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!

This gives a bad message to your children. They will now think it is acceptable to be absent from school, i.e. formal education is irrelevant. It is then possible that their presence in class could become disruptive. In no way is absence from school, apart from illness, is acceptable. Holidays are luxuries not necessities and parents have to accept this in my opinion.

I don’t usually post but wow - some of these comments! Life is short & you never know what’s around the corner. I think your kids are very lucky to have you as their mum and to have had the opportunity to travel the world. New experiences will enrich them in many different ways. Good luck with your court hearing I hope it all works out for you in the end xx

I’m shocked you think it’s ok for them to miss three weeks for a holiday.
I don’t think there are exceptions to the law for people who are otherwise good attendance or because it’s the end of the year.. you sound very naive! I expect the school thought you would face the consequences with the LA. I think you are lucky the school have kept the kids places at school!!!

But it doesn't apply to everyone. It isn't being enforced universally.

You can also still be a social worker with a criminal record (I know of a few). As long as it's not a serious offence, which clearly this isn't.

Is that all that matters when raising a child? How much school they attend?

There are children out there who need the LAs real attention because they are not being loved and cared for.

I wonder how many parents leave their children in the care of other random people and older siblings so that they can go on a holiday abroad to avoid a fine.

There has to be some discretion applied. Not all absenteeism is the same.

I’ve worked for an LA issuing fines and something is wrong here. They don’t automatically issue court proceedings unless it’s the third absence in a year which doesn’t seem to be the case here. You should have received a fine & been given 28 days to pay it. After that you will receive another letter giving you a final warning & a further week to pay the fine. If it’s still unpaid then court papers are issued. I’m assuming this is the case with all LAs as it certainly is with the one I worked for.
Could the original fine have got lost in the post? You need to call the LA first thing on Monday morning & ask them if they have issued a fine for this absence. If they have then you should offer to pay it straight away (we would accept late payments & withdraw the case from court but I don’t know if all LAs would.)
If you end up in court there is no point trying to plead not guilty or making excuses about it being the end of term etc. because the judge won’t be interested in that & they hear it every day. I’m not being unkind just trying to be factual. Good luck.

My reading of the rules is for 5 days absence you get a fine of £80 per child per adult. So your first week your fines would total £320. Then a second notice if a further 5 days’ absence occurs would be £160 per child per adult so for your second week your fine would be £640. Then if you have repeated or very serious absence they can take you to court for a £2500 fine. Even if you just got the £160 fine for your third week that would be another £640, so a total of £1600. Where on Earth did you get the figure of £200 from?!

I would imagine that most people whose child has had a continuous stretch of 10 days or more unauthorised absence is receiving a fine.

For clarification, if the case goes to court (rather than the LA issuing penalty notice fines) and the parent/s are found guilty (which is highly likely) then the parent/s will have a criminal record.

What do you not understand?
No sympathy op YABU

You should have anticipated that before you took your DCs on a "jolly".

Probably not if the holiday rolled straight into the summer holidays? The moment would have passed by September.

I teach my children it's never okay to lie to friends or family - we're very strict on it, and they very rarely lie to me. On top of that, they are good at sharing and are very kind etc etc. They are good kids (even though I do say so myself).

I've taught them it's different lying to institutions, when they're being unreasonable or basically if you're put in a position where you have to. Lies where no-one gets hurt and no-one is betrayed. Totally different circumstance to lying to a friend imo, and in fact a life skill. Bending the truth in an interview, for example. Or pretending you're younger than you are to get on the bus for free, if you don't have the money... pretending you're ill to avoid a fine from an unfair rule, fits into the same bracket. To me at least.

So you’d be potentially dealing with school absence and telling people “every day counts” etc?

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

That's like saying how many shades of purple are there? When does it turn into lilac, or navy. Who decides? If it looks a bit purple then questions need to be asked.

When you are a teacher it’s fairly obvious which kids need intervention from the state and which ones don’t in order to ensure their wellbeing.

