference in that happens in socialist economies.

The debate around ID cards largely centers around freedoms and civil liberties.

It’s hypocritical.

Well no, but that’s also kind of how deterrents work. The £80 fines are just seen as a kind of holiday tax which everyone ignores so what are they meant to do?

If you choose to put your kid in a state school, then abide by the rules. If you don’t want to, then home school or go private.

I don’t get why people don’t get that?

We took our 3 DC out many many years ago (though the youngest was in nursery). They missed 2 weeks of school. They were all in primary.

We asked for permission. It was denied. We got told we'd get the fine. We got fined and we paid it. Though no criminal record at all.

None of my children suffered from missing any education because they were smarter than the most. My oldest was already way above what they were teaching in year 6

My oldest at the time was vastly above the others due to his 11+ training and my teaching at home.

Not everyone's kids can be like this though, which is why the rules exist.

Local authority has a duty to check you are giving a child a suitable education if you deregister a child and don’t move them to another. School tells LA, then they contact you.

You are being utterly ridiculous.

some of the middle class smuggery and entitlement on this thread is off the scale.

no, I’m not a “middle class entitled” parent. We saved up 3 years for this holiday. We shop at Asda and our kids wear supermarket uniform. Nothing fancy about us, that’s for sure!

I'm howling at someone who spends £4000 on holidays in terms time and then wonders why they are being prosecuted and then comes up with this as a definition of why they aren't middle class entitled parents.

Newsflash. Plenty of entitled middle class parents shop at Asda and wear supermarket uniform!

If you aren't middle class and entitled you can't afford to take your children abroad on holiday for 3 weeks at the cost of £4k!

In what way could you possibly be not guilty? You took them out for 3 weeks. Unfortunately there are consequences.

But they will give you enough time to have a 3 week holiday 😂

It will also show up on any future DBS check because it's classed as a safeguarding issue - you haven't supported your child's right to full-time education.

The rules have changed since we had kids though. Not everyone can just opt out of state school, there's no viable alternative. It's really unreasonable to have a single very rigid system. And we wonder why we have a mental health crisis amongst young people...

Actually yes. My child having a relationship and memories with his grandmother and grandfather and his aunties is absolutely much more important than 2 weeks of missed school memories every 2 years. And this is a ditch I will die in.

Apparently I was wrong it was prior to New Labour - back in 1996 the fine aspect came in and it was updated in 2024. I do remember first fines and court cases hitting headlines and it was very controversal.

It's not a new situation at all - and most parents are aware

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/08/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/

However, under the national rules, all schools are required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.

In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.

@Digdongdoo

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.

It's not particularly the actual holiday itself (although it was three weeks, not two). It's the mindset that says: "I want to have fun, I'm not allowed to but let's just break the rules and all the people providing the education can just work around me and my needs. And it's alright because I'm making memories".

It's deeply self-centred and a bad message to send your kids.

Quite. There are probably a few parents out there who have a criminal conviction because their child was unwell, using the same legislation. Certainly many have been fined, and children punished in school, missing out on treats like parties and days out for it.

If it were up to me I'd rip it up and burn it and turn my attention to parents who are truly neglectful rather than wasting time using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

When you enter your child in state funded education you are agreeing to the terms of the DoE. 15 days of absence will drop a child's attendance by 8%. The OP stated that they had also been off for illness which means their overall attendance to school will probably have been below 90%.

"The parent of every child of compulsory school age is required to ensure their child receives a suitable full-time education for their ability, age, aptitude and any special education needs they may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
Failure of a parent to secure regular attendance of their school registered child of compulsory school age can lead to a penalty notice or prosecution."

"Persistent absence is when a pupil enrolment’s overall absence equates to 10% or more of their possible sessions."

https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/methodology/pupil-absence-statistics-methodology

You shouldn’t have taken them out.

But as a former teacher how can you not know that you can't just pluck your children out of school and there be no ramifications? It's bizarre.