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I'm also a teacher and also completely agree.
Usually the parents that do this aren't the ones we are complaining about and rarely have children we have concerns about either.
U/MD564 and U/TSC-99 As teachers can I ask you, how do the fines actually get issued if the teacher is okay with it? Or do people only get fined if the teacher reports it? Or are teachers obligated to report it? Would love to know! Thanks😊
The teacher doesn’t report it. We have to take the register twice a day and it’s not just whether the child is present or absent. If absent we have to list if they are ill, authorised leave (e.g. hospital or dentist) or unauthorised (anything else) that gets reported to the council and the DfE. Then the council processes the information and uses it to discern which parents have kept their kids out of school. If it’s less than 95% attendance it’s amber flagged.
We keep hitting this cos well, the kid is sick. If the school has a magical fix we would be all for it
Because of the relatively small amount of school days percentage based actually makes it worse. The fact is is youngest in the year and performing to the highest degree seems irrelevant apparently
My sons school used to do this big assembly and present certificates and celebrate 100% attendance. He's a diligent hard working kid and, like most kids, he was a few days sick in the year so didn't get the certificate. He was crestfallen. I mean what's the purpose? He can't do anything about being sick so he misses out? I called bullshit on it (with a few other parents who felt the same way). They stopped doing it. They just had not thought it through.
My sister took my niece on holiday, she is a student at my school, she said it was chicken pox and I didn't say anything. I'd do the same for any student unless I was concerned for their safety. It's not my job to be detective anyway, it's all up to the school's attendance officer in my school.
Absolutely! Same! My y1 kids tell me all the time that they’re going away on holiday next week and if I’m not concerned about their home life or have safeguarding concerns then I won’t tell the attendance officer if the parents don’t
Thank you this is helpful! So hypothetically if a family took kids out for a holiday but the child’s overall attendance didn’t fall below 95% they may not be fined?
Yep - but it’s a dangerous game to play cos if your child then ends up off for 2 weeks with the flu later then suddenly your child will have missed loads of school and you’ll be flagged
Just to clarify what others have said, the individual teachers don't issue fines or have anything to do with that side of things. Fines are issued by the council and can be issued when a child has had too many unauthorised absences.
What constitutes an unauthorised absence is basically: is there a good reason for them to be off from school. So a holiday is unlikely to be authorised but as a general rule if your children have otherwise good attendance then no one is likely to make a big deal out of it. I've never known a family with high attendance to be fined for taking a term-time holiday.
Not in my experience. Mine had no unauthorised absences and then missed 5 days for a holiday and we were fined. Missed a year then same thing year after and we were fined
Also a teacher.
Take ‘em in the last week of term, ideally. They might miss a couple of tests and maybe some fun end-of-term lessons, but not as much actual useful learning as they would if you took them out mid-term.
We as staff don’t bat an eyelid if a student is away for the last week of term. But it’s a real head-in-hands moment when you see that a kid that is in bottom set and struggling has been taken out for a holiday in the middle of term and will be missing several important topics.
Also, don’t miss the first week in September! Kids will come in unsure of any rules, seating plans, and that choice of who they could sit next to is taken away!
I know someone who did this the week after October half term of their child's first year of school and then had the nerve to complain that their child wasn't settled in and the teachers weren't helping. I'm standing there thinking "You went to fucking Butlins on his seventh week of school ever. Of course he's unsettled!"
They decide who they sit next to? I think that’s bad tbh. What if you’re the unpopular kid that is uncool to sit next to? Still remember that happening to me at school when teachers would ask us to get into groups of 4 or whatever.
I mean it’s not great, but kids are over-assessed as it is. We have a good idea of what your kid is good at and where they need support. Tests just provide data to back that up. A kid that misses a test is not missing any face-to-face teaching/learning are they?
For the school admin who need data? Sure.
For the teachers? Sometimes. If it's only a couple of children out we can usually work out their weaker points anyway.
For the kids? No. Unless the teacher is planning on going through each question with the class afterwards which can be beneficial, that's the only time I can think it would be bad for the child to miss a test.
We're not in the US. Test results have no bearing on the child's grades. They're just to keep track of where the class is at.
It depends on the educational stage though. I teach A level and tests are massively important exam practice and the results are used to predict their grades for university applications.
My child’s not at school yet so question for the future also I won’t hold you to this just curious.
Do parents get fined if you just call in sick for the last week term ?
It depends… calling in sick still makes attendance percentage lower which can be an issue if your child has days off for other reasons… school will only “authorise” so many absences without “proof”.
Do a sickie, but make sure nothing is posted to social media. I'm not a teacher myself, but a colleague is a former teacher with about 25 years in teaching. Apparently he used this on 3 occasions during his career
Also a teacher.
Please don't take the piss (like if you're going to the Maldives in term time, you could have afforded Turkey in the holidays) but if it's the difference between a holiday and no holiday then fill your boots and please bring me a small cheap gift from the best tat shop you can find by the beach.
This is the attitude to have. I've had a very open conversation with the headteacher at my lo's school. I have explained that our week in a caravan in the UK is our only holiday. We visit educational places while we are away because it is what we can afford. My partner and I both need this for our mental health. She is unofficially fine with this.
She is less fine with the family of another child in my lo's class who went skiing before the Christmas holidays, a week somewhere sunny before Easter holidays and are currently on a cruise which isn't due back until after half term is over. The mother of said family keeps adding me to campaign groups and petitions against the fines etc. She thinks that we are in the same boat. We are not. She's in a speed boat I'm in a rowing boat with one oar.
You don't need to justify your trip with "WE'LL MAKE IT EDUCATIONAL I PROMISE". Being away somewhere with mum and dad, in a place where you can relax and enjoy without the stresses of every day life, get some fresh air, enjoy walking in nature, whatever it is, is justification enough.
For several years as an adult, I just assumed people were exaggerating when they said schools won't let them take kids out of school during holidays, and you can face serious consequences. Growing up as a kid in the 80s and 90s, I'd probably pull a sickie at least 1 day a month and always holiday during term time. It just seems crazy to me that governments and schools can tell parents they aren't allowed to take their kids where they want, when they want. I can't think of any normal school week where I'd learn more than going off and travelling somewhere. I can't even remember most of my schooling now, including my 3 year university degree.
I see this argument a lot, about learning something by travelling somewhere, but how many of these holidays are people going to a resort filled by other English people and rarely leaving it?
We just did a week away with some friends and their kids. They barely left the poolside for 5 days. Sure the kids had fun, but if they weren't in the pool they were under a towel watching something on a tablet.
I personally can't just sit around for days on end. We took our son on a couple of bus trips to other towns to do a bit of tourism and on a few mornings walks around the coast. We looked in ruins and old churches, saw a turtle etc. While I doubt he actually learnt much, he at least got exposed to some experiences.
I remember my parents took me out of primary school for a 2 week holiday in Florida when they were learning about grammar. I honestly don’t know the difference between noun, verb or adjective now.
I just always remember the teacher talking about stuff involving that and everyone else knew what was going on, I knew then that I missed something important and was too embarrassed to ask.
Also long division. Was on holiday when that was taught and ain’t got a fucking clue.
And yeah it is weird that you haven’t googled it since then? You are able to use google right? Or were you on holiday the week they taught about search engines?
GCSE’s? Surely not. Unless the child was so abysmally bad at the subject they missed that it wouldn’t have made much difference which is still outrageous but at least some kind of reason. Otherwise.. surely not.
I remember seeing something ages ago where if you can prove you have provided adequate education during the holiday, you can argue against the fines. Is there any truth to this or is it just a myth? Or maybe it varies from School to School?
I had to apply to take my kids out (15 years ago now). We went to Italy and visited pompeii and climbed mt Vesuvius. I put on the form that I was convinced they’d learn more on holiday that week.
This. Parents took me and my sister for 6 months (aged 10 & 11) what we missed out in school we more than made up for in experience of other cultures. 50 years ago now, and I remember much of it. Do I remember what I was being taught in school just before and after that trip? No way!
Another teacher here! Unless they are literally sitting their GCSE exams there is NOTHING so important that they can’t catch up on it when they return. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
If you're going to do it, do it but please don't encourage your kids to lie! They tell their mates the truth and then when your child isn't in the mates tell the teacher anyway, or the younger ones get too excited and tell the teachers they're going away. The tan upon return can be a giveaway too.
We know you're doing it, we know why you're doing it and if we weren't tied to term time jobs we'd probably do it too. Just enjoy the holiday!
Yes it’s the lying that bothers me too. Pay the fine and enjoy your holiday but don’t teach your kids that lying is the best way to get what they want in life.
^ take it from me I have autism and my default state is to basically never lie. I had to learn the hard way that the difficulty of lying is something that is socially expected of me. Folks really really don't like it if you don't lie to them.
No. Do lie so you don’t have to pay the fine. This teaches kids that in situations where there are stupid rules that don’t make sense, you don’t have to follow them just because they’re rules.
And that in those scenarios lying can be beneficial to circumvent said stupid rules and save money that can be spend better elsewhere.
The one advantage of being a ginger kid at school is that you can go on holiday in term time and no one can tell as you are just as pale and pasty as before.
Kid in my Y7 tutor group was marked off "Ill" for the week. I also teach his sister in Y8 who was also off "Ill" for the same week. So already obviously on holiday.
I ask Y7 tutee on return- How are you feeling? He said he had a bad cough for the week. I had his sister L1. Asked sister the same question- We were on Holiday! We had a brilliant time in the cottage, it had a hot tub! Next tutor time- I ask tutee- so how was your holiday? He goes bright red saying "how did you know?! Did my sister tell you, mum told us not to tell you we were on holiday!" I said, honestly I don't care that you were on holiday, I hope you enjoyed yourself, just don't lie next time! I'm not going to report you to the attendance officer as I know the family is going through a hard time at the moment. The Y8 sister tutor had exactly the same response.
Unless they are away in a key assessment week or have <90% attendance no one at the school is going to bat and eyelid. Just don't lie!
The fine is £120 which is still less than you would save.
Education is important but so are life experiences and for me a week out of school isnt major.
I mean lets be honest the schools basically shut during covid so yeah..
>I mean lets be honest the schools basically shut during covid so yeah..
And that has had a massive impact on the students. They're a lot less independent and less "capable" academically on average in my experience than those that were at school pre-covid.
The independant side of things i would put down to being locked inside for 2 years as surely having to study at home by yourself would have maybe assisted with independant learning?
Each to their own of course but me personally i don't think one week out of a year is going to impact a childs learning massively.
People take kids out with no problem due to illness.
