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!

So you are happy to pay a fine but won’t pay a little extra to take your kids during the actual School holidays? What did you actually expect to happen?!

Last year, the primary school where I’m a governor got the call on the last Monday before Christmas. KS1 had their class party that afternoon and went home high as kites.
Thankfully, it went well but it could have gone even better had it been earlier in the term.

Agreed. Poem "First they came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller is worth reading.

Please tell me you’re not quoting Pastor Neimoller in the context of entitled middle class parents thinking they’re entitled to a cheap holiday? Jesus Christ.

I’m pro ID cards. I just find the hypocrisy laughable. Everyone bleating on about freedom and liberty yet will willingly condone this kind of government control over your own children.

Totally agree. Load of self justifying nonsense.
The attitudes people have towards education on here genuinely shock me.

Your kids are really lucky to have the opportunity to get a free education and you’re claiming its OK to squander this because you wanted to see some relatives overseas. No wonder schools are in so much trouble at the moment with attitudes like this.

Yes please don't say you were a teacher in court. Think that will infuriate them more. Teachers have a very hard job, educating. You are out of touch with your profession if you think they just watch films for 3 weeks.
Be humble. You've misjudged this massively. You've done it before. Be honest and accountable.
They've had that time now and hopefully good memories. Accept this with little fuss and try not to fight it or talk about it with your children. You are being punished not them. I get you're in shock but you need to accept it and move forward.
Taking kids on planes long haul you would have saved an awful lot so what is bad that you pay the price - surely not anywhere near what you saved and put some money back into the public purse. You did know the risk. It's like driving past a speed camera late for work but then not expecting the punishment.
Just accept it. If there is any reflection you could show I would imagine the magistrates would be more lenient. A well worded letter may help. How you have educated yourself on what they have missed and error of judgement. But definitely don't say I thought it was ok, I used to be a teacher, I didn't like holidays been fixed then either. They will want you to focus on your child and any learning you have done as a parent. You need to align with shared state values. Your children need an education. And the time was excessive. You could explain seeing relations as I think still valid but not as an excuse, and only with the accountability.

No sympathy

Im a bit confused. I thought the rules were if you do it once its a fine, if you dot it again the fine doubles and on a third occasion within 3 years, then its off to court? Is this really the first time in 3 years?

If you can't afford the prices, you need to spend longer saving up 🤷‍♂️

I can't afford a Ferrari which is why I drive a Fiesta.

People are talking about prison, but first thing to look at is with it. It's the basic offence of the aggravated offence (aggravated to section 1A). I suspect it's the basic, especially as it's the first time, if so, it's a fine basically, but a lot higher than you'll get as a fixed penalty one.

Even for the aggravated it's vanishingly unlikely you'd get sent to prison for it. Rough figures are that about 300,000 people get the fixed penalty notices each year. About 20,000 get prosecuted (either in the situation you're in, or because they're repeat offenders, because they didn't pay the fine, or because they're contesting it). The number that get jail sentences is in single digits, and for the vast majority of those, the sentence would be suspended in any event, so no actual jail time.

But people see it there written into the statue and panic understandably. Most practitioners will never see anyone go to jail for this!

But absolutely you'll get a fine.

What was their % attendance prior to the holiday?

I have also never met anyone, let alone an alleged ex-teacher, who thinks that winding down a term goes on for 3 weeks 😂

My parents took me abroad for 6 weeks when I was 11...But they saved up all their holiday leave and only took me during the summer holidays even though it was much more expensive for them. They weren't well paid, but it wouldn't have occurred to them to take me out in term time in those days.

I'm sorry that you got a shock OP, but it seems to me that over the years parents have (for whatever reason) got the idea that it's fine to take children out on holiday and it's only now that the authorities are beginning to clamp down.

I was a secondary school teacher and a three week absence would have had a significant impact on a pupil's learning. I suspect that even at primary, there's a problem with this.

Then you save up and go the following year, or even the year after. Whoever you CAN afford it. Nobody is entitles to 'amazing experiences'.
Suck it up and don't do it again. Enjoy that 2500 fie - think how many holidays you could have put that towards in actual holiday time.
Lesson learned.

Individual teachers might have given the impression they weren't bothered because but isn't their job to deal with unauthorised absences. What else can they say?

But schools have no say in the decision and it wasn’t authorised. The OP says they were a teacher so none of this can be even remotely surprising.

Not sure why everyone is getting aggressive about the fact that I was a teacher? I’ve been employed in England and in the Middle East as a teacher, I wouldn’t make that up to score points with strangers 😂

anyway, I’m not a psycho, whatever the fine ends up being and the consequences as a whole, I will take responsibility. It’s not like I’m refusing to do so lol. I’m just surprised it immediately went to court and asked for advice if anyone had been in similar situations.

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!

The difference between this holiday and taking the whole of it outside term time was around £3500-4200 - this was checked in advance and tbh that’s a lot of money for us. Maybe not for the rest of you, but for us, it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

Other than the whoops of joy for our court order, if anyone has any advice on what happens next/how to handle it properly then please do let me know as I am a little anxious about it all. Thank you X

My kids are nearly done with education. I ONCE when they were in primary took them out of school for 3 days before the end of a term to go on a holiday. That you blithely took them out for three weeks without thinking that there may be repercussions is gobsmacking. Why did you think that would be OK?

3 or 4 days to make a holiday affordable or do-able? Fine in my book.
3 weeks? A piss take and means your children absolutely do not have good attendance.
If you don’t feel you should be taken to court in these circumstances, in what circumstances would you think it acceptable?
I’d pay a solicitor for an hour consultation to find the best way forward. It’ll be ok but you’re going to have to accept that this is the risk you chose.

My husband is a governor in a primary school. When they see the stats of children not meeting standards compared to time away from school in term time - there is a clear correlation

I do have sympathy, we have primary aged children and the cost in school holidays is outrageous - but it's not forever

No one is getting aggressive

we either say it’s bull shit
or
Disturbing to think you were a teacher and regard the last three weeks of term time as winding down

What does the schools absence policy say? Ours says that if children miss 10 consecutive sessions (which is 5 days) it gets automatically referred to the local authority. I mean - I can see why you thought it would be a fine and are shocked it’s court proceedings, but honestly how did you think 3 weeks was ok? I suspect your limit is the 10 sessions the same as ours is.

It doesn’t matter if you told the teachers, they can’t stop you going, if you decided to go that’s it.

If you couldn't afford it, why did it have to be 4 weeks over 2 continents in the same year?

@SuratNuJaman

Agreed. Poem "First they came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller is worth reading.
Slowly we give away our freedoms, and freedom is such a thing that you do not realise you had till it is taken away from you.

Back to Pseud’s Corner with you.

You know most schools close over summer for 7 weeks right? That's enough for a 4 week holiday...

If the education the parent has chosen is government education then they are accepting there is an element of rule following to abide by. There’s a perfectly legitimate option to home school if they don’t like the level of ‘government control’. The fact there is a choice (amongst other glaringly obvious points) means this situation is not comparable to ID cards.