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 think the female estate is overcrowded?

Of course it matters how well funded schools are! Your argument is illogical. The system shouldn't be so stretched that it collapses without total compliance from small children.

The OP also said this "Last time we took them on holiday they were 3 and 5 and they missed maybe 2 weeks of nursery/school" so her eldest has missed school for a holiday before.

The dbs thing is also something that worries me as a nurse. I don’t take my son out but used to on the last Friday of a term to take him on tots breaks in his earlier year of school so he was only missing a days session but me and his dad are seperated and he’s booked another break in November just like last year and how do I say I don’t condone it when both parents have parental rights? The system is also shit on seperated parents because if I say I don’t agree to it, it’s not exactly my decision so I’m hoping that doesn’t materialise because the dbs entries are failure to safeguard a child’s education and that’s a safeguarding mark against your dbs

My eldest was in nursery the first time. It wasn’t compulsory. It wasn’t even fined.

And you wont receive a parenting order for a holiday. It's not appropriate and not what their for.

Yes, perhaps the school have just had too many parents trying to argue with them about this and can't be arsed to say anything anymore.

What can you say anyway when the parent presents you with a fait accompli and says, "By the way, we're taking them to the USA for three weeks at the end of term, hope that's not a problem for you!" other than, "Well I guess it's not a problem for us but it might be a problem for you."

They'd lose credibility if they said, "You will definitely get a huge fine" and then nothing happened. So I can see why they just shrugged and quietly thought, "FAFO."

they expected a fine. I think that was mentioned upthread if you read their responses

Great let's let all parents decide when they should be in school with no ramification. The law is there to protect children it cannot take account of individual circumstances - oh but a head teacher, a local authority court system can. But you don't agree with that either.
By the way I never said what my view was on time out of school for various reasons - I am responding to this specific situation. Perhaps you should focus on the example given rather than a waffle view of "presenteeism". Discuss. #yawn

Some people do take their children out of school and get consent first. Shock horror. Because they don't think they are special and rules don't apply. They work in partnership. Rather than doing any behaviour regardless consequences. Then try to cipher off blame to the school and teachers they didn't ask in the first place.

I think that the majority of people think this is unreasonable shows you are in the minority.

I'm surprised you're surprised she's surprised

From your OP:

"Last time we took them on holiday they were 3 and 5 and they missed maybe 2 weeks of nursery/school."

Apologies for the confusion, I don’t know why I made it sound like that! Just nursery.

And you won't go to prison! 😅

They're 😅
Been a looonnggg week 😆

The vast majority of the world managed without criminalising small children going in holiday. It just doesn't add up that it is the only solution to any sort of problem we might have here. There's no evidence to support it at all.
And schools cannot authorise term time holidays, so there is no option to "work with them"...

Yes, perhaps the school have just had too many parents trying to argue with them about this and can't be arsed to say anything anymore.

Our English primary always said they had nothing to do with it - they couldn't authorise much as they had imposed criteria and the LA decided who got fined or what action got taken.

And they’re right at the beginning of their school lives, relatively speaking! And in the case of the eldest, they’ve already had two long term time holidays.

The eldest must have been at school if they were 5.

This is pretty grating. Supermarket shops are normal, not budget living. 4k is alot of money for us too, so is a term-time holiday, so guess what. We don’t go abroad. My children are not entitled to visit family. If we had family in Europe and America, we’d plan trips over a few years and not attempt more than we can pay for by attempting to cheat the system and go in term time.

Did you look into the fines before you went? Is the 2.5-4K figure shocking to you?

It’s all very nice that your kids have an amazing experience and a month to chill after their long holiday. But you unfortunately didn’t factor in the cost for this. The cost is court and a hefty fine. I hope you are okay as you process the consequences and have a support network & savings.

The children are not criminalised.
Parents are.
You have a very basic and completely irrational understanding of legal principles or rights of children.
Schools decide when to refer. LAs decide when to refer or do you think the magistrate heard it on Mumsnet and decided to prosecute.

What did you expect for taking them out for 3 weeks? You get 6 weeks of holiday and this is massively disruptive to your children’s education.

It’s not down to the school, it’s down to the council. You broke the rules.

Apologies for the confusion, i changed very slight details to anonymise the post. Eldest was in nursery and the reason thats relevant is because there was no fine.

No I understand entirely what the rules are. I just disagree with them.

Actually this would make sense.