Holiday fines for taking kids out of school, is the government missing the point?

[Supersares]

With the government announcing today they’re increasing the fine from £60 to £80 per parent, does anyone else think the government is missing the point here? I assume that the reason most parents have holidays during term time is to avoid the extortionate cost of going during the 6 week summer break. Wouldn’t it be better to clamp down on holiday companies hiking their charges instead… or am I missing something?

If that was allowed you could guess who on here would complain!

As a parent I would be fine with that, better a week or 2 on a family holiday than long term sick leave or breakdowns that have happened in my DCs school.

Last year we ran with no HT, no DHead, no bursar/office staff, no reception teacher and yr5/6 teacher went on maternity 4 weeks before SATs. I think the year 1 teacher went on long term sick as well. We also had an amazing TA and SEN staff member on extended leave due to a family tragedy.

The school amazingly managed, but only due to staff and governors stepping in.

I would have no problem if schools were able to manage to give staff essential leave on a time table base during term times if it gave them essential down and family time. The amount of days with no staff due to sick leave and staff quitting, it would make no difference to the children in the school.

I’ve actually lost track of teachers in each class over the last 2 years, I asked my DDs what teachers are in their classes and it was well sometimes it’s Miss X, & Mrs Y on Fridays and then Ms Z takes me just for maths but Mr P for this…
One has possible SEN yet the way the school are managing things has not had any detrimental impact on any of them.

My DCs are in a small school where staff have always moved around and been flexible so I see it can work, I will admit after 6 reception teachers coming and going last year I started to worry, but it’s had no lasting effect. I can also understand it wouldn’t always be as easy in big schools. And any school to run smoothly would need the right kind of management to make it work.

Increasing fines isn't going to protect vulnerable children who are being prevented, for many reasons, from attending school.

Personally, I struggle with how much the state seems to think they own our children and are best placed to make all decisions regarding their welfare. E.g. the NHS is now telling parents to send their kids into school with illnesses such as hand, foot and mouth.

But back to to the new regs, the £20 raise isn't the main issue. If you have a second absence within three years it goes up to £160 per parent per child and then if you do a third, you're off to court.

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/

I think the government are treating parents like they aren’t equipped to make good decisions for their children (some aren’t I know) , why do state schools get fined , the people who need to take holidays in term time and privet schools don’t get a fine ? Australia has 3 weeks a year allowed to be taken out of school in term time and they also start their children later at school , we have to put our children in so earls, they are babies , what’s better then some family time and a bit of travel with family , visiting temples and hiking, playing sports all day or learning to swim with out the crowds of the summer holiday .. or going further a field .. Thailand isn’t available in the holidays weather wise .. to be travel safe with you parents is a life lesson food culture everything it’s stuff you can’t teach.. my son loves school and I’d be very careful about if and when I was going to take him out but I would like to go without the fuss ,even to take him the theatre with out the crowds.. how about they focus on bringing fresh food prepared on site and daily sport into schools rather then demonising parents for having some affordable family time and memories with their children ..

No, independent schools can't find parents for term time holidays. They expel the pupils instead. Term time holidays are rare in private schools.

State schools are open 190 days per year. That leaves 175 days when children are not in school. I don't buy the argument that this doesn't leave enough family time. And studies have shown a clear link between attendance and performance.

I don’t think people are saying it doesn’t leave ebough time….just that they choose to go on holiday when it’s cheaper🤷‍♀️….. ive mainly done it to take my kids on long haul at Christmas ( six weeks) ….my DD has just done the same with her DDs ….took them out for the month of January….they seem to have caught up fine….she will do it again in a couple of years…..i was never fined….my DD hasn’t yet….even with the fine being doubled it’s not a deterrent for long haul travel…..just an added cost ( if it happens)

Not every parent can get annual leave during the school holidays, and the cost is higher. If the fine still makes the holiday cheaper, I don't blame people for going term time. I have much less an objection to it than most seem to, and say that as a parent currently on holiday, whose child should be in school (no longer living in the UK) because to me her seeing family, is just as important. Fortunately I now live in a country that most parents feel the same way, and schools have no,issue with extended trips during term time

I think parents should be allowed to take their child out of school for two weeks, without consequence, except during GCSE/A Level years.
No child is going fail at life because they went on holiday - holidays are a positive experience for children.
Many parents have little control over when they can go away - it very much depends on what the parents do for a living, cost, perhaps availability of other family members if travelling abroad to see relatives.
Schools would have better relationships with parents if there was a bit of flexibility.
Also no harm would come from letting teaching/admin staff have the odd bit of time off for their life events as well, instead of making everything so bloody hard and confrontational.

We all saw the truth behind 'every school day matters', during Covid, when some schools did very little. It's too late for those schools to start claiming every second is essential now!

Leave should be authorised for parents who genuinely cannot take annual leave during school holidays.

No child is going to fall at life because they went on holiday

There is clear evidence that taking children out of school for holidays during term time damages their life chances.

And I fail to see how the fact that many children had their life chances damaged during COVID justifies anything.

Taking a child out of school for two weeks won't affect their life chances. It's the attitude to education generally, which makes the difference. So if parents are allowed and the onus is on them to ensure the kids have caught up on work missed, it will be fine. It's not like anyone is saying to take them out during GCSE years.

Covid provision from some schools made an absolute mockery of their insistence that every minute counts - if they truly believed that, then every child would have had full time online teaching.

I deregistered my oldest dc and took him abroad for 6 months when he was in primary. We loosely followed the UK curriculum while away but not religiously and he slotted right back in, no bother when we got back. I can't see a couple of weeks on holiday will scupper anyone's A levels tbh!

What life chances are these? It reads so dramatic I find it genuinely concerning that people can't separate someone pulling their kid out to go on hol. Then there's other far more serious deeper rooted issues within the child's home affecting them at school.

That's fabulous - using self identification to highlight the ridiculousness of self identification!

Why on earth would they clamp down? It is not a charity

Good grief

No it's not a right but it's a joy and life experience children remember into adulthood.

I vividly remember our holidays.

My child went on his first holiday at 19 abroad because we couldn't afford to go.

That makes me so sad that he never enjoyed those experiences that I cherished as a child purely because of money

Schools do this but then have kids come in half day because of a football match
Or spend the last 3 days of school watching films on Netflix.

Did you really just type 'good grief? 🤣🤣

I'd go as far as saying - if you take your kid out of school for a holiday, you lose your school place.

That might focus the mind better than a puny fine.

That would cause carnage @ScottishScouser - children gabe no say in where they go and what they do and you'd see their education permanently disrupted to exercise control over the parents. The kids are the ones with a right to a school place, it's not a favour to the parents.
Makes a mockery of the notion that every day is essential, dies it not?

You'd also have problems where parents are divorced and one parent does it without the other's consent, you'd have those parents who don't give a shit (and whose kids need more protection, not less).

What is GRT? I think I've been under a rock for years as I don't know.