O/T - Petition to stop parents getting fined for taking holidays in term time

[Mummy Minnie]

Hi fellow Disney peeps,

I know some of you take your children out in term time. From the 1st Sept, if you wish to take your children out at all, the absence will not be authorised & the fine is £60 per child, per parent. I've only just found out about this & a lot of parents don't seem to know.

If you don't agree with these changes, please sign the below petition.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49640

Please note this post is not a discussion on whether you should or not.

Thanking you all in advance

 

[tracy021083]

I've signed it. Not debating it but can I just ask - what would happen if we were to book the leave with school now for next year? not booked a hol yet but we usually go the same time, and wondering if we could put it in/have it authorised now or if they would still charge?

 

[scampbunny]

Hi

From what I understood, it's still down to the individual school as to the fining...

 

[Lisa_C]

I think they tend not to authorise for September anyway, I know our school has always used this system as September as the settling in month??

I know you need a certain attendance and this needs to be met before authorisation (remember the law states it isn't our "right" and they don't have to say yes) so maybe they won't let you book until the end of the school year for the next year (i.e In June for that September as you usually give two or so weeks notice?).

 

[Lisa_C]

Hi

From what I understood, it's still down to the individual school as to the fining...

I think you are right Nikki (morning haha!) as you are allowed in exceptional circumstances or if the holiday will enrich the child - what I don't agree with is those that constantly take their children out at term term and concoct stories to do so though.
If there was a funeral to attend or for a culture driven holiday (learning isnt all about sitting in a classroom) I'd pay the fine if they said no!
Then again, my eldest has had four years of not being able to have term holidays so I'm not against the new rules IMHO.
And not debating, just saying.

 

[Ware Bears]

From the 1st Sept, if you wish to take your children out at all, the absence will not be authorised & the fine is £60 per child, per parent. I've only just found out about this & a lot of parents don't seem to know.

From what I understand this is a bit misleading, I believe the amendment to the Education Act removes the reference to 'ten days' and 'family holidays' but as is the case at the moment it'll still be up to each individual headteacher to authorise or not.

Please note this post is not a discussion on whether you should or not.

Always quite an emotive topic so please remember to keep it friendly although of course I wouldn't expect anything else on our lovely board!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

It's a difficult one. To be honest in ideal circumstances I would never want to take Joshua out of school, but we have done.

Whether it's slightly different as he goes to a special needs school with autism etc I am not sure.

We have to apply with a form, and generally get an approval, the obviously aren't 100% comfortable with it as I suspect the local school councils are putting them under pressure.

We feel slightly guilty as the obvious time to go is during the school holidays, however the dilemma then is it's often double the price (with double the crowds).

We have also gone with the it is slightly educational aspect, which in Joshua's case travelling abroad, and dealing with people, new environments etc, in reality it is.

 

[dlpSteve]

I'd increase it a lot - but that's just the way I was brought up, each to their own

 

[markpsych]

Oh dear....can sense a nasty stomach bug coming on for the children 1st week of December this year

Our primary school hasn't authorised our holidays for years....but knowing who they have granted exceptional circumstances for (e.g., PTA parents) I'm not convinced the rule is always applied fairly!

 

[adr2.8i]

we have an amazing headmaster at my kids primary school and we have never been refused a holiday in september. our kids attendance records are almost 100% so that certainly helps.

its such a touchy subject though isnt it. For me personally, we would find it almost impossible financially to have a decent holiday in the summer holidays, i certainly couldnt afford a disney holiday! it takes us 2 years to save up to go to DLP in september when its supposedly much more affordable!

i dont believe in fining all parents though. With the internet so accessable, any decent parent can still ensure that there child, even when on holiday, can still spend time to do homework/coursework. my kids are only 3 and 7yrs old, but we still take reading books and homework abroad with us for them.

 

[Ms Poppins]

It is a touchy subject, but hopefully each parent knows their child well enough to make an informed decision.

In Scotland (or at least at my kids schools) we don't need to make requests - we just tell them!! They will say it's not authorised, but there is not penalty. Obviously if absences are high, then it's a different issue.

We've only done this when it tags onto another holiday, ie last week of school before summer or a couple of days at half term etc.

But, until they make it law that workplaces only allow people who have school age children to take leave during school holdays, they'll never convince me it's wrong. I went 4 consecutive years not being able to get any summer leave when my kids were small. My workplace had a senority rule, and those with the company the longest were given their first holiday choices first. So there has been occassion that if I didn't take my kids out of school for a few days, they would not have got a holiday as I couldn't get time off work! Now that's a whole other story......

 

[Lisa_C]

I'd increase it a lot - but that's just the way I was brought up, each to their own

Me too - good job we're not in charge as the government would be minted haha!!

