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!

The stats that the school have to produce will noy distinguish between mid term and end of term dates. It will just show 30 sessions of Education being missed. You need to own the decision you made.

next time you do something like that just de register from the school!

3 weeks is quite a lot of school to miss tbh.
But it's done now. I think your best bet is just to plead guilty. Explain about seeing family etc and how sorry you are etc when you're in court. I imagine you'll just get a fine but very stressful all the same.

I just assumed it was not as bad as taking 2 weeks of leave during the middle of the school year.
Yes it’s not as bad as taking them out during the run up to sats week for example, but it’s still a bad time! They don’t wind down for the full three weeks, one week max.

Op I would have only expected you to get a fine. It says online ' If your child is off school 3 or more times within the 3 years you will not be fined but may be taken to court' if you say this is not the case I don't see how they can send this to court. I work in school I think this is harsh but it's not the school it's the LA. Go on to your LA site for their guidance you could appeal if they haven't followed it correctly.

I don’t understand why the OP didn’t get a fine under this guidance for a first offence. Does it explain why in the letter OP? Was it the duration of the absence? Or their attendance percentage at the end of the year?

Their attendance doesn't sound that good

I dont think its relevant that it was the last three weeks and they may or may not have been winding down. Its still term time. I'm not against taking a few days in term time but three weeks is a lot.

The only thing that surprises me is that you weren't aware of the law! It's rammed down our throats as parents that leave in term time cannot be authorised for holidays and fines can and will be administered by the LEA. Its not the school's decision ...its the LEA and ultimately the law.

Three weeks is an absurdly long time to take children out of school during term time. What did you think was going to happen?

Well I hope your kids teachers all go on holiday for three weeks during term time whenever they fancy it. They will have a great time and get to see their relatives abroad. Fantastic.

Presumably you'd be totally fine with that?

I think (i may be wrong here) that each new week counts as another "offence".

This.

No it was 2 weeks in 2022. So this is 3 years after that.

The holiday wasn’t like a trip to Disneyland, it was visiting our relatives that live on two different continents and it’s definitely not an everyday thing.

They don’t just watch films for three weeks at the end of term 😂 Jesus Christ

3 weeks? What if the teachers did that? At my school, staff don’t get an hour to attend a sports day. Yes, that’s the profession we are in, but even so..3 weeks!

There’s been at least one more occasion, the two weeks missed for a holiday the previous year, so it would only be one more unauthorised absence - potentially for just one half day - to tip it into 3.

@Questionairballoon how many unauthorised absences have they had, total?

You took them knowing this. Surely you were gambling on money saved would cover the fine. I know people who have done this but they accept the punishment. I'm a bit shocked you expected them not to refer to the LA.
Their attendance is now below the mandated so the school has to refer and the LA has decided to prosecute. Personally I'm not sure what payment of a solicitor will do accept make it more expensive. It's a magistrate. You possibly won't actually go to court but send paperwork accept you did do this - don't lie to the court, it's a yes or no and the magistrate will look at criteria of punishment to be issued. I think if you argue this you will look really unreasonable. That will infuriate the court. 1 week might have taken them down but still attaining but 3 weeks.
Also it doesn't matter where you took them. It sounds entitled to start saying your holiday itinerary. Unless you went to these places for cultural, religious reasons eg seeing family, returning for a festival in their grandparents home country, it's not really going to matter.
Most children I know request or let school know that there is a family wedding, cultural event. If it's just a holiday, you knew the risk. It sounds like you took them to save cost which people do but they normally expect a punishment. I'm not sure why you don't.
Trying to give good advice. Accept the law and set a good example. Don't try plea or evade if there are no special circumstances. If there is highlight this but they will ask why you didn't inform school if so. Schools make a decision to refer and it sounds like this was too long with no extenuating circumstances.

They don’t have good attendance, very few children will miss 3 weeks unless they have a very valid illness. You’ve also mentioned time off when poorly so say that’s only 5 days, that would be less than 90% attendance, works out as half day a week.

If only the school had holidays long enough to take a four week holiday in the summer...

But you could have seen those relatives in the school holidays?

What do you mean by "generally good attendance"? I wouldn't have gone for 3 weeks anyway personally but definitely not without it being 100% prior to the absence.
Another 5 days and you would very likely have been looking for a new school.
Is it possible that the LA are regarding the absence as three occasions of missing 10 sessions so jumping straight to court proceedings?

Seriously, get a solicitor. You need legal advice about your rights and options and cannot get it from this forum. If I were you I would have this thread deleted too.

Apologies, my maths is shocking and I can't even blame that on any really cool holidays 😂

I find it odd you're trying to justify it as more worthy and acceptable because you saw some relatives. It's still a holiday in term time regardless and it's not treated any different in terms of absence.

I'm really surprised you're surprised that they are taking action, it's a huge amount of time to miss and adding on the illnesses and other absences in the year will mean your children must have missed most of one half of a term in total last year.