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!

Faking illness might work for one week, but surely any longer than that and they'd need a doctor's note. Especially for three weeks right before the summer holidays.

Even chicken pox wouldn't keep children off for that long, and the OP's kids have already been off with chicken pox anyway.

Haha yes she did! Only the shitbag kids from the estate please, our stateside vacay was very enriching I'll have you know 😁

The last couple of days maybe - they missed a quarter of the term

This. It's a huge amount of work to miss. I'm struggling to accept that the teachers said they weren't missing much.

I was thinking more of the well intentioned less well off parents, who now won't be able to manage a holiday. I'm not at all convinced these fines and prosecutions will improve anything other than attendance records.

Look, look who's back.
Hello troll. This is called being absent without consent. This a post about attendance.
I think you will find that the legal principles are based on values. You are someone who thinks it's fine for parents to take children out of school when they want. Popping your head up on another angle because you didn't like people disagreeing with you. Nice try.
Do you think it's illegal to go on holiday? Seriously. I think you have really misread this entire post.

Very good point.

I imagine most of the people who say they don't take term time holidays would do so if it was allowed?
Mine are adults now but when they were in primary school we always took them out for a couple of weeks, they didn't suffer educationally, A*s etc. Everyone did it.
However there are plenty of children who would struggle to catch up and it's a pita for teachers. As soon as it became illegal we stopped doing it.

The shitbag kids from estates are not missing school to join family on holidays abroad.

Their parents don’t know where they are half the time and those parents should absolutely be followed up on.

I can't believe everyone is giving you such a hard time. They're 6 and 8. It's hardly going to affect their A levels is it! A one off to see family who live abroad - I say good for you

Was the holiday worth it?

How exactly am I a troll? It isn't trolling to disagree with you.
Again, how are fines for holidays (a very recent introduction) our values? Which value does that align with?

To be fair, LAs are under huge pressure to work on school absence and so letting parents off lightly when there is no good reason for them to take kids out to go on holiday wouldnt fit very well with that. It would be different if there was a death in the family or something, but parents need to take seriously what happens if you decide to go on holiday and miss school. Its hugely disruptive.

Erm. You're not actually meant to call them that, you know, it was sarcasm. But good to see you doubling down on one rule for the poor and one for the middle class, eh?

Was it the children's' father you went away with? Is he also being prosecuted?

Whilst you have been a bit of a naive fool OP, I do feel sorry for you. We never took termtime holidays but you did so with good intentions I guess. You rationalised that it wouldn’t cause much harm. It does feel a bit extreme to end up with a DBS and criminal record and I sincerely hope this does not happen to you.

We have a high number of kids from Asia in my kid's school.
A number of them take their kids out of school during the school year, whether its to celebrate a religious holiday, reunite with family, a funeral, a family illness or avail of cheaper flights.

I suggest you come up up with a purpose for taking them out OP.

Its very important that children know their extended family so is that an option you could use?

I am not stupid.

You cannot possibly tell me that all school absences are the same. Being on holiday with your family and truancy are not the same thing.

Poor parents who give a shit will be exempt from the consequences of the rules because they’re not exactly taking their kids out for holidays or advocating truancy are they?

That was one of the reasons, yes. Extended family. Even a great-great grandmother!

I know it’s a bit late now but the PP is partially correct. In the past we have left for our holiday early (flying out on the Friday that school is breaking up, 1 day of absence) which has saved us about £4k in total for 4 people.

However there is a massive difference between 1 or 2 days and three weeks of lost education. As an ex teacher you must be aware that children can start to go ‘unlearn’ things in the 6 week summer holiday so extending that time to 9 weeks was a very bad idea.

In terms of moving forward you need to think about how you can show that you furthered their education and support it. Simply asking the teacher’s what they will miss is not enough.

I think OP has got the message. I don’t see the merit in further kicking someone who is down.

OP I can’t see many anecdotes about people who have ended up with a criminal from doing this on the thread. I am hoping that means that this is vanishingly rare. If you present an honest case with some humility, I hope you just get a fine. And I am sure you will now never do this again!

But no reason why you could not do that at other times. You did not have to do this when you did, it was purely an economic decision.

I paid for an online tutor (even for extra things like Languages as my children are being realised bilingual) during the entire time we were off and this includes the month before school started when we were at home. This was an extra expense for me but I thought it was worth it (not every day, just twice a week. As much as everyone is taking the piss, I am big on education from a holistic perspective.

Thanks for that. Xxx

OP you have my sympathies. The rules should be able to distinguish between shitbag (another posters delightful phrase) parents who don’t give a toss about their kids and those who do when passing judgement.