 

[kizzabel]

Its much the same here as in Scotland - we send a note in to say the children will be absent but it isn't something the school like - saying that DD missed 5 days in October for DLP but I had a chat with her teacher beforehand and she was quite ok with it after giving DD assignments and homework for the week. She missed one other day for illness so I don't think her attendance was bad.

In Ireland if a child misses more then 20 days Social Services step in and investigate into each case. There has been imprisonment and fines of ¬650 per parent.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

It is a touchy subject, but hopefully each parent knows their child well enough to make an informed decision.

Indeed it's up to parents to make their own decisions, nobody else can really influence that.

 

[tennisfan]

Hi

From what I understood, it's still down to the individual school as to the fining...

Exactly, the school where my mum works will not authorise any leave during term time? Parents are aware as its on the newsletters

 

[torsie24]

£60 fine is still nothing compared to what you save.

I personally have no issue with children being taken out of (primary) school and plan to do it myself. Proving attendance the rest of the year is good.

My parents took me out of both primary and secondary school for various trips (& even uni once - I wasn't turning down a free tip to Dubai - lol) and I always had great marks and always had a great family time away where I'd learn lots.

Just as work isn't everything to grown ups, school isn't everything in a child's life.

 

[Jules1212]

£60 fine is still nothing compared to what you save.

I personally have no issue with children being taken out of (primary) school and plan to do it myself. Proving attendance the rest of the year is good.

My parents took me out of both primary and secondary school for various trips (& even uni once - I wasn't turning down a free tip to Dubai - lol) and I always had great marks and always had a great family time away where I'd learn lots.

Just as work isn't everything to grown ups, school isn't everything in a child's life.

The problem is that it isn't a £60 fine torsie. It is £60 for each child AND each parent. So, in my case, that would be a £240 fine.

You have to laugh at any system that sees fit to penalise you for daring to be a two parent family! My two are both in the top sets for most subjects at their school, have an almost 100% attendance record and one is being moved into the 'gifted and talented' stream as she is streets ahead of her cohorts. I have no worries about where they are in terms of learning.

This week they both had to attend watching their peers take part in sports day, despite not being a part of it and apparently it was OK to drop lessons for that. The week before, they both went on trips to theme parks (Paultons for one and Chessington for the other) organised by the school (and paid for by us!). Next month, the last two days of term are given over to 'enrichment' activities where they go on a day trip to France or a trip to a zoo, make puppets out of felt or a myriad of other things - here's a notion school.... WE already enrich our kids lives!

I will be taking mine out of school (and I certainly will not be asking anyone for their permission for myself and my husband to be spending quality time with OUR kids!) for the last two and a half days of term just before Christmas to take them to DLRP. Or we can leave them there to watch DVD's and eat sausage rolls and do next to nothing under the school's supervision.

 

[bpeacock]

In my opinion working parents are just cash cows to the government. I live on a council estate and I work full time, my DH works 6 hours a week, but is there to pick up the kids from school. I see kids from the estate not going to school or going in at 10.30 instead of 8.45, shouldn't the government concentrate on these families not the hard working types.

I agree that some employees are not child friendly. I work for the local authority it is a small team of 6 people and as well as myself 3 others have children, so we cannot always take school holidays off.

Sorry if this goes on but this subject really annoys me.

 

[lilacgems23]

I have already booked our September holiday months before they announced this. They should give people more notice. I will probably be fined now even though I booked before this was decided which is unfair.

 

[Princess Clayre]

I did sign the petition and asked to received updates. I had this email on Friday:

As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response: The Government has no plans to change its policy on this issue. It is a Government priority that children of compulsory school age and who are registered at school attend school regularly. School absence should be reduced to a minimum. This is because there is clear evidence that any absence from school can and does impact on children’s education attainment. The law places a duty on parents of every school-registered child of compulsory school age to secure their regular attendance at school. The courts have interpreted regular attendance to mean a pupil attending school every day it is open for education. Failure of a parent to ensure their child attends school regularly may constitute an offence, which can lead to a parent being fined or prosecuted. The previous law on leave of absence allowed schools to authorise up to ten days leave for the purpose of family holiday in special circumstances if a parent applied in advance. This was interpreted by some schools and parents to mean that parents had an entitlement to take their children on an annual two week family holiday during term time. This was a misconception; the law was not intended to create any perception of an entitlement. The Government has now changed the law to remove any ambiguity. Head teachers will still have the power to authorise leave of absence but only in exceptional circumstances. If a head teacher grants leave, it will be for them to determine the length of time the child can be away from school. There are 190 days in a school year and enough opportunities during school breaks for parents to plan their holidays. The Government does not plan to revert back to the previous legislation. This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold.

I must admit that I don't take my child out for DLP, I do pay the extra and take him in the school holidays. But I have pulled him out for WDW as after trying August once we vowed never again due to the humidity and rain/thunder storms and it does annoy me that they state only '190 school days' so that now includes weekends as holiday allowance . Long Haul trips are certainly going to get trickier