As reported by BBC News, with soaring costs, parents debate whether to risk fines for cheaper term-time holidays to broaden their children’s horizons, despite legal consequences
Rachel Smith, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, says she will continue to illegally take her children on holiday during term time – despite the increase in financial penalties.
The mother-of-two estimates she has saved more than £10,000 by getting cheaper deals during off-peak dates.
“This way my children don’t miss out on all the different cuisines, cultures and languages we otherwise couldn’t afford,” she told the BBC.
Failure to ensure school attendance can result in a prosecution, external, a fine of up to £2,500, a community order and even a jail sentence of up to three months.
In the autumn term of the current school year, 24% of secondary pupils were classed as persistently absent, compared with 15% in 2019
However, Ms Smith, 34, says she will continue to take her children – aged 12 and 10 – away.
“It is just so much cheaper compared to during term time, which has got to a point where parents can’t afford it,” she continues.
“I’ve been a single mum with two kids for quite a long time and I couldn’t give my kids these kind of experiences if it was during the holidays.”
She says she has been fined several times in the past, but they only served as small deductions from the savings she had made.
The family has travelled to Magaluf and Ibiza in Spain during term time.
“I don’t do it recklessly, I take the kids out of school after their exams,” she adds.
‘I’ve never stepped foot in a courtroom before’
Laura Gray, from King’s Lynn, Norfolk, was prosecuted for taking her son out of school for holidays abroad.
“Work commitments” were the reason the 33-year-old gave for booking trips away to Croatia, Dubai and Tenerife.
Mrs Gray, 33, thought that missing 15 school days in total would leave her with just a fine as her then six-year-old still had an attendance rate of 91%.
But instead she was prosecuted and taken to court after her son’s third unauthorised absence in an academic year.
She tells the BBC she felt a “huge wave of guilt and shame” and “struggled mentally” knowing she had to appear before a court.
“I’ve never stepped foot in a courtroom before…I was very emotional,” Mrs Gray adds.
She pleaded guilty and says the ordeal cost the family more than £3,000.
What do the authorities say?
There is a consistent theme among the authorities the BBC approached for comment on the issue.
Tony Ball, head of education at Essex County Council, says pupils’ prospects are “diminished” when they miss school.
He says he understands “the temptation” of holidaying during term time.
“But just think about the possible impact and the message it’s sending your children, that it’s OK not to go to school,” he says.
Norfolk County Council pledges to issue a fixed penalty notice in the event of a child missing school for a holiday.
Teachers have pointed to poor child mental health and a lack of places for pupils with special educational needs.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, meanwhile, took aim in The Times, external at parents who pull their children out during term time.
The minimum fines for parents removing children without permission will rise from £60 to £80 in September.
The Department of Education says term-time holidays caused “unnecessary disruption” to learning.
It adds they are “disruptive” to other pupils in the class.
However, Paul Whiteman, of the school leaders’ union – the NAHT – says fines have proven to be “too blunt a tool and largely ineffective” at tackling prolonged absences.
“What is really needed to tackle poor attendance is more targeted resources to find out the reasons behind absence,” he says.
“Without that work, higher fines could just be further punishing already struggling families and children.”
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