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!

What did you expect? Nobody can really advise you, you just need to suck it up and face the consequences.

Even if they did wave them off happily, they're hardly going to take it out on the kids in their care when it's the parents' dick move, are they?

I don't understand how you didn't foresee this. It's almost a month, half of a half term - in what world would that be OK? My DD's school is always on the parents' backs about attendance. They are, in turn, under enormous pressure from the LA and have them on their backs.

That's a ridiculous comparison. Children are entitled to an education.

Interesting thread to read as someone in Scotland! I knew England were quite hot on their fines but I was not aware of the court stuff. Seems a bit bonkers to me, OP. Hopefully you can get it sorted.

3 weeks is excessive, im not surprised you’ve got a fine. I guess you won’t be doing that again?

I'm afraid so.

In my case, Dad was seeing his father for the first time in 30 years. (Dad was an Eastern European Displaced Person.) It would have been so much cheaper if we'd gone to see Grandad during term time, but there's no way that my parents would have risked my education. I was 11 and still at a (Scottish) primary school.

We stayed with relatives, but the air fares were very expensive in those days, even though we had what were termed Apex flights.

Aren’t parents supposed to complete a holiday form these days?

Eeshk. I've usually got some sympathy for this sort of thing, but three weeks is a piss take.

Never in my life have I seen the last three weeks of school before summer be anything other than dvd’s and literally nothing useful happening. I get people will say that’s neither here nor there but part of me thinks… they’re YOUR children!

I'd have just lied and said they were ill. I think it's the emailing in advance which has tripped you up, as it's written in black and white. Even if they had strongly suspected it was a lie, it would have been harder to prosecute.

Mad that you can't take them out though. I wonder in the future, with talk of making the summer holidays shorter, if children will get an allowance of holiday to use each year instead (like at work). Would take the pressure off a lot. Obviously it shouldn't extend to Year 10 and 11.

Can I ask your background? Teacher? TA? Fly on the wall?

Why would you assume this.

I'm not pro ID cards I think they are a solution looking for a problem - and would give a huge IT target for nefarious people to target and will have fuck ups like declearing wrong person dead and humand input data and they make mistakes also worried about cost to my family.

However we didn't take hoildays in school term times. DD2 now at college but whole way through their schooling time missed has been an issue - even for family funerals at first school.

It's been this way for over a decade and a half - personally I have a lot more sympathy for parents who have chronically ill kids who get hounded and treated awfully about school attendence - sometime becuase NHS is so inflexiable about appointments.

Yet again, the Government taking over parents wishes. The rule may be for parents who do not care about their children, but then such parents already know how to play the system.

You think if all the children in a family are apparently ill for three weeks it wouldn't arouse suspicion?

Indeed the OPs arguments don't make any logical sense. It's actually quite worrying that she is apparently educated to such a degree that she can teacher others but she does not seem to be able to form a rational argument.

I think if you lie about illness for three weeks for two children questions would still be asked and medical proof expected to avoid the fine.

My DC was out 6 weeks for medical reasons, no questions asked, but DC2 was in school the whole time. If they had been off as well I would have expected investigation.

Ooof! 2x £2500 fine for 2 kids, and thats per parent. 10k! It would have been cheaper to just go in the summer holidays!

The court will see it as 6 weeks in total because theres 2 kids so id expect the heavier punishment.

No. It's an entitlement for the children. Education is valuable.

@Questionairballoon I don't know the exact process but you might only have to send in paperwork. If you do have to go into court, I'd imagine you will just be receiving a fine (pretty sure this will be larger than the normal fine). I doubt very much they will send a mother to prison for taking her children on holiday as that seems pretty extreme.

I liked the idea someone else posted- write a letter explaining that you are sorry, visiting family etc.

Hopefully someone will be on soon who has been in a similar position who can advise.

I assume this because most of the arguments I’ve read about ID cards and why people don’t want them is because it is likened to government control over its citizens and people don’t want to be tracked and traced and asked for their ‘papers’…

I find it hypocritical that those same people would probably condone the fact that the government says what you can and can’t do with your own children.

Also 'I’ve never actually been fined before (not the first holiday) so it’s not like I’ve got a record.'

So they've been out of school for holidays before.

Europe and the US sounds like two separate holidays to me - why did you have to tack both together at the same time?

3 weeks is excessive.

In Scotland and wouldn’t be fined
But I wouldn’t take them out for 3 weeks either, that’s quite the piss take tbh

Will ask to meet Hislop next week, will plead my case as a naughty they/them.

worked in and then after disability, heavily helped out in schools for many years.