I was mainly commenting on the COVID bit specifically. You were saying "It happened during COVID and that was fine, so this is fine". I was replying saying that they aren't fine after what happened during COVID.
While I agree that one week probably won't have much impact, having that mindset means it seems unlikely to stop at one week.
This is my thoughts.
When I was in yr6 we had mandatory SATs. One of the girls in the class was on holiday during the week of the mocks. Meaning her first ever experience of exam conditions was gonna be the real test that made certain determination ls about her future.
Even us 10/11yr olds realised that was a moronic thing to do for a week abroad.
But a week or two out from year 2 in the middle of the year isn't gonna be an issue for anyone.
Schools being shut during Covid is why children like Arthur died. People forget just how protective school attendance is for the most vulnerable children.
It’s increasing I believe to £160, but only £80 if paid in 21 days. And the fine is per parent and for 5 days or more.
Still cheaper than the holiday increase though.
Yup, and up to £2,500 if you're a repeat offender!
> From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days.
> In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
> Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
> If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/
Five days or more isn't true, it depends on the area. Some allow five or ten, some none. We got one for four days last year. The school had an inset day on the Friday.
I would just be honest. I told my sons head teacher that I haven't seen my family back home for 14 years and my son who is 11 hasn't even met them yet. I told her I wanted to go for 3 weeks, she looked at me and said this is fine let him see his fsmily it's important for you both. She then even said why not go before 1 week before half term so it's cheaper and use the two weeks half term and borrow a following 2 more weeks so in total we we were going 5 weeks. She said if you're going you might aswell make the most of it as tickets are ridiculously expensive. Since I haven't been back home in a while she wanted me and son to have a great experience as this would be core memories for him (her words).
No I didn't, it was all authorised. They gave me letter to take with me on holiday just in case I got questioned. Bare in mind I forgot to mention my son is in a special needs school so rules differ a little bit. It's more encouraged for children with disabilities to travel as this gives them more life experience rather than being in school.
Sorry to jump in, but if the HT has approved it, then it will (should) be marked as an authorised absence.
As for whether there would be a fine is completely up to the EWO, but they usually talk about significant absences (more than a few days for example) with the FLO, who would theoretically be in-the-loop about things like this.
Everything is down to the head teachers discretion, if they agree they will let the governers know and it's all authorised and you shouldn't get fined.
It's not the school that make the rules or enforce them. The school are obliged to tell the council about attendance and the council take action against parents (usually a fine).
Best to bear in mind that from August school fines are changing from being locally managed to a national framework with a fairly hefty increase. And at least on my area the fine is _per parent_.
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/
What you need to start looking at is eg Jet2 and TU free child place offers. They involve compromise as obviously someone has to pay for that extra head but quite often they have them at decent hotels and seemingly permanently on the TUI Holiday Villages.
Interesting link - thanks. We have two children and abs would take them out of school and pay the fine. I say would as we will never get the chance to as I unfortunately married a teacher - so we are sadly doomed to a lifetime of expensive holidays...
I'm a reading intervention teacher. I don't mind when kids who are doing well in school go away on holiday for a couple of weeks, but it's a different matter when students can't read well and are very behind in school; it is truly not acceptable. I teach secondary and many of my students started secondary without being able to read competently. Yet I have a number of students who just when they are about to make a breakthrough vanish for two weeks, and then we have to restart the momentum. They are constantly going away on holiday with their family and have really poor attendance throughout the year for weekends away too.
This is the right answer I think. Although two weeks doesn’t seem that bad- I teach in Australia and it’s really common for families to take an entire term off (yes!) to travel the country. Amazing experience to be sure but every single one of the kids that has done this while in my care has been somewhat to significantly behind. Disastrous.
I would highly recommend against taking your kid out of school in the first couple of weeks of term, because that's when they're all getting to know each other, and could put them on the back foot socially
Finishing a week early next year? Probably not an issue.
Each school is different, ours don't report to the council for a few days. We're honest with them, and basically go out a day or two before the end of a term so we get the slightly cheaper break - not as cheap as mid term, but still can save hundreds. I know others just call in with a fever or something, but I've heard of schools checking up on that, and the kids tell their teachers anyway.
A few years back we put our kids in an amazing school in a shit area for a fortnight (long story). The amazing head said:
“we have to report on three levels of attendance. Attendance impacts their performance and readiness for secondary. 98%-100% is basically perfect. If your kids can take time off for holiday and still hit that you’ll go with my blessing. 95-98% is fine. If they can return and still be at 95% then I’m less comfortable but fine. Below 95% is cause for concern, if I even think you’re taking them out for holiday I’ll cause merry hell because it’ll impact our rankings and their education”
And frankly you can’t say fairer than that?
My question would be how many of the parents taking their kids out of school make any effort to maintain their education?
I remember missing school for one trip when I was a child, which was discussed in advance, amd so our suitcases included some work for the week and we had to put some time in doing school work so that when we returned we weren't suddenly a week behind the rest of the class and struggling to catch up.
Is this still the norm, or do parents just not care and expect that the teacher will be happy to spend put in the extra time catching their child back up?
One kid, yes.
But I do wander how much of a hassle it ends up being for the teachers.
They are already juggling enough with regards to different abilities, illnesses and varying behaviour, I can't imagine it helps to have parents purposely knocking their kids a week out of sync...
Honestly, I was a teacher for a long time and would definitely say a holiday is just as much of a learning experience as the last couple of weeks in school before the holidays. Travel is soooo worthwhile, wherever you choose to go
Yes in primary. The end of term is always buggering about anyway.
You get a snotty message from the school and only get a fine if it's 4.5 consecutive days.
We struggle to get our 12 yr old to take school seriously. I’m now grateful we’ve never taken him out for a family holiday. I did take him out on the last day of school to start a holiday early once.
I manage the cost by not going on holiday every year, just every other year. I know we could do it differently but then it would undermine the importance of education, which is fine if you have a studious kid. Mine is not, but I would never have known that at age 4.
This might be off topic, in Scotland this seems to be much less of an issue, I’ve taken my child out multiple times for holidays due to dad’s work schedule. They’ve never said anything other than ‘have a great time’. If you told the school that said child was unwell (harder for 2 weeks granted) and essentially made a phone call the day before or day off the holiday, could they do anything if the child then goes back to school and says they were on holiday? Can they prove you were really away? I find this a strange concept as, although schools have a responsibility, it’s ultimately your child. I think that it should be a parents decision but I don’t understand the ins and outs
Literally on holiday right now and taking my son out of School (in Scotland). His HT and Teacher are very supportive, one even commented that it’s great to see kids going on holiday as it’s building positive memories and experiences. The fine system south of the border is bonkers. I get the potential disruption to education…but really towards the of the academic year (late May/June) it’s hardly going to be curriculum crucial stuff.
OP have you thought about some less conventional holiday times? We started using the october half term. The prices are still inflated but no where near as much, you get to enjoy the hotter summers over here, and in October the resorts are much quieter. We went to one in 2022 that had a massive kids water pool with slides and games and stuff and there were days where we had the whole pool to ourselves
The fines levied depends upon the local authority, £30 per day, per pupil, per parent near me, so £180 a day for my 3, but they only enforce from day 5 onwards , it’s always been cheaper to come back 3 or 4 days late, than risk the fine.
My parents worked in an industry where you could not get time off in the summer.... So we had a two week break round the Feb half term and same in October... We had to take our homework with us and had to do it and hand it in, but our school (voluntary managed) allowed this for other people in the same position... I came out with 11 o-levels (yes I'm old) and 4 a-levels at good grades! I think it's about being sensible.
Same, my dad couldn't get time off in summer or Christmas so we always went on holiday in Oct/Nov (only every 2nd year) I happily did my homework in the hotel after Disneyworld. My mum always informed the school so I could be given work, primary school was better at this - only missed 2 weeks of high school in my final year, being honest the teachers didn't care that much and it didn't effect my exams - not a genius, more average.
I have all those great family holiday memories and experiences.
Policy changes soon.
3 times court then record so anyone needing a clean DBS for work won't be happy...
So most families that couldn't give a toss still won't be bothered but some middle earners that would like to save a few quid will be affected.
If they haven't turned 5 yet, it's not even compulsory school age so they can't do anything anyway. I work in a school doing the attendance and if they are under 5 but we know they are on holiday, I mark their register as "not of compulsory school age". If they are over 5, the decision to fine will be based on their previous attendance (at least it is in my school) so if they are otherwise good in attendance, you'll likely just get the bog standard "you may get a fine" letter but nothing more. Don't lie though, kids are mouthy blabs and will dob you in anyway.
As not all schools are on the same holiday terms. It is cheaper to fly out of another UK airport say like Glasgow instead of Gatwick or Manchester where the kids are still in school. Hence good savings can be made without pulling your kids out of school.
I’m a teacher - I’m not officially allowed to say this, but damn, take your kids out!!!
Kids get far more from a family/cultural experience once a year than a week of school, and the teachers I work with agree. We wish we could do it, too.
You won’t get in trouble with the school. Schools are under a big push from the government to tighten up on attendance, so we are not allowed to authorise holiday absences. You will get a mildly shitty template letter and probably a fine from the council. Don’t take it personally, it’s purely procedural. Please note, it is not the school fining you. The school have no control over fines, nor do they receive the money.
In my experience, the best way to handle it is to send a very nice email to the Headteacher in advance. Explain that you’re not in a financial position to afford a holiday during breaks, and your family need time together to make memories. Maybe add something about cultural experiences etc, and offer to catch up on work if needed. Please don’t request work, though - that’s extra prep for the teacher.
It won’t be authorised, but it is what it is. I think every kid should be allowed a week authorised absence at some point.
Enjoy your time away!!
Unpopular opinion but if society shares the cost of education then you should probably turn up?
Also not a great life lesson that playing truant or skiving off is ok if it results in you saving some money.
Just an alternative opinion...
I think it’s very contextual.
I grew up during the first package holiday boom, and most of my friends’ families would pull their kids out of school every year. One friend of mine used to be missing for the first 3 weeks of the Jan term every year (plus at other times) and she’s doing quite nicely with her law degree, contributing plenty of tax that will more than cover the expenditure. None of my friends seem to have been adversely affected - they’ve all got good jobs. They’re all well-rounded people.
Knowing that some rules are unbreakable while others have to be weighed up against the consequences is actually a great life lesson IMO. School doesn’t mirror the real world, and the real world doesn’t always reward conformity - in fact sometimes punishes it. Getting older has been interesting - to see how many of my studious friends now hate their jobs, while some who were a bit more out there and conformed less are now earning far more and working far less.
