Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Taking child out of school for holidays

44 replies

southernbelle77 · 16/06/2008 17:26

Does anyone know if you can do this these days?

DD starts school in Sept. We want to go on holiday to Hawaii probably around the Feb half term but would need 3 or 4 days off school in order to be able to do it. Is this something we would be allowed?

Thanks

OP posts:

DarthVader · 16/06/2008 20:33

all holidays are unauthorised at our school but I am not aware that anyone has been fined...how much was the fine out of interest?

Kbear · 16/06/2008 20:41

I'll tell you why people do this - because travel companies hoik up the prices by ridiculous amounts in summer and normal people on normal salaries want to go on holiday with their family and can't all afford to do it in August. And some people have holiday dates foisted on them by their employer (banks etc do this) and other people (my DH and me) have to fit in our holidays around 10 other people we work with.

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 20:58

fines came seperately £50 in a letter to me
and £50 in letter to DH. Anyone who has parental responsibility gets the fine.

If not paid within (i think 28 days) fine is doubled to £100m EACH.

After which if you havent paid, the LA people decide whether it is viable to take said 'offenders' to court resulting in £1000 each.

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 20:59

LOL £100M (not quite!!) i meant 100 quid!

pavlovthecat · 16/06/2008 21:01

Some schools allow up to 10 days with prior notice.

I would not care anyway to be honest. Time with family away from home, experiencing new things is just as important for learning and education as learning how to count.

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 21:07

Hear hear Pav.

Just had a poke about in my bureau and found the penalty notices.

We are guilty of an offence under S.444 Education Act 1996 'If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty...'

Soooo, there you go, a criminal on MN, what shall ye do with me?!!

tilbatilba · 16/06/2008 21:12

Forever cleaning....was this because of your family holiday or had your dc been truancing as well?

pavlovthecat · 16/06/2008 21:13

forever - I work for criminal justice system, and deal with said offenders from time to time. They get a criminal record if they are persistent, willful and damaging to their child.

Example - 60 days off out of 110 (or whatever a term is). Literacy and numeracy problems, social interaction problems. I have never known a person or family to get a criminal record for taking their child on holiday.

I shall just factor the £50 penalty in to my holiday costs, like getting to and from the airport, travel insurance that kind of thing!

I have relatives who live in USA, I bet your bottom dollar DD will get more experience on a two or three week holiday in USA with her cousins than she will lose from two or three weeks away from school, (unless it was exam time at secondary school).

Rant over.

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 21:19

Not truancing, just family holiday.

Apparently, up to 3 days (as far as I am aware) is "ignored" and its after that one can be issued with a fixed penalty.

I had written to the school and they told me that it would be unauthorised leave but we chose to go ahead with it anyway.

It was something which started last september in our area, previously I had always been given permission to take up to 10 days per school year.

pavlovthecat · 16/06/2008 21:25

forever who fined you? Council? Police? School?

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 21:30

The council.

The head reports to the council the absence and then they send out the penalty notice.

Original poster

southernbelle77 · 16/06/2008 21:32

" We are guilty of an offence under S.444 Education Act 1996 'If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty...' "

So, is 4 years and in reception class a 'compulsory school age'? What with each school doing different things with regard to starting in reception and all that, it can get very confusing.

Do children actually HAVE to start school before year 1?

OP posts:

pavlovthecat · 16/06/2008 21:35

Isn't compulsory school age 5? The first Sept after 5th birthday? or something like that? DD is not going to school before 5. If she goes the year earlier she will only just be 4, too young.

We will go on a long holiday!

muggglewump · 16/06/2008 21:39

I'm taking DD out of school for a holiday next week, missing the last week of school.
Her teacher and the head said good on me!
They both know I'd not have been able to do it without my Dad though so supported it and understood that it was my Dad's choice of dates.
If it goes down as unauthorised then so be it.
School is not the be all and end all, DD having memories of her Grandad, especially a holiday with him are more important to me

Original poster

southernbelle77 · 16/06/2008 21:40

DD is 4 this month so will be only a couple of months over 4 when she starts. But, she is soooo ready to start and is soooo excited!!

OP posts:

tilbatilba · 16/06/2008 21:48

forevercleaning I am really shocked that you were fined! Are families accepting of this system? It also sounds like it depends on the attitude of the principal weather permission is granted. Is it the same system in privte schools?

suwoo · 16/06/2008 21:54

My parents are moving to France next month. We are going in August and at Christmas which both fall into school holidays, I have just booked October now and school can piss off if they think DD is not going to see her grandparents for a couple of extra days a year.

forevercleaning · 16/06/2008 22:04

I have a large wedge of correspondence with my LA in a folder as various things over the years have happened of which I need to keep a record.

This holiday malarky is just another one to add to the pile, and have become quite an expert on where we stand legally with education LOL !!

I would like to add to the mums here of little ones who are due to start school before their fifth birthday that IT IS YOUR CHOICE,they do not have to start Education until the term after their fifth birthday, which would mean that they skip reception and go direct to year one (that is if they are going to attend school) as you also have the right to home Educate. (A place will not be saved for them though and is a risk if you are desperate for a certain school I must add) Bit of topic there!

I have done this twice. I also home educate, and it is easier for us to take our children on holiday during term time.

Stand up for what you feel is best for your family. We never paid our fine, a couple of stiff letters to the LA and they let it go.

memoo · 16/06/2008 22:10

Sothernbelle, a child is not of compulsery school age until they are 5 so nobody can really do anything about you taking her away.

Just be careful in future years though, i know a couple of families at our school who have thought they would get away with the ten days they believe to be allowed only to find that the absence has been recorded as unauthorised, they have then had visits from the EWO. In our school the EWO comes in once a month and every single unauthorised absence is refered to him, even if its just one day. LEA's are really cracking down on this

Flip

1 2