Stop term time holiday fines for parents

[Louisew700]

Hi everyone,

I’ve just had a petition published calling for up to 10 days authorised school leave per year without fines, to give families a bit more flexibility.

Like so many parents, I’ve felt the pressure around attendance rules – especially when it comes to things like family time, holidays outside peak prices, or special circumstances.

If this is something you’ve ever struggled with or feel strongly about, I’d really appreciate your support. Even just a signature or share could help get this seen.

Here’s the link if you’d like to take a look: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/763857

Thank you so much 💛

I agree with this.

I agree, @BreadInCaptivity .
I think there are inconsistencies as well; where I work it's very common for students to go back to Pakistan (for example) for weddings and funerals, for several weeks, with no fines. It seems very unfair that pp was penalised for the same thing.
So I would like to see a more fair and consistent approach, taking into account family circumstances.

As I said, I don’t live in England but would be very against this move if it were suggested here. My view is that generally speaking parents act in their children’s best interest and the law should recognise this, and only get involved if with punishment / fines if the parents do something that is harmful or dangerous to the child. So fair enough, fine for persistent truancy through neglect or if they miss a significant period enough to cause harm.

Why are parents trusted to decide to homeschool and take child out of formal education altogether but have to seek permission for every absence otherwise fines apply? That doesn’t make sense to me.

... because if they're home schooled they're not registered in a school with attendance measured and monitored.
I hear what you're saying, but for the purposes of education, if you're home schooled then attendance isn't an issue, iyswim.

I agree to an extent, although I do think it should be 5 days so a weeks holiday. Two weeks does feel a bit excessive.
Also agree with those saying why do schools all have the same time off. Moving weeks around randomly like the October and May holidays would help.
What I don’t get the is the how terrible it is and how much children miss, that they will never catch up on. No one ever says this when the absence is due to illness.
It’s persistent regular absence that actually causes these issues. Also in this day and age surely lesson plans /what the children are learning that week could be made available online as general information. This doesn’t need to be time consuming just as a brief overview. In which case any half decent parent could ensure their child catches up at home.

I know that in some areas of the UK, some of the local eduction authorities have changed term times a bit or have 2 weeks off in the October half term and 2 weeks off in February and only 4 weeks in the summer.

I am guessing by giving extra time off in the winter months the schools save on heating but it also gives people more holiday options as not everyone is doing it the 2nd week of these breaks seems to be considerably cheaper.

I live in Scotland so not a worry here but I will sign and I find it dreadful

The reference to home schooling is a false equivalence.

When a parent chooses state education you know in advance the expectations around attendance of making that choice.

I’d also disagree that most parents are acting in their children’s best interests. They use the excuse that they are, but in my experience the driver is to save money and/or to access a destination or holiday experience that reflects their aspirations rather than that of their children who often would be just as happy (if not more so) camping and exploring the local attractions in the UK than never stepping outside of an all inclusive resort in Majorca and being packed off to the holiday club so their parents can chill out.

I agree with this

You disagree that most parents act in their children’s best interests.

I agree with you - very rarely do parents do it for the child's benefit, it's nearly always tonsave money . And when they say it's going to be educational, but you know they will be sat in an all inclusive resort somewhere!

Ten days authorised leave is ridiculous, with potential time off for illness too, they could easily miss a month off school. How are teachers meant to teach if random kids are off whenever the parents feel like it? These will be the same parents who then wonder why their kids are behind in their learning.

This.

Homeschooling is one extreme of the state giving parents the right to act in their children’s best interests when it comes to education. The government applying a fine for a holiday at the end of the year if they haven’t had much time off sick during the rest of the year and are happily keeping up with the class work is at the other.

2 weeks in February sounds miserable. I'd be so sad if dd lost out on properly long summer holidays, I think the children really benefit from the extended down time. I'd be in favour of longer summer holidays really.

Yes they don’t do it here but I know some friends whose kids have this.
for working parents it’s still the same amount of weeks a year to cover holiday childcare isn’t it? plus entertaining kids in the better weather is easier too.
I think a lot of academies decide these things which can cause issues if people have kids at different schools too
I agree it’s better to have the time off in the summer when the weather is nicer definately

The parents who consistently take children out for holidays tend to be the same parents who don’t consider reading with their child to be important, don’t tend to value education as much. One of my children’s classmates goes for a 2 week term time holiday every year and lie to the school or try to. Last year they were visited and had a big fine and the moaning they did was ridiculous! They risk prosecution this year but they’re going again!

I think you have a fair point, but some MATs do this because of the evidence of the detrimental effect on some children of a long summer break. Some regress because the break is too long, and they don't have carers who use this as a time of enrichment, or even maintaining an interest in learning. . Some children become feral. I think that's why many favour a more limited summer break.

It sounds dramatic but I'd actually be quite devastated if they shortened dd's summer holiday weeks. I think they are so important and I really don't think it's fair that children like her would miss out on that because some parents aren't bothered about supporting their child's development.

Yes, that's fair enough, but this is based on research and testing and unfortunately, for some children, such a long break is detrimental.

For others, it is essential.

So little Johnny has 2 weeks in Portugal in February, then is off sick for a week with flu or a bug or the norovurus that has swept through the school, then misses a few days here and there for dental/dr/hospital appointment/sporting or music comps if he plays at a high level - next thing you know he’s missed a month, or a full 9th of his education for that year.

Well, that's what you would argue, but obviously there are variants. I'm only going on the research findings that I have read

Goodness 10 days unauthorised absence for every child would be an absolute nightmare for teachers planning lessons/tests/exams/school productions. In a class of 30 they would have to accomodate up to 300 absences per year!

I know, I can't imagine it would do much to help teacher recruitment and retention!

Quite! Talk about workload!