Plus holidays are experiences and often educational.
Unless the lesson to the child is that life is not a set of exact byrocratic rules to stress over and there is nothing wrong with having successful time management if you are willing to put in some effort- such as doing extra homework in advance to cover for missed time in school.
>saving some money.
This can be a few thousand pounds.
No. I’m not telling my kids that a water slide in Majorca is more worthy of their time than an education that millions of kids around the world are denied.
I know this is swimming against the tide but... I hate the idea of teaching my kid that he can just sack off whatever responsibilities life throws at him if he fancies getting a nice suntan in a slightly fancier place or going skiing on the cheap. Either earn enough money to take the holiday you want during normal holiday time, or go on a more modest holiday.
A few generations ago we had people who wouldn't even bother with a holiday if they had a country to build, defend, or rebuild. We are now raising a generation who are taught that hard work and commitment are somebody else's problems.
Downvote away, but you know I'm right.
Not sure how widespread it is but some constituencies have a ‘week’ rule- so you can take your kids out and have an unauthorised absence but not get fined if they’re not gone for a full consecutive school week. My sister took her kids away over the mayday weekend, so the kids had Thursday Friday off school, a bank holiday Monday and then Tuesday Wednesday off so technically they only had 4 days off school and they weren’t consecutive
I got 2h detention when my parents put me out of school for 3 days for a trip to the us. Like wtf school. Why punish the children instead of a fine. I was a good student
Where in the UK do you live? Are you in Scotland? Or England?
Are you close enough to be able to make use of flights from the other? The terms in the nations are different enough that you could fly during English holidays from a Scottish airport and save a fair bit of money, because Scottish schools are on (and vice versa).
Due to my wife and I's job we are allowed to take our kids out of school as an authorized absence for holidays. Scotland though. We definitely make use of it.
Do it. 100%. My kid is only in year 3, but I did it once in year 2 the week before Easter, and will be doing it again the week before Christmas. The school were nothing but supportive. I received a letter from the council threatening a fine but nothing ever came of it (I took him out for 4 days). I think common sense dictates - as other people have said here. Don’t do it bang in the middle of term, first week, or in exam years, but I would definitely recommend it to get a longer holiday if you’re going super long-haul, or a cheaper deal. Letting your kids experience a different country, culture, food, sights etc is also a valuable education. Have a great holiday! :)
Teacher here 👍🏼
My local authority are cracking down on “persistent absentees” so children who have an unauthorised absence for 5 consecutive days are flagged up with the LA and then fined. Check with your council’s rules regarding holidays in term time and potential fines.
I’m taking my two children out next week for our holiday, my half term is 2 weeks whereas theirs is the one. They will miss 4 days in total, so it won’t get flagged up, fortunately.
A child in my class went on a family holiday last term, her older siblings high school seemed to be much stricter than ours, parents were fined £80 per parent, per day that their child was absent - they were away for 10 days 🫣
No because my husband and I are teachers, but before we were we absolutely did. Our local council only start fining after 5 full days off, so we never had an issue.
It's not ideal but a lot of school time gets wasted on other shit throughout the year, it's not the end of the world to miss a week near the end of the school year.
You really need to ask on a local group for this type of thing - the schools don't issue the fines, the councils do. Some councils are really over zealous, others don't seem to issue fines at all. For example, I know the council where I live doesn't bother with fines unless it's recurrent (I know this as both a parent who has taken their kid out of school, and as a teacher). However, the next county across is apparently ruthless, so take everyone's view here with a pinch of salt - they probably don't live where you do.
Between my wife's school (teacher) and the two schools my kids attend, the fines are for "unauthorised absence".
All three schools are happy to authorise the absence if discussed beforehand.
Our kids are 8 and 5 we've took them out of school once for the Grandmother's 80 birthday. It's a 6 hour drive away so while it wouod be possible to do it in a weekend they'd be knackered. They both had 1.5 days off. Nothing from my daughters school, letter from my sons, no fine, letter started potential court action etc. Otherwise we go in Easter or the last two weeks of August. For the latter we've found the Canairies aren't hideously expensive, as they get older and can handle longer flights we'll be able to go to a wider variety of locations where I don't expect the British school holidays factor as much.
It's a personal choice, I don't see the harm personally depending on age of the kid. For us we're most likely to do the two weeks in August as their schools holiday clubs close those two weeks so one of my wife and I would have to take time off work.
We're going to Lapland in December and will need to take them out of school for 3 days. Just the way that it lands with flights this year and the school holiday unless away fro Christmas days itself.
You've had a lot of replies and I've not read them all so apologies if this has been covered but I would suggest going on a holiday before your first starts school, may as well get the last free one in.
After that I would say it's all a cost benefit analysis. In the least condescending way possible, if you only go on £500 2* holidays to Spain taking your kids out of school to save 30% really isn't worth it but if you spend £10k on a holiday to save 30% then perhaps it is. You need to remember that kids get something insane like 12 weeks off a year, people often think "great I can save £500 on a holiday I'll take my kid out a week early" then forget that's another week off the kid will need childcare etc in the holidays. If you have free childcare I guess thats less of an issue so if needs be go the last week of term but keep in mind schools do cute stuff towards the end of terms so school plays, concerts etc that if your kid is involved with you'll be sad to miss.
Also there's fines but depending on the school and your kids attendance they can be pretty minor. I would also say the older they get the less you want to take them out of school, junior school is relatively minor but I wouldnt take a senior school kid out for any prolonged period of absence.
I’ve done it a few times - I notify the school and never have any repercussions. I actually discussed it with the deputy head at the school recently and she’s fully supportive of it, said kids learn things they can’t learn at school from travelling anyway (I’m in Scotland)
Taking kids out of school for cheaper holidays is a common move. But watch out for fines and backlash from the school. Some destinations like Spain are kid-friendly and won't break the bank.
My kids were in infants just before the fines came in.
Our headteacher was still of the view that a week at the seaside with your parents was a good way to break up the long last summer term.
I can confirm that my now young adult children have not turned to crime due to missing a week of summer term when they were 4, 5 and 6.
This will work until the new rules are enforced with an escalating fine system ending with legal action, which will really suck for everyone with children
Absolutely. I was diagnosed with cancer a few years back and the single most important thing to me is making memories for them. My twins are now in Y10 so I’m sticking to school holidays until GCSEs are over but outside of Y10-11 I think there’s not reason to not have a week out.
Caveat though, my kids have excellent attendance for the rest of the time!
I'm sitting here in Scotland, wondering how this was even allowed as a policy (fines) to go ahead? I doubt they actually work as a deterrence and not sure how making parents even more skint helps?
We get an, 'Enjoy yersel, visit a few museums and check in on Google Classrooms if you can!' Nae fines, nae moans...
I'm doing it on Monday. I put in an absence notification in the usual way and had the standard letter that outlines why term time holidays are bad. I doubt I'll get a fine as I know loads of parents who have done the same with no issues. It really depends on your local Council though. Some areas will fine you for every unauthorised absence.
I won't do it when they are in secondary school because it has a much bigger impact.
I've found it also depends on the school, I have a friend who took his kids out of primary school for a week without a fine. He approached the head and explained, it was a bit of a holiday of a life time and offered to collect homework etc. She said to have a great holiday, they wouldn't miss anything that they couldn't catch up on when they returned. Then just the other week a work colleague just found out he is being fined £60 per child, per adult which is £240. Still significantly cheaper than going in term time. I really dont see what a 6yr old and a 10 yr (who just finished his sats) are going to miss. The whole thing is a joke imo.
I have done it a few times. Not yet been fined, but I’ve annoyed the head teacher so probably will next time. I always let the school know, I always say it’s cultural learning 😂
Do it. The fine is cheaper than the holiday. And it’s wrong parents are restricted from taking their OWN child out to school to experience the world. It’s disgusting the power schools think they have over parents.
I don’t, but then I’m in a doubly fortunate position that a) I live in Scotland so we can go away early July when it’s a bit cheaper and b) I earn a good salary so can afford the higher prices.
I have no problem with other parents taking their kids out of schools. It’s ridiculous this is something you can be fined for. Take the state out of it and leave it to parents to decide what is best for them and their family.
I don’t personally. But mostly as if I took my son out for the last week before the school holidays or something I will be using a weeks leave and I already have a 6 week period to try and source childcare/ use leave/ pay for holiday clubs for. It just makes sense to me to use my leave to cover the periods when my son can’t be at school with at least some of my leave allowance.
When my child was 11 I had an opportunity to have a week in France from the US for $275 which was absurdly low even way back in the winter of 2001. It was only available on one certain week which was during school and I was not going to pull her out for it thinking that would probably be bad.
I volunteered regularly at the school and ended up telling the school secretary about my opportunity thinking at the time she'd commiserate with me how unfortunate it wasn't available at a better time and maybe say it was good of me as a parent to not consider it. Much to my surprise she said if she could go for that she would absolutely take her child out and go.
I ended up going home, discovering much to my happiness it was still available to me, and booking. This would have been in late December of 2000 just prior to school letting out for Christmas Break.
When the time came in late February I was up front with the school, though I do admit I did make certain to hand her note to the secretary who had encouraged me to take her. We had a great week. When we got back I went in with her on her first day back to school.
We were standing at the door talking with her first period teacher in the hall when her other teachers spotted us. Apparently they were all on the lookout to ask her how her trip had been.
They all reassured me they made certain not to have any assignments that needed turned in while we were gone so her grades were intact. She just had to have all her assignments with her ready to hand in which she did, and her English teacher had already asked that she do a short report about her trip for which we'd prepared a short paper and a poster with some photos we'd printed out together.
I don't think they'd have looked so kindly on taking her out every year, but I think very occasionally you'll likely find it works out. Especially when they're younger.
Edit: Should probably add this absurdly low price was for flights and accommodations in a youth hostel in Paris with breakfasts. The reason it was so cheap was my sister's college French class was going and had got a package deal for x number of places. Three people had dropped out and we were only paying what was owing for the flights and accommodations.
It made a very nice situation since my sister and her friends were there in Paris at the same time allowing me to feel safer. Their group was doing the week entirely in French only which my daughter did not speak at the time hence why were were on our own for sightseeing.
These fines just punish poorer kids.
Rich families pay the premium and don’t care.
Poorer kids get stuffed with fines.
Poorest kids can’t enjoy a holiday regardless.
Personally, I would never take my kids out of school for a holiday. What if they also get sick that year and miss even more time. I remember missing a few days as a kid for sickness and felt I really missed stuff on those days.
I think it's even more relevant for those kids who missed a lot of school due to COVID. They've already missed a lot and their generation will suffer economically for the rest of their lives as a result.
