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 know, I've read much of the research myself, although I do find it quite problematic as it really doesn't show proper cause and effect. I think it just saddens me that, once again, children like dd are basically ignored in all this type of research. It's a bit like Ofsted, which now is basically only interested in vulnerable children and if they are absent it is deemed to be the school's fault for not making them feel that they 'belong'.

I completely want support for vulnerable children, but I think it unfair that great swathes of children are essentially now educationally ignored for research and data purposes.

I do think the whole thing needs a massive rethink - Ofsted, curriculum, all of it.

People who are saying they disagree because Children have 13 weeks holiday are totally forgetting that some people have Children in different schools where holidays don't always line up. The big one for me is parents who work in the holiday trade. I live in Blackpool and taking even a week away in school holidays is impossible. How on earth are Hoteliers and staff, supposed to take a holiday in their busiest times. Most people who work in the the tourist industry are not even allowed to be off work during there busy times.

Well, I don't know that swathes are ignored, plus I have recently been through the ofsted process and they very much checked the progression and attainment for all. However, I would concur with your last sentence! That's a whole other thread, though 😊!

Absolutely ridiculous. Why would I sign this? I can plan my time according to the school term dates, I don’t see why you can’t do the same.

Taking your child out of school to go to Benidorm or Florida for a week is disruptive to mine and only serves to make yours stupider.

A holiday isn’t a human right, it’s a luxury and if you can’t afford it then you go without. I can’t afford a Rolls Royce so I don’t have one, I wouldn’t dream of embarrassing myself by creating a petition to complain that I should.

Yet another OP who posts something controversial and then disappears.

Attendance is directly linked to the best outcomes for children. But despite this being very well evidenced, parents persist in allowing their children to miss school for a variety of reasons.
Although parents generally have the best intentions for their children they demonstrably don’t always act in the child’s best interests, hence the government having to get involved with attendance.

This. Multiplied by 29 for all the other children in the class. At different times. Nightmare.

All this shows is that the fines aren’t great enough to be a proper deterrent.

Nope, and I took my DD out of school last year for a holiday. The savings easily pay any fine, our holiday was £2k cheaper going 2 weeks earlier. It’s not something we would normally do however we couldn’t book anywhere as DH was waiting for test results from the hospital, by the time they came through it was too late to book school holidays due to the price so we either went away 2 weeks before kids broke up or we didn’t go. In the end DD only missed 3 days of schooling as 2 trips were arranged for whilst we were away.
Some families take the absolute piss as it is. Someone I know has a fortnight holiday booked for October and then a weeks holiday end of November - too right they should get a fine.

As a PP said, I’m already sick of resorts full of kids in term time when I deliberately book my holidays around UK school terms. 😄

On a more serious note, I would like to see some more flexibility and acknowledgement that children may need to travel abroad for big family events or religious festivals.

I don’t love the fining system and it disadvantages those who can least afford holidays or fines but from a professional perspective I do think it discourages people from taking kids out too often.

Kids do suffer educationally and socially from too much time out of school. It’s not the ones who go away a few days before the start of the holidays that cause the most issues it’s the ones who take their kids out for a week 2 or 3 times a year because they don’t give a shit what their child is missing.

Or the family I know that always go on holiday at the start of September so regardless of what school year their kids are in, they miss that socially important first week or two of term.

You could see fines as a tax on those with low disposable income and/or struggling with COL etc. who just cannot afford to pay them. On the other hand, those with plenty of disposable income won't care much and will gladly pay up.

That's unfair. I don't know if there are any other sanctions besides fines for taking children out of school during term time.

I’ll sign too - I’m so passionate about this. It discriminates against low income and single parent households and drives me insane.

The bit that you are all missing is that the barriers to taking a holiday during term time, including but not exclusively the existence of these fines, is why term time holidays are cheaper. Holidays are priced by supply and demand. If demand is low because the children are in school then the holiday providers have to drop their prices. If the law is changed as per the petition so that every child can take a termtime holiday then the prices of termtime holidays will massively increase to being only a tiny bit cheaper than school-holiday-time breaks (there would still be a little difference because there would still be some difference in demand, but probably only 10% or so)

You can be prosecuted - usually on the third absence but there have been cases where people have been prosecuted on the first absence.

Also if you don’t pay the FPN when it comes through, they can progress it to court

10 days for every kid ? That’s ridiculous.

Half the class might be missing just before and after half terms and holidays, how’s the teacher supposed to teach and how do kids catch up?

Honestly, get real.

Tax payers are funding your kids free education. If you don't respect that you deserve to be fined.

I don’t agree with children being taken out of school unless for medical reason or funerals. There are a lot of holidays per year and if families can’t afford the holidays they would like then adjust the holidays or save over a period of time to go.
Teaching children is hard enough anyway and it would mean that the teacher would be constantly playing catch up and it would overall have a detrimental impact on educational standards not just for those going on the holiday but also others in the class.

And what if their parents can’t take leave in the school holidays?

Sorry no.
You live in a country where your children gain an automatic privilege to a full-time education. Unless of course they have disabilities.
As the parent to a child with high/complex needs who has fought hard for my own child & on behalf of other families, all of who
have been excluded by mainstream schools despite hard fought-funding being in place, for the benefit of “more able “ children like yours.
I find it offensive that you feel you can cherrypick attendance for a cheaper holiday when there are others, forfeiting their careers, on the brink of mental breakdowns who would be elated to have their child access the education you feel you can opt out of, but with the full expectation of returning at your own convenience, with no consequences.
You are obliged to ensure your child attends, school holidays are just that-book your package deal then fgs.

That’s just one of those things then and is probably quite rare.