Why would all parents need to be punished for the crimes of the worst?

I do feel for you OP.

I think the reason it feels like a pile-on is because many readers would like to do this but know they can't. You knew that but did it anyway. There have to be consequences or everyone would do it. Added onto the school holiday, that is a long break from the classroom.

It sounds like you did the right things to keep them studying but the people deciding this don't know that right now.

The advice to find out if you've missed an opportunity to pay a fine is a good idea.

I think this thread will fill up before it's all done and dusted, but if you are not feeling too bruised it would be useful (for other parents at least!) to know the outcome if you feel up to it.

Ummm, I don’t have a reaction to it actually. The OP said she didn’t know what to do/expect so I looked it up out of interest.

When you are a teacher it’s fairly obvious which kids need intervention from the state and which ones don’t in order to ensure their wellbeing

With respect, I know for a fact that's not universally true.

Really. You can’t tell a kid who is going off on an holiday abroad with his family (language tutors arranged etc) and a kid who is a truant and his parents couldn’t give a shit where he is?

Have to say OP dont mean to stick the knife in but are you sure social work is the right career for you if you are this blasé about 2 young kids missing a full 3 weeks of school?!

You sound so naive about the whole thing, suggesting they watch films every day towards the end of term.... In no school ever are they 'winding down' for fully 3 weeks! The curriculum expectations are so high now that every day counts.

And the fact you talk about a £200 fine suggests you just didnt bother researching this at all before going ahead with it - its been all over the media that attendance is really being clamped down on and fines are often calculated per day, per parent! For 3 full weeks it was never going to be 20p quid!

Perhaps if you want to be able to afford to take your children on 4 week long haul holidays during the school holidays when its permitted to do so, you need to work full time instead of part time?

@Questionairballoon I'm a teacher and I think the council fining people for taking kids out of school for a holiday is awful, especially at primary school age.

The only "legal" way to do it is to register your kids for home education but that means risking losing your place at school if it is over-subscribed.

My aunt took her boys out of primary school for 4 weeks and they went backpacking in India. The boys kept a diary, completed school work whilst away, then did a presentation to the school upon their return about their experiences.

If this does go to court, then you need to present it as an educational trip, show that the kids kept up with the school work whilst away, and that you were therefore not negligent, but quite the opposite - offering your children a broader educational experience.

Anyone saying anything negative about this are probably just jealous that they can't do the same.

If I weren't a teacher (not sure I can take 3 weeks off unpaid - too many GCSE and A Level classes!) then I would do it!

Unfortunately, in England, the attendance fines have recently changed to become much tougher.

If you miss 10 periods (5 school days) within a rolling 10 weeks, you will be fined £160 (reduced to £80 if you pay within a certain timeframe). If you miss another 10 periods and get another fine (I think within 3 years), it is £160 and not reduced for early payment. If you miss another 10 periods, then you are taken straight to court. Expect a large fine, and presumably court costs.

I'm sure your children had the holiday of a lifetime, but that is a LOT of school to miss.

Speak to a solicitor and see what your options may be, though I can't see anything other than pleading guilty and apologising.

OP, my advice would be to visit a family law solicitor to get some advice on how to approach the hearing.
This solicitor page (absolutely no affiliation) had, on the surface, some sage advice: https://www.hja.net/expert-comments/blog/general-crime/what-to-do-if-charged-with-a-childs-school-attendance-offence/

I don’t normally post but I sympathise with you. They will have missed nothing in the last 3 weeks of summer term in a primary school - it’s all sports days, trips, school plays and similar ( I used to teach in several). We took our kids out of school for half a term to go overseas when they were older than yours, all ended up with 1st class degrees. We avoided any sanctions as were moving areas so left one school and joined a new one half a term later.
Travel broadens the mind and keeping in touch with family overseas is important. I’m sure many other teachers agree but rules are rules. Good Luck. Just pay the fine and say sorry.