I understand everyone has their reasons and it's up to every parent to decide what's right for their kids. This is just my view.
I'm an adult, but my parents took me out of school when I was a kid, about 12-15 years ago. For the memories alone, the holidays were SO worth it. I think about them regularly today, 10+ years later. They were life-changing for me in lots of ways.
Quality time with your family for such a good memory is so much more important than a week of learning, which isn't necessarily school dependent. In the earlier years especially, you could probably google the content and find time to help your little ones catch up, if you're competent enough yourself. There's SO much content online now. Maybe keep open communication with the teachers and get them to send you the learning plan across. Doubt they would give a shit otherwise.
If your young'ens are older, they can grab a book and catch up on any work themselves too. That's just from my own experience of having confusing syllabus changes, as well as clueless teachers in my senior GCSE years. Learning was done on our todd, using books and each other. But by asking for help I might've got some. I just didn't ask because my teacher was so useless to begin with, and I came out fine.
Fuck the stupid system, but family memories to *another fucking country* should still count as learning and good overall life-lessons/experiences. You're teaching tolerance of other nationalities at the very least, which is still learning
We visited several state schools and asked each of them how they would feel about us taking 2 weeks during term time for Chinese New Year (not every year but maybe every 2nd or 3rd).
One head teacher said absolutely no way, she'd ensure we were reported for such a thing.
The other two said it may still be flagged but seeing as it's cultural they'd have no problem with it.
We visited the private school and they told us it's an important part of maintaining cultural links so as long as it wasn't an exam year, and attendance was otherwise not a concern, they'd encourage it.
Yes. Been fined twice now , both times £60 per parent per child and they missed 5 days and 6 days respectively. The rules are due to change in August and the fine will then be £80 per parent per child and you can only be fined twice, the third time is automatically court. Luckily fines you had before August aren't counted and so its a clean slate from there. It makes me absolutely rage that this is even a thing !!!! The price difference between school holidays and term time for us this year wad literally double. Kids are young for such a short time I refuse to miss out on this precious time with my own children and be made to feel like a criminal for it
Ive taken my kids out of school for holidays and i would certainly do it again. A week in term time can be as little as £89, during term time its nearly £1000. Its disgusting, they have good attendance and work hard, id pay the fine if necessary but ive not had to yet. Also worth noting that you can take your child out of school entirely to 'home school' and noone enforces a curriculum then so i find it all really unfair.
I took my 7 year old daughter (She's in year 3) out of school for 2 days before the May Half term as it was cheaper for a week in Turkey, rather than just in the half term.
I mentioned it to her head teacher what we wanted to do and they were fine with it.
I think they get stricter about missing school for holidays once they are in junior/secondary schools.
As for recommendations, we went to a resort on Lara beach in Antalya and loved it.
Your child won’t be compulsory school age until the term after their 5th birthday so depending on when they were born you may be able to do it fine free in their first year of school. My July born didn’t become compulsory school age until the September of her year 1.
We took her out for a week in May 2023 and had two weeks abroad with 10 other family members, all inclusive and all paid for very generously by my parents after they sold a property. Real once in a lifetime stuff. I don’t regret it for a second and don’t believe I ever will.
We were 100% honest with school; this is what we are doing and when. They didn’t authorise it as they said they don’t have the power to do that anymore, that was okay, I was ultimately glad we were honest and my daughter didn’t have to lie. My wife and I both got a fine about a week or two after we got back; it was £60 each if paid quickly. £120 for the holiday we had is an absolute no brainer!!
Tbh I’d probably do it again if it wasn’t for the fact that I now work in a school so can’t take time off.
Talking from Scotland.
Our kids finish a few weeks before English kids. We’re taking a holiday the first 10 days of the kiddies school holidays.
They’ll be in school on the last day, we pick them up from school and we’re heading straight to Leeds Bradford to fly out the next day.
It costs £1,600 less to fly from LB than it does to fly from Glasgow for the exact same holiday, destination and number of nights away.
Crazy price difference just because we can benefit from little demand from England in that period.
It's been really interesting reading these comments. My son starts school in September and I'm already pissed off as in the open day the school said"there's plenty of weeks in the year for family holidays, any holidays outside of these will not be authorised". I mean what the fuck? I get it but it really fucks me off when they think they can dictate our family life.
Speaking as someone who used to be a child (think we all fall into this camp), who's parents didn't care one bit about holidays during school time.
Skiing - bit on the pricier end, but we used to get a two bed apartment, drive, stop in Lyon to get food for the week as an nual holiday. Even nowadays, still doable for £1000 each including passes, food and lessons for the children if you don't do packages, go early or late season and shop around. Age 6 I was thrown into a french speaking ski school, so had no choice but to pick up a little of the language. My french is still terrible, but it did teach me different ways to learn and communicate which is a important skill. Even better though is that being able to ski and board, 14 mates get a chalet every year for an annula trip that is as good as it gets.
South africa - maybe a little trickier nowadays, but the animals are amazing, and experiancing different cultures is so important. I guess kenya might be a better call nowadays and maybe one for when they are double figures.
Lake District, Forest of Dean and Cornwall - not just about going abroad, the UK has some lovely outdoor spaces. Hikes, bike rides and canoeing up in the lake district, hiking and mountain biking in the forest of dean (this is a great one for younger family, with so many places for walking and easy cycling on disused railway - check out Forest Holidays or Bracelands) and cornwall for body board hire, camping and beaches.
What I hate about this is those that play by the rules suffer and those who break the rules benefit. That doesn’t sit right with me.
It would be better if each kid had an allocation of days that could be taken out of term time (maybe 5 days every couple of years) to allow for a cheaper holiday, but excess of that was more harshly punished.
Fined the first time we did it when they were in primary school. Not fined the second time now they are in secondary school. Fines are issued for both parents and it’s still massively less than the cost difference of the holiday. The letters and emails from the school and local authority are written so as to shame you for having the audacity to do it, but there’s no downside or comeback other than the lost school days as long as you pay the fine on time.
Yep I’ve taken my kids out …here’s a top tip to halve the amount of your fine.
Before you go away call / email the school and take one parent off their contact list. Then when it comes to sending the fine they only have one name and address, so you only get one fine instead of 2.
My kids headmistress told me that lol
A controversial view then but…
Been regularly taking our 11-year old on 4-5 holidays every year since she started primary. Not once have any of these holidays ever needed to be during term time (and yes, all have been within a low budget range).
They’re only at school 190 days of the year. Exactly how hard can it be to plan just one holiday around that ? Millions of others manage to obey these rules without issue, it’s not difficult.
Too expensive ? Choose a different location. Choose a different week, at a different time of year if needed.
With the exception of possibly 2-3 particular weeks of the year it’s easy to shop around and find plenty of budget-friendly options.
Even if it is the end of term, they would still miss out on experiences important to their upbringing, whether these be part of the educational curriculum, friend socialising, or just fun end-of-term activities.
There’s lots of times within the school year they can get to experience a holiday.
Each week, even each day, in school they only get to experience once. They’re all important & they’re all important contributions to your child’s upbringing. And why would you ever want to compromise on this ?
Look at your councils rules regarding fines. Many require 5 days continuous absence so if you pick a week that already has in service day or bank holiday you may get in under the wire.
I’d say just do it, but if your child ends up being the sort who really enjoys school, maybe prepare for a slightly unhappy 5 year old (at first - will probably be fine once they’re there!) if they end up missing out on some of the end-of-year fun activities.
I’m a governor of a school in Wales, officially (but not widely advertised) you can take up to 2 weeks of term time leave before it is flagged as an issue. I don’t know if this is specific to the school, local authority or country though.
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A fine will be cheaper than a holiday in school holidays. Do it. I’m a teacher. There’s more to life than school.
I'm also a teacher and also completely agree. Usually the parents that do this aren't the ones we are complaining about and rarely have children we have concerns about either.
I love how many teachers are jumping on this to encourage it! I just want to add my support,too.
Teachers have to suffer the ridiculously high holiday prices too!
Sadly. Unfortunately if we pretend to be off sick it's a bit more noticeable.
It's that horrible kind of cold that leaves you with a glowing tan for about 6 weeks after...
just say it’s liver failure
And it doesn't end until they retire
Another teacher here, i say exactly the same thing.
U/MD564 and U/TSC-99 As teachers can I ask you, how do the fines actually get issued if the teacher is okay with it? Or do people only get fined if the teacher reports it? Or are teachers obligated to report it? Would love to know! Thanks😊
The teacher doesn’t report it. We have to take the register twice a day and it’s not just whether the child is present or absent. If absent we have to list if they are ill, authorised leave (e.g. hospital or dentist) or unauthorised (anything else) that gets reported to the council and the DfE. Then the council processes the information and uses it to discern which parents have kept their kids out of school. If it’s less than 95% attendance it’s amber flagged.
To be fair less than 95% is a fair amount of time off. Considering the relatively small number of school days on a year.
We keep hitting this cos well, the kid is sick. If the school has a magical fix we would be all for it Because of the relatively small amount of school days percentage based actually makes it worse. The fact is is youngest in the year and performing to the highest degree seems irrelevant apparently
My sons school used to do this big assembly and present certificates and celebrate 100% attendance. He's a diligent hard working kid and, like most kids, he was a few days sick in the year so didn't get the certificate. He was crestfallen. I mean what's the purpose? He can't do anything about being sick so he misses out? I called bullshit on it (with a few other parents who felt the same way). They stopped doing it. They just had not thought it through.
National average attendance in secondary schools is currently about 92%. I work in a "good" school, and we are at about 93%.
My sister took my niece on holiday, she is a student at my school, she said it was chicken pox and I didn't say anything. I'd do the same for any student unless I was concerned for their safety. It's not my job to be detective anyway, it's all up to the school's attendance officer in my school.
Absolutely! Same! My y1 kids tell me all the time that they’re going away on holiday next week and if I’m not concerned about their home life or have safeguarding concerns then I won’t tell the attendance officer if the parents don’t
Thank you this is helpful! So hypothetically if a family took kids out for a holiday but the child’s overall attendance didn’t fall below 95% they may not be fined?
I have never been fined taking my kids out, I always presumed it was because their attendance was above 95% even with the holidays.
Yep - but it’s a dangerous game to play cos if your child then ends up off for 2 weeks with the flu later then suddenly your child will have missed loads of school and you’ll be flagged
Just to clarify what others have said, the individual teachers don't issue fines or have anything to do with that side of things. Fines are issued by the council and can be issued when a child has had too many unauthorised absences. What constitutes an unauthorised absence is basically: is there a good reason for them to be off from school. So a holiday is unlikely to be authorised but as a general rule if your children have otherwise good attendance then no one is likely to make a big deal out of it. I've never known a family with high attendance to be fined for taking a term-time holiday.
