School fine unjust?

[Mooster84]

Firstly if any teachers could help with this would be good, my partner works in a school and both my children went tonthe same school so we had no problems with holidays until this year, my oldest started at high school and hos holidays are completely different not just a few days but weeks, so primary were my youngest and partner are was 2 week in october 2023, the day he went back to school was the day my oldest broke up. He ended up having 9 days off school, i asked the headteacher and explained that as my partner works in a school he has to have school holidays no exception it is in his contract, so to be able to go on holiday i had to take him out, it wasnt cheaper as was school holidays in most of uk so wasnt to save money. She literally wrote back 3 words No Family Holidays, today i have received a fine.

So my question is, am i just going to have to pay a fine every year for the next 5 years as the holidays are also different this year. Any teachers had kids at different schools with different holidays?

Thank you

Presumably you knew they had a different holiday set up before you sent him to the school?

Can you not choose to go on holiday at a different time of the year where they do coincide?

Also, if it is 9 days every year for 5 years you are looking at missing 9 weeks of school. That is more than a whole term. You are really setting your child back with this, as on top of illness etc his absence will be much more than that.

It sounds really frustrating but unfortunately you have two choices.

1. Go on holiday together and pay the fine or
2. Don't go on holiday together - you take the children on holiday or you holiday in half terms.

I don't agree with fines but yeah this is valid. Surely they get some of the same time off over summer as it's a long holiday, and Easter as everyone will be off for Easter weekend? It was your choice to take them out and miss school.

Missing days at primary school is completely different to whole subject lessons in secondary school. You just have to go on holiday at a different point in the year. Yes I am sure you have plans for October but your dates don't align so you have to take holidays at a different time of the year.

You took him out for 9 days? 2 weeks off? Bonkers.

There are other holidays, use one of them. The summer holidays won't completely miss. Not will Christmas, or Easter.

You don't have a family holiday in October then. Of course the fine is just.

FWIW DH is a teacher, his October half term is different to Dts. I took them away on my own last year for a few nights.

So use summer, Christmas or Easter as they are more likely to coincide. (Summer will for definite)

Yes the fine is valid, there isn’t a loophole for teachers who work in different schools.

Also you don’t have to go on holiday. Presumably summer, Christmas and most likely Easter will be broadly aligned, at least for some of their weeks

You must have some overlapping weeks in summer? Or a single overlapping week at Easter or Christmas? I think the feb is justified

Surely if your partner works in a school they would understand holiday fine rules?

Lots if prifessions have limited holidays. The only one they give a concession to is Armed Forces and even then its just for operations....

This nails it.

Yes, it's absolutely justified. You can't just decide that your family needs a holiday more than your child needs to attend school.

Overlapping holidays are annoying, but the normal response is too easy "Oh, we can't go on holiday because the holidays don't match."

My DH and I were teachers in different LAs. It wasn't unusual for our holidays to be different. We had to suck it up.
One Easter I tookour kids on holiday for our LA's two week Easter holiday, and my DH joined us for the second week.

So of the 13 weeks school holidays, not as single week in the whole year aligned? And yet this bizarre holiday pattern, which presumably dose not include Christmas, Easter or any of August was never mentioned when you signed your eldest up to that school?

Or you had plenty of other options for taking a family holiday without anyone missing school.

Pay the fine. It's valid and you are not a special case.

There are plenty of times of year when the holidays will overlap sufficiently for a family holiday so you will just have to use those times instead, like everyone else.

If your partner works in a school then they will be aware of how the holidays work, and that there are virtually no exceptions to the rule of no term time holidays.

Taking him out for a holiday during exam years will be detrimental and yes you will be fined for each occasion. What about when younger moves to secondary? Summer, Christmas and Easter dates are more likely to align.

I hate school fines so I feel for you but it looks like you have no choice. (I take my kids out for holidays too and they always catch up, no problem). Luckily, where I live it is allowed and even encouraged as family time is seen as important!

Btw teachers have nothing whatsoever to do with attendance fines.

You made a choice to go on holiday at thia time. You could have waited til the summer and gone away then.

The fine is valid.

Little bit aggressive.
No need for insults or name calling, children.

So two weeks out of the 13 don't match....not really a problem. Lots of people have issues trying to get time off that fits with the kids but they only have 4 or 5 weeks to play with.