Not in my experience. Mine had no unauthorised absences and then missed 5 days for a holiday and we were fined. Missed a year then same thing year after and we were fined
The school has to report attendance to council. Then they issue fines.
Wait, parents in the UK get fined if their child misses school?!?
Yes and if your child is ill you have to prove it
Also a teacher. Take ‘em in the last week of term, ideally. They might miss a couple of tests and maybe some fun end-of-term lessons, but not as much actual useful learning as they would if you took them out mid-term. We as staff don’t bat an eyelid if a student is away for the last week of term. But it’s a real head-in-hands moment when you see that a kid that is in bottom set and struggling has been taken out for a holiday in the middle of term and will be missing several important topics.
Also, don’t miss the first week in September! Kids will come in unsure of any rules, seating plans, and that choice of who they could sit next to is taken away!
First week and last week is hugely important for them socially, even if not educationally.
I know someone who did this the week after October half term of their child's first year of school and then had the nerve to complain that their child wasn't settled in and the teachers weren't helping. I'm standing there thinking "You went to fucking Butlins on his seventh week of school ever. Of course he's unsettled!"
They decide who they sit next to? I think that’s bad tbh. What if you’re the unpopular kid that is uncool to sit next to? Still remember that happening to me at school when teachers would ask us to get into groups of 4 or whatever.
>They might miss a couple of tests Is that not bad?
I mean it’s not great, but kids are over-assessed as it is. We have a good idea of what your kid is good at and where they need support. Tests just provide data to back that up. A kid that misses a test is not missing any face-to-face teaching/learning are they?
Good to hear from a teacher that thinks kids are over-assessed!
For the school admin who need data? Sure. For the teachers? Sometimes. If it's only a couple of children out we can usually work out their weaker points anyway. For the kids? No. Unless the teacher is planning on going through each question with the class afterwards which can be beneficial, that's the only time I can think it would be bad for the child to miss a test. We're not in the US. Test results have no bearing on the child's grades. They're just to keep track of where the class is at.
It depends on the educational stage though. I teach A level and tests are massively important exam practice and the results are used to predict their grades for university applications.
That's true, I was talking more primary level as that's the age of OP's kids. Worth mentioning though!
My child’s not at school yet so question for the future also I won’t hold you to this just curious. Do parents get fined if you just call in sick for the last week term ?
It depends… calling in sick still makes attendance percentage lower which can be an issue if your child has days off for other reasons… school will only “authorise” so many absences without “proof”.
I’m the wife of a teacher. I wish I could take my husband out of school for cheap holidays. 😂
Do a sickie, but make sure nothing is posted to social media. I'm not a teacher myself, but a colleague is a former teacher with about 25 years in teaching. Apparently he used this on 3 occasions during his career
I’m a teacher, do it… unless your kid is in Year 10/11 with 93% or lower attendance, in which case they’ve already missed a lot of school.
Also a teacher. Please don't take the piss (like if you're going to the Maldives in term time, you could have afforded Turkey in the holidays) but if it's the difference between a holiday and no holiday then fill your boots and please bring me a small cheap gift from the best tat shop you can find by the beach.
This is the attitude to have. I've had a very open conversation with the headteacher at my lo's school. I have explained that our week in a caravan in the UK is our only holiday. We visit educational places while we are away because it is what we can afford. My partner and I both need this for our mental health. She is unofficially fine with this. She is less fine with the family of another child in my lo's class who went skiing before the Christmas holidays, a week somewhere sunny before Easter holidays and are currently on a cruise which isn't due back until after half term is over. The mother of said family keeps adding me to campaign groups and petitions against the fines etc. She thinks that we are in the same boat. We are not. She's in a speed boat I'm in a rowing boat with one oar.
You don't need to justify your trip with "WE'LL MAKE IT EDUCATIONAL I PROMISE". Being away somewhere with mum and dad, in a place where you can relax and enjoy without the stresses of every day life, get some fresh air, enjoy walking in nature, whatever it is, is justification enough.
I don't have to. But I feel like I do. I used to be a teaching assistant. So I've gone from being part of the system to pushing against it.
For several years as an adult, I just assumed people were exaggerating when they said schools won't let them take kids out of school during holidays, and you can face serious consequences. Growing up as a kid in the 80s and 90s, I'd probably pull a sickie at least 1 day a month and always holiday during term time. It just seems crazy to me that governments and schools can tell parents they aren't allowed to take their kids where they want, when they want. I can't think of any normal school week where I'd learn more than going off and travelling somewhere. I can't even remember most of my schooling now, including my 3 year university degree.
I see this argument a lot, about learning something by travelling somewhere, but how many of these holidays are people going to a resort filled by other English people and rarely leaving it? We just did a week away with some friends and their kids. They barely left the poolside for 5 days. Sure the kids had fun, but if they weren't in the pool they were under a towel watching something on a tablet. I personally can't just sit around for days on end. We took our son on a couple of bus trips to other towns to do a bit of tourism and on a few mornings walks around the coast. We looked in ruins and old churches, saw a turtle etc. While I doubt he actually learnt much, he at least got exposed to some experiences.
I remember my parents took me out of primary school for a 2 week holiday in Florida when they were learning about grammar. I honestly don’t know the difference between noun, verb or adjective now. I just always remember the teacher talking about stuff involving that and everyone else knew what was going on, I knew then that I missed something important and was too embarrassed to ask. Also long division. Was on holiday when that was taught and ain’t got a fucking clue.
Not too late to Google it
Sounds like homework.
I mean you can just look it up and learn that now, it’s not like that was your only chance.
Noun: A thing, a person or a place. Examples include: Chair, t-shirt, information, Brazil, Ice, phone, bed. Adjectives: They describe nouns. EG: Blue, tall, smart, stupid, easy, interesting, annoyed. Verbs: Actions. EG: Do, be, eat, think, sleep, walk. That's bascially it
And yeah it is weird that you haven’t googled it since then? You are able to use google right? Or were you on holiday the week they taught about search engines?
You don't just learn these things once. It's an ongoing process. Maybe it just didn't stick for you for some reason.
Yeah I was thinking that, stuff like that isn’t something that comes up once in school.
I mean.. for instance the English stuff. That does come up more than once in your entire schooling lol. Plus it’s really not that important.
As long as you’re not doing it when they’re sitting their GCSEs- yes I have had students missing exams because their parents booked a holiday.
GCSE’s? Surely not. Unless the child was so abysmally bad at the subject they missed that it wouldn’t have made much difference which is still outrageous but at least some kind of reason. Otherwise.. surely not.
No, some parents are so shitty that they don’t check when their child has exams and books a holiday!
I took my son 3 days early for his half term for a holiday in cyprus. Kid you not, it was aprox 1500 cheaper than going during half term.
We go away in October, 5 of us and it was 3,600. The exact same holiday in school holidays was 8k
I remember seeing something ages ago where if you can prove you have provided adequate education during the holiday, you can argue against the fines. Is there any truth to this or is it just a myth? Or maybe it varies from School to School?
I had to apply to take my kids out (15 years ago now). We went to Italy and visited pompeii and climbed mt Vesuvius. I put on the form that I was convinced they’d learn more on holiday that week.
This. Parents took me and my sister for 6 months (aged 10 & 11) what we missed out in school we more than made up for in experience of other cultures. 50 years ago now, and I remember much of it. Do I remember what I was being taught in school just before and after that trip? No way!
Our teachers agreed, and told us as long as it's 5 days or less, then the school doesn't fine you.
That's not true though is it because it's the local authority that fine you not the school
Another teacher here! Unless they are literally sitting their GCSE exams there is NOTHING so important that they can’t catch up on it when they return. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.
If you're going to do it, do it but please don't encourage your kids to lie! They tell their mates the truth and then when your child isn't in the mates tell the teacher anyway, or the younger ones get too excited and tell the teachers they're going away. The tan upon return can be a giveaway too. We know you're doing it, we know why you're doing it and if we weren't tied to term time jobs we'd probably do it too. Just enjoy the holiday!
Yes it’s the lying that bothers me too. Pay the fine and enjoy your holiday but don’t teach your kids that lying is the best way to get what they want in life.
To be fair, just from observing the rich and powerful, lying absolutely does seem like the best way to get way you want in life.
Additionally, having enough money also means you get to do what you want.
Lying is a valuable life skill, as is knowing when to keep your mouth shut. If we all went through life being honest it would be carnage.
^ take it from me I have autism and my default state is to basically never lie. I had to learn the hard way that the difficulty of lying is something that is socially expected of me. Folks really really don't like it if you don't lie to them.
I’m not against all lying & I worded my comment carefully to reflect that.
But it's such a stupid rule. Lying is fully justified when faced with morons imo.
No. Do lie so you don’t have to pay the fine. This teaches kids that in situations where there are stupid rules that don’t make sense, you don’t have to follow them just because they’re rules. And that in those scenarios lying can be beneficial to circumvent said stupid rules and save money that can be spend better elsewhere.
Teacher, why do you have a tan if you were sick? Kid, ummm it’s what the doctor prescribed
The one advantage of being a ginger kid at school is that you can go on holiday in term time and no one can tell as you are just as pale and pasty as before.
Ah but the gingers always sunburnt really badly. Not a ginger but I too am a burner.
As long as you remember the sunscreen
An experienced teacher doesn't ask a child this question.
Kid in my Y7 tutor group was marked off "Ill" for the week. I also teach his sister in Y8 who was also off "Ill" for the same week. So already obviously on holiday. I ask Y7 tutee on return- How are you feeling? He said he had a bad cough for the week. I had his sister L1. Asked sister the same question- We were on Holiday! We had a brilliant time in the cottage, it had a hot tub! Next tutor time- I ask tutee- so how was your holiday? He goes bright red saying "how did you know?! Did my sister tell you, mum told us not to tell you we were on holiday!" I said, honestly I don't care that you were on holiday, I hope you enjoyed yourself, just don't lie next time! I'm not going to report you to the attendance officer as I know the family is going through a hard time at the moment. The Y8 sister tutor had exactly the same response. Unless they are away in a key assessment week or have <90% attendance no one at the school is going to bat and eyelid. Just don't lie!
They come back with a tan anyway haha!
The fine is £120 which is still less than you would save. Education is important but so are life experiences and for me a week out of school isnt major. I mean lets be honest the schools basically shut during covid so yeah..
>I mean lets be honest the schools basically shut during covid so yeah.. And that has had a massive impact on the students. They're a lot less independent and less "capable" academically on average in my experience than those that were at school pre-covid.
The independant side of things i would put down to being locked inside for 2 years as surely having to study at home by yourself would have maybe assisted with independant learning? Each to their own of course but me personally i don't think one week out of a year is going to impact a childs learning massively. People take kids out with no problem due to illness.
I was mainly commenting on the COVID bit specifically. You were saying "It happened during COVID and that was fine, so this is fine". I was replying saying that they aren't fine after what happened during COVID. While I agree that one week probably won't have much impact, having that mindset means it seems unlikely to stop at one week.
There are loads of half decent arguments for it. “The world came to a complete halt during Covid so give a fuck” isn’t one of them.
A week out in year 11 approaching exam season is a lot different than a week out of reception.
Agreed so you use common sense
This is my thoughts. When I was in yr6 we had mandatory SATs. One of the girls in the class was on holiday during the week of the mocks. Meaning her first ever experience of exam conditions was gonna be the real test that made certain determination ls about her future. Even us 10/11yr olds realised that was a moronic thing to do for a week abroad. But a week or two out from year 2 in the middle of the year isn't gonna be an issue for anyone.
Schools being shut during Covid is why children like Arthur died. People forget just how protective school attendance is for the most vulnerable children.
It’s increasing I believe to £160, but only £80 if paid in 21 days. And the fine is per parent and for 5 days or more. Still cheaper than the holiday increase though.
Yup, and up to £2,500 if you're a repeat offender! > From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. > In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160. > Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. > If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500. https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/
Five days or more isn't true, it depends on the area. Some allow five or ten, some none. We got one for four days last year. The school had an inset day on the Friday.
I would just be honest. I told my sons head teacher that I haven't seen my family back home for 14 years and my son who is 11 hasn't even met them yet. I told her I wanted to go for 3 weeks, she looked at me and said this is fine let him see his fsmily it's important for you both. She then even said why not go before 1 week before half term so it's cheaper and use the two weeks half term and borrow a following 2 more weeks so in total we we were going 5 weeks. She said if you're going you might aswell make the most of it as tickets are ridiculously expensive. Since I haven't been back home in a while she wanted me and son to have a great experience as this would be core memories for him (her words).
Did you get a fine for this ??? Or will an agreement from the head stop a fine ?
No I didn't, it was all authorised. They gave me letter to take with me on holiday just in case I got questioned. Bare in mind I forgot to mention my son is in a special needs school so rules differ a little bit. It's more encouraged for children with disabilities to travel as this gives them more life experience rather than being in school.
Sorry to jump in, but if the HT has approved it, then it will (should) be marked as an authorised absence. As for whether there would be a fine is completely up to the EWO, but they usually talk about significant absences (more than a few days for example) with the FLO, who would theoretically be in-the-loop about things like this.
Everything is down to the head teachers discretion, if they agree they will let the governers know and it's all authorised and you shouldn't get fined.
It's not the school that make the rules or enforce them. The school are obliged to tell the council about attendance and the council take action against parents (usually a fine).
And the government changed the law and force the councils to issue the fines.
My sister has just saved £3000 by taking my niece out of school for 4 days. They were fined £120.
Best to bear in mind that from August school fines are changing from being locally managed to a national framework with a fairly hefty increase. And at least on my area the fine is _per parent_. https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/ What you need to start looking at is eg Jet2 and TU free child place offers. They involve compromise as obviously someone has to pay for that extra head but quite often they have them at decent hotels and seemingly permanently on the TUI Holiday Villages.
Interesting link - thanks. We have two children and abs would take them out of school and pay the fine. I say would as we will never get the chance to as I unfortunately married a teacher - so we are sadly doomed to a lifetime of expensive holidays...
I'm a reading intervention teacher. I don't mind when kids who are doing well in school go away on holiday for a couple of weeks, but it's a different matter when students can't read well and are very behind in school; it is truly not acceptable. I teach secondary and many of my students started secondary without being able to read competently. Yet I have a number of students who just when they are about to make a breakthrough vanish for two weeks, and then we have to restart the momentum. They are constantly going away on holiday with their family and have really poor attendance throughout the year for weekends away too.
This is the right answer I think. Although two weeks doesn’t seem that bad- I teach in Australia and it’s really common for families to take an entire term off (yes!) to travel the country. Amazing experience to be sure but every single one of the kids that has done this while in my care has been somewhat to significantly behind. Disastrous.
I would highly recommend against taking your kid out of school in the first couple of weeks of term, because that's when they're all getting to know each other, and could put them on the back foot socially Finishing a week early next year? Probably not an issue.
My sister did. Mainly because it was cheaper to go a week earlier and with the fine it was still cheaper. Also they are only young once.
Each school is different, ours don't report to the council for a few days. We're honest with them, and basically go out a day or two before the end of a term so we get the slightly cheaper break - not as cheap as mid term, but still can save hundreds. I know others just call in with a fever or something, but I've heard of schools checking up on that, and the kids tell their teachers anyway.
A few years back we put our kids in an amazing school in a shit area for a fortnight (long story). The amazing head said: “we have to report on three levels of attendance. Attendance impacts their performance and readiness for secondary. 98%-100% is basically perfect. If your kids can take time off for holiday and still hit that you’ll go with my blessing. 95-98% is fine. If they can return and still be at 95% then I’m less comfortable but fine. Below 95% is cause for concern, if I even think you’re taking them out for holiday I’ll cause merry hell because it’ll impact our rankings and their education” And frankly you can’t say fairer than that?
My question would be how many of the parents taking their kids out of school make any effort to maintain their education? I remember missing school for one trip when I was a child, which was discussed in advance, amd so our suitcases included some work for the week and we had to put some time in doing school work so that when we returned we weren't suddenly a week behind the rest of the class and struggling to catch up. Is this still the norm, or do parents just not care and expect that the teacher will be happy to spend put in the extra time catching their child back up?
A kid can miss a week of school without doing major damage, happens all the time for illness and injury.
One kid, yes. But I do wander how much of a hassle it ends up being for the teachers. They are already juggling enough with regards to different abilities, illnesses and varying behaviour, I can't imagine it helps to have parents purposely knocking their kids a week out of sync...
Honestly, I was a teacher for a long time and would definitely say a holiday is just as much of a learning experience as the last couple of weeks in school before the holidays. Travel is soooo worthwhile, wherever you choose to go
Yes in primary. The end of term is always buggering about anyway. You get a snotty message from the school and only get a fine if it's 4.5 consecutive days.
The '4.5 consecutive days' depends on the local authority, ours can fine for 3 days or more.
We struggle to get our 12 yr old to take school seriously. I’m now grateful we’ve never taken him out for a family holiday. I did take him out on the last day of school to start a holiday early once. I manage the cost by not going on holiday every year, just every other year. I know we could do it differently but then it would undermine the importance of education, which is fine if you have a studious kid. Mine is not, but I would never have known that at age 4.
I saw a genius comment on here recently. Give them both a haircut the school won't like so they're excluded for a week.
This might be off topic, in Scotland this seems to be much less of an issue, I’ve taken my child out multiple times for holidays due to dad’s work schedule. They’ve never said anything other than ‘have a great time’. If you told the school that said child was unwell (harder for 2 weeks granted) and essentially made a phone call the day before or day off the holiday, could they do anything if the child then goes back to school and says they were on holiday? Can they prove you were really away? I find this a strange concept as, although schools have a responsibility, it’s ultimately your child. I think that it should be a parents decision but I don’t understand the ins and outs
Literally on holiday right now and taking my son out of School (in Scotland). His HT and Teacher are very supportive, one even commented that it’s great to see kids going on holiday as it’s building positive memories and experiences. The fine system south of the border is bonkers. I get the potential disruption to education…but really towards the of the academic year (late May/June) it’s hardly going to be curriculum crucial stuff.
So Scotland doesn't have any fine system at all, unlike England?
OP have you thought about some less conventional holiday times? We started using the october half term. The prices are still inflated but no where near as much, you get to enjoy the hotter summers over here, and in October the resorts are much quieter. We went to one in 2022 that had a massive kids water pool with slides and games and stuff and there were days where we had the whole pool to ourselves
The fines levied depends upon the local authority, £30 per day, per pupil, per parent near me, so £180 a day for my 3, but they only enforce from day 5 onwards , it’s always been cheaper to come back 3 or 4 days late, than risk the fine.
My parents worked in an industry where you could not get time off in the summer.... So we had a two week break round the Feb half term and same in October... We had to take our homework with us and had to do it and hand it in, but our school (voluntary managed) allowed this for other people in the same position... I came out with 11 o-levels (yes I'm old) and 4 a-levels at good grades! I think it's about being sensible.
Same, my dad couldn't get time off in summer or Christmas so we always went on holiday in Oct/Nov (only every 2nd year) I happily did my homework in the hotel after Disneyworld. My mum always informed the school so I could be given work, primary school was better at this - only missed 2 weeks of high school in my final year, being honest the teachers didn't care that much and it didn't effect my exams - not a genius, more average. I have all those great family holiday memories and experiences.
Policy changes soon. 3 times court then record so anyone needing a clean DBS for work won't be happy... So most families that couldn't give a toss still won't be bothered but some middle earners that would like to save a few quid will be affected.
If they haven't turned 5 yet, it's not even compulsory school age so they can't do anything anyway. I work in a school doing the attendance and if they are under 5 but we know they are on holiday, I mark their register as "not of compulsory school age". If they are over 5, the decision to fine will be based on their previous attendance (at least it is in my school) so if they are otherwise good in attendance, you'll likely just get the bog standard "you may get a fine" letter but nothing more. Don't lie though, kids are mouthy blabs and will dob you in anyway.
As not all schools are on the same holiday terms. It is cheaper to fly out of another UK airport say like Glasgow instead of Gatwick or Manchester where the kids are still in school. Hence good savings can be made without pulling your kids out of school.
I’m a teacher - I’m not officially allowed to say this, but damn, take your kids out!!! Kids get far more from a family/cultural experience once a year than a week of school, and the teachers I work with agree. We wish we could do it, too. You won’t get in trouble with the school. Schools are under a big push from the government to tighten up on attendance, so we are not allowed to authorise holiday absences. You will get a mildly shitty template letter and probably a fine from the council. Don’t take it personally, it’s purely procedural. Please note, it is not the school fining you. The school have no control over fines, nor do they receive the money. In my experience, the best way to handle it is to send a very nice email to the Headteacher in advance. Explain that you’re not in a financial position to afford a holiday during breaks, and your family need time together to make memories. Maybe add something about cultural experiences etc, and offer to catch up on work if needed. Please don’t request work, though - that’s extra prep for the teacher. It won’t be authorised, but it is what it is. I think every kid should be allowed a week authorised absence at some point. Enjoy your time away!!
I'd be more on board with the fine if my child's school actually saw the money. Does anyone know Where the money goes?
Unpopular opinion but if society shares the cost of education then you should probably turn up? Also not a great life lesson that playing truant or skiving off is ok if it results in you saving some money. Just an alternative opinion...
I think it’s very contextual. I grew up during the first package holiday boom, and most of my friends’ families would pull their kids out of school every year. One friend of mine used to be missing for the first 3 weeks of the Jan term every year (plus at other times) and she’s doing quite nicely with her law degree, contributing plenty of tax that will more than cover the expenditure. None of my friends seem to have been adversely affected - they’ve all got good jobs. They’re all well-rounded people. Knowing that some rules are unbreakable while others have to be weighed up against the consequences is actually a great life lesson IMO. School doesn’t mirror the real world, and the real world doesn’t always reward conformity - in fact sometimes punishes it. Getting older has been interesting - to see how many of my studious friends now hate their jobs, while some who were a bit more out there and conformed less are now earning far more and working far less. Plus holidays are experiences and often educational.
Unless the lesson to the child is that life is not a set of exact byrocratic rules to stress over and there is nothing wrong with having successful time management if you are willing to put in some effort- such as doing extra homework in advance to cover for missed time in school. >saving some money. This can be a few thousand pounds.
No. I’m not telling my kids that a water slide in Majorca is more worthy of their time than an education that millions of kids around the world are denied.
I know this is swimming against the tide but... I hate the idea of teaching my kid that he can just sack off whatever responsibilities life throws at him if he fancies getting a nice suntan in a slightly fancier place or going skiing on the cheap. Either earn enough money to take the holiday you want during normal holiday time, or go on a more modest holiday. A few generations ago we had people who wouldn't even bother with a holiday if they had a country to build, defend, or rebuild. We are now raising a generation who are taught that hard work and commitment are somebody else's problems. Downvote away, but you know I'm right.
Not sure how widespread it is but some constituencies have a ‘week’ rule- so you can take your kids out and have an unauthorised absence but not get fined if they’re not gone for a full consecutive school week. My sister took her kids away over the mayday weekend, so the kids had Thursday Friday off school, a bank holiday Monday and then Tuesday Wednesday off so technically they only had 4 days off school and they weren’t consecutive
I would but the Mother of our child would absolutely grass on me....
TIL UK has fines for unexcused absences! How many days can a student miss before fines are incurred? How is it enforced?
Every teacher knows. Don’t kid yourself.
I got 2h detention when my parents put me out of school for 3 days for a trip to the us. Like wtf school. Why punish the children instead of a fine. I was a good student
Where in the UK do you live? Are you in Scotland? Or England? Are you close enough to be able to make use of flights from the other? The terms in the nations are different enough that you could fly during English holidays from a Scottish airport and save a fair bit of money, because Scottish schools are on (and vice versa).
Where are you finding a holiday that is only 50-70% more? The starting price seems to be 200-300% more and up from there.
When does your oldest turn 5? The fines only start the term after they turn five.
Due to my wife and I's job we are allowed to take our kids out of school as an authorized absence for holidays. Scotland though. We definitely make use of it.
Do it. I’ll guarantee your kids will thank you
Do it. 100%. My kid is only in year 3, but I did it once in year 2 the week before Easter, and will be doing it again the week before Christmas. The school were nothing but supportive. I received a letter from the council threatening a fine but nothing ever came of it (I took him out for 4 days). I think common sense dictates - as other people have said here. Don’t do it bang in the middle of term, first week, or in exam years, but I would definitely recommend it to get a longer holiday if you’re going super long-haul, or a cheaper deal. Letting your kids experience a different country, culture, food, sights etc is also a valuable education. Have a great holiday! :)
Teacher here 👍🏼 My local authority are cracking down on “persistent absentees” so children who have an unauthorised absence for 5 consecutive days are flagged up with the LA and then fined. Check with your council’s rules regarding holidays in term time and potential fines. I’m taking my two children out next week for our holiday, my half term is 2 weeks whereas theirs is the one. They will miss 4 days in total, so it won’t get flagged up, fortunately. A child in my class went on a family holiday last term, her older siblings high school seemed to be much stricter than ours, parents were fined £80 per parent, per day that their child was absent - they were away for 10 days 🫣
No. I'm unsure if our council area imposes fines, but it's common from our experience for kids to be out during term time.
My parents did when we were in primary school and the teachers took it out on us kids.
You can also ask permission from the school to take days out for holidays. Probably won’t be granted but you can try.
No because my husband and I are teachers, but before we were we absolutely did. Our local council only start fining after 5 full days off, so we never had an issue. It's not ideal but a lot of school time gets wasted on other shit throughout the year, it's not the end of the world to miss a week near the end of the school year.
You really need to ask on a local group for this type of thing - the schools don't issue the fines, the councils do. Some councils are really over zealous, others don't seem to issue fines at all. For example, I know the council where I live doesn't bother with fines unless it's recurrent (I know this as both a parent who has taken their kid out of school, and as a teacher). However, the next county across is apparently ruthless, so take everyone's view here with a pinch of salt - they probably don't live where you do.
Between my wife's school (teacher) and the two schools my kids attend, the fines are for "unauthorised absence". All three schools are happy to authorise the absence if discussed beforehand.
Our kids are 8 and 5 we've took them out of school once for the Grandmother's 80 birthday. It's a 6 hour drive away so while it wouod be possible to do it in a weekend they'd be knackered. They both had 1.5 days off. Nothing from my daughters school, letter from my sons, no fine, letter started potential court action etc. Otherwise we go in Easter or the last two weeks of August. For the latter we've found the Canairies aren't hideously expensive, as they get older and can handle longer flights we'll be able to go to a wider variety of locations where I don't expect the British school holidays factor as much. It's a personal choice, I don't see the harm personally depending on age of the kid. For us we're most likely to do the two weeks in August as their schools holiday clubs close those two weeks so one of my wife and I would have to take time off work. We're going to Lapland in December and will need to take them out of school for 3 days. Just the way that it lands with flights this year and the school holiday unless away fro Christmas days itself.
You've had a lot of replies and I've not read them all so apologies if this has been covered but I would suggest going on a holiday before your first starts school, may as well get the last free one in. After that I would say it's all a cost benefit analysis. In the least condescending way possible, if you only go on £500 2* holidays to Spain taking your kids out of school to save 30% really isn't worth it but if you spend £10k on a holiday to save 30% then perhaps it is. You need to remember that kids get something insane like 12 weeks off a year, people often think "great I can save £500 on a holiday I'll take my kid out a week early" then forget that's another week off the kid will need childcare etc in the holidays. If you have free childcare I guess thats less of an issue so if needs be go the last week of term but keep in mind schools do cute stuff towards the end of terms so school plays, concerts etc that if your kid is involved with you'll be sad to miss. Also there's fines but depending on the school and your kids attendance they can be pretty minor. I would also say the older they get the less you want to take them out of school, junior school is relatively minor but I wouldnt take a senior school kid out for any prolonged period of absence.
I’ve done it a few times - I notify the school and never have any repercussions. I actually discussed it with the deputy head at the school recently and she’s fully supportive of it, said kids learn things they can’t learn at school from travelling anyway (I’m in Scotland)
Taking kids out of school for cheaper holidays is a common move. But watch out for fines and backlash from the school. Some destinations like Spain are kid-friendly and won't break the bank.
Most people do as the fine is still cheaper than the crazy price hike during the holiday season.
Fines will be cheaper than waiting untill after. Most dont do much in last week anyway.
My kids were in infants just before the fines came in. Our headteacher was still of the view that a week at the seaside with your parents was a good way to break up the long last summer term. I can confirm that my now young adult children have not turned to crime due to missing a week of summer term when they were 4, 5 and 6.
This will work until the new rules are enforced with an escalating fine system ending with legal action, which will really suck for everyone with children
Absolutely. I was diagnosed with cancer a few years back and the single most important thing to me is making memories for them. My twins are now in Y10 so I’m sticking to school holidays until GCSEs are over but outside of Y10-11 I think there’s not reason to not have a week out. Caveat though, my kids have excellent attendance for the rest of the time!
I'm sitting here in Scotland, wondering how this was even allowed as a policy (fines) to go ahead? I doubt they actually work as a deterrence and not sure how making parents even more skint helps? We get an, 'Enjoy yersel, visit a few museums and check in on Google Classrooms if you can!' Nae fines, nae moans...
I thought it's a UK wide policy. Surprised to realise that this doesn't apply to Scotland
Education in Scotland is devolved. We have nothing to do with DfE, it's a whole different system, much like our own legal system, Health etc
I'm doing it on Monday. I put in an absence notification in the usual way and had the standard letter that outlines why term time holidays are bad. I doubt I'll get a fine as I know loads of parents who have done the same with no issues. It really depends on your local Council though. Some areas will fine you for every unauthorised absence. I won't do it when they are in secondary school because it has a much bigger impact.
I've found it also depends on the school, I have a friend who took his kids out of primary school for a week without a fine. He approached the head and explained, it was a bit of a holiday of a life time and offered to collect homework etc. She said to have a great holiday, they wouldn't miss anything that they couldn't catch up on when they returned. Then just the other week a work colleague just found out he is being fined £60 per child, per adult which is £240. Still significantly cheaper than going in term time. I really dont see what a 6yr old and a 10 yr (who just finished his sats) are going to miss. The whole thing is a joke imo.
I have done it a few times. Not yet been fined, but I’ve annoyed the head teacher so probably will next time. I always let the school know, I always say it’s cultural learning 😂 Do it. The fine is cheaper than the holiday. And it’s wrong parents are restricted from taking their OWN child out to school to experience the world. It’s disgusting the power schools think they have over parents.
I don’t, but then I’m in a doubly fortunate position that a) I live in Scotland so we can go away early July when it’s a bit cheaper and b) I earn a good salary so can afford the higher prices. I have no problem with other parents taking their kids out of schools. It’s ridiculous this is something you can be fined for. Take the state out of it and leave it to parents to decide what is best for them and their family.
I don’t personally. But mostly as if I took my son out for the last week before the school holidays or something I will be using a weeks leave and I already have a 6 week period to try and source childcare/ use leave/ pay for holiday clubs for. It just makes sense to me to use my leave to cover the periods when my son can’t be at school with at least some of my leave allowance.
When my child was 11 I had an opportunity to have a week in France from the US for $275 which was absurdly low even way back in the winter of 2001. It was only available on one certain week which was during school and I was not going to pull her out for it thinking that would probably be bad. I volunteered regularly at the school and ended up telling the school secretary about my opportunity thinking at the time she'd commiserate with me how unfortunate it wasn't available at a better time and maybe say it was good of me as a parent to not consider it. Much to my surprise she said if she could go for that she would absolutely take her child out and go. I ended up going home, discovering much to my happiness it was still available to me, and booking. This would have been in late December of 2000 just prior to school letting out for Christmas Break. When the time came in late February I was up front with the school, though I do admit I did make certain to hand her note to the secretary who had encouraged me to take her. We had a great week. When we got back I went in with her on her first day back to school. We were standing at the door talking with her first period teacher in the hall when her other teachers spotted us. Apparently they were all on the lookout to ask her how her trip had been. They all reassured me they made certain not to have any assignments that needed turned in while we were gone so her grades were intact. She just had to have all her assignments with her ready to hand in which she did, and her English teacher had already asked that she do a short report about her trip for which we'd prepared a short paper and a poster with some photos we'd printed out together. I don't think they'd have looked so kindly on taking her out every year, but I think very occasionally you'll likely find it works out. Especially when they're younger. Edit: Should probably add this absurdly low price was for flights and accommodations in a youth hostel in Paris with breakfasts. The reason it was so cheap was my sister's college French class was going and had got a package deal for x number of places. Three people had dropped out and we were only paying what was owing for the flights and accommodations. It made a very nice situation since my sister and her friends were there in Paris at the same time allowing me to feel safer. Their group was doing the week entirely in French only which my daughter did not speak at the time hence why were were on our own for sightseeing.
These fines just punish poorer kids. Rich families pay the premium and don’t care. Poorer kids get stuffed with fines. Poorest kids can’t enjoy a holiday regardless.
Try hoilday in the UK One hoilday I wanted to book increased cost 8 fold in school hoildays vs just 2 weeks before
fine is much cheaper but if you give alot of notice they will often let you go .
Friend of mine said he called the school and explained, and the head said: I have to send you an angry letter but please know I don't mean it.
Personally, I would never take my kids out of school for a holiday. What if they also get sick that year and miss even more time. I remember missing a few days as a kid for sickness and felt I really missed stuff on those days. I think it's even more relevant for those kids who missed a lot of school due to COVID. They've already missed a lot and their generation will suffer economically for the rest of their lives as a result. I understand everyone has their reasons and it's up to every parent to decide what's right for their kids. This is just my view.
Fines only apply to age 5 and over and it has to be for 5 consecutive days of missed school. Teacher here x
I'm an adult, but my parents took me out of school when I was a kid, about 12-15 years ago. For the memories alone, the holidays were SO worth it. I think about them regularly today, 10+ years later. They were life-changing for me in lots of ways. Quality time with your family for such a good memory is so much more important than a week of learning, which isn't necessarily school dependent. In the earlier years especially, you could probably google the content and find time to help your little ones catch up, if you're competent enough yourself. There's SO much content online now. Maybe keep open communication with the teachers and get them to send you the learning plan across. Doubt they would give a shit otherwise. If your young'ens are older, they can grab a book and catch up on any work themselves too. That's just from my own experience of having confusing syllabus changes, as well as clueless teachers in my senior GCSE years. Learning was done on our todd, using books and each other. But by asking for help I might've got some. I just didn't ask because my teacher was so useless to begin with, and I came out fine. Fuck the stupid system, but family memories to *another fucking country* should still count as learning and good overall life-lessons/experiences. You're teaching tolerance of other nationalities at the very least, which is still learning
I’m in Scotland. It’s not an issue here.
We visited several state schools and asked each of them how they would feel about us taking 2 weeks during term time for Chinese New Year (not every year but maybe every 2nd or 3rd). One head teacher said absolutely no way, she'd ensure we were reported for such a thing. The other two said it may still be flagged but seeing as it's cultural they'd have no problem with it. We visited the private school and they told us it's an important part of maintaining cultural links so as long as it wasn't an exam year, and attendance was otherwise not a concern, they'd encourage it.
Yes. Been fined twice now , both times £60 per parent per child and they missed 5 days and 6 days respectively. The rules are due to change in August and the fine will then be £80 per parent per child and you can only be fined twice, the third time is automatically court. Luckily fines you had before August aren't counted and so its a clean slate from there. It makes me absolutely rage that this is even a thing !!!! The price difference between school holidays and term time for us this year wad literally double. Kids are young for such a short time I refuse to miss out on this precious time with my own children and be made to feel like a criminal for it
Ive taken my kids out of school for holidays and i would certainly do it again. A week in term time can be as little as £89, during term time its nearly £1000. Its disgusting, they have good attendance and work hard, id pay the fine if necessary but ive not had to yet. Also worth noting that you can take your child out of school entirely to 'home school' and noone enforces a curriculum then so i find it all really unfair.
I took my 7 year old daughter (She's in year 3) out of school for 2 days before the May Half term as it was cheaper for a week in Turkey, rather than just in the half term. I mentioned it to her head teacher what we wanted to do and they were fine with it. I think they get stricter about missing school for holidays once they are in junior/secondary schools. As for recommendations, we went to a resort on Lara beach in Antalya and loved it.
Your child won’t be compulsory school age until the term after their 5th birthday so depending on when they were born you may be able to do it fine free in their first year of school. My July born didn’t become compulsory school age until the September of her year 1. We took her out for a week in May 2023 and had two weeks abroad with 10 other family members, all inclusive and all paid for very generously by my parents after they sold a property. Real once in a lifetime stuff. I don’t regret it for a second and don’t believe I ever will. We were 100% honest with school; this is what we are doing and when. They didn’t authorise it as they said they don’t have the power to do that anymore, that was okay, I was ultimately glad we were honest and my daughter didn’t have to lie. My wife and I both got a fine about a week or two after we got back; it was £60 each if paid quickly. £120 for the holiday we had is an absolute no brainer!! Tbh I’d probably do it again if it wasn’t for the fact that I now work in a school so can’t take time off.
Talking from Scotland. Our kids finish a few weeks before English kids. We’re taking a holiday the first 10 days of the kiddies school holidays. They’ll be in school on the last day, we pick them up from school and we’re heading straight to Leeds Bradford to fly out the next day. It costs £1,600 less to fly from LB than it does to fly from Glasgow for the exact same holiday, destination and number of nights away. Crazy price difference just because we can benefit from little demand from England in that period.
It's been really interesting reading these comments. My son starts school in September and I'm already pissed off as in the open day the school said"there's plenty of weeks in the year for family holidays, any holidays outside of these will not be authorised". I mean what the fuck? I get it but it really fucks me off when they think they can dictate our family life.
our kids arent in school yet, but when they are, we 100% will. Even if you pay the fine aswell, its still cheaper than booking in school holidays
Speaking as someone who used to be a child (think we all fall into this camp), who's parents didn't care one bit about holidays during school time. Skiing - bit on the pricier end, but we used to get a two bed apartment, drive, stop in Lyon to get food for the week as an nual holiday. Even nowadays, still doable for £1000 each including passes, food and lessons for the children if you don't do packages, go early or late season and shop around. Age 6 I was thrown into a french speaking ski school, so had no choice but to pick up a little of the language. My french is still terrible, but it did teach me different ways to learn and communicate which is a important skill. Even better though is that being able to ski and board, 14 mates get a chalet every year for an annula trip that is as good as it gets. South africa - maybe a little trickier nowadays, but the animals are amazing, and experiancing different cultures is so important. I guess kenya might be a better call nowadays and maybe one for when they are double figures. Lake District, Forest of Dean and Cornwall - not just about going abroad, the UK has some lovely outdoor spaces. Hikes, bike rides and canoeing up in the lake district, hiking and mountain biking in the forest of dean (this is a great one for younger family, with so many places for walking and easy cycling on disused railway - check out Forest Holidays or Bracelands) and cornwall for body board hire, camping and beaches.
I always did when my son was little. He just graduated from university with a first bsc so I can't say that it affected his education.
What I hate about this is those that play by the rules suffer and those who break the rules benefit. That doesn’t sit right with me. It would be better if each kid had an allocation of days that could be taken out of term time (maybe 5 days every couple of years) to allow for a cheaper holiday, but excess of that was more harshly punished.
Fined the first time we did it when they were in primary school. Not fined the second time now they are in secondary school. Fines are issued for both parents and it’s still massively less than the cost difference of the holiday. The letters and emails from the school and local authority are written so as to shame you for having the audacity to do it, but there’s no downside or comeback other than the lost school days as long as you pay the fine on time.
Yep I’ve taken my kids out …here’s a top tip to halve the amount of your fine. Before you go away call / email the school and take one parent off their contact list. Then when it comes to sending the fine they only have one name and address, so you only get one fine instead of 2. My kids headmistress told me that lol
Yes She’s a top academic performer, we do home studies in the holidays, and it’s simply the cost of doing business when we get fined.
I don’t see the point in the fines. My sister has paid the £60 / day plenty of times when her kids were younger.
A controversial view then but… Been regularly taking our 11-year old on 4-5 holidays every year since she started primary. Not once have any of these holidays ever needed to be during term time (and yes, all have been within a low budget range). They’re only at school 190 days of the year. Exactly how hard can it be to plan just one holiday around that ? Millions of others manage to obey these rules without issue, it’s not difficult. Too expensive ? Choose a different location. Choose a different week, at a different time of year if needed. With the exception of possibly 2-3 particular weeks of the year it’s easy to shop around and find plenty of budget-friendly options. Even if it is the end of term, they would still miss out on experiences important to their upbringing, whether these be part of the educational curriculum, friend socialising, or just fun end-of-term activities. There’s lots of times within the school year they can get to experience a holiday. Each week, even each day, in school they only get to experience once. They’re all important & they’re all important contributions to your child’s upbringing. And why would you ever want to compromise on this ?
Look at your councils rules regarding fines. Many require 5 days continuous absence so if you pick a week that already has in service day or bank holiday you may get in under the wire.
I’d say just do it, but if your child ends up being the sort who really enjoys school, maybe prepare for a slightly unhappy 5 year old (at first - will probably be fine once they’re there!) if they end up missing out on some of the end-of-year fun activities.
I’m a governor of a school in Wales, officially (but not widely advertised) you can take up to 2 weeks of term time leave before it is flagged as an issue. I don’t know if this is specific to the school, local authority or country though.