http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p035hzv0

A father who won a court battle to overturn a £120 fine he was given for taking his daughter out of school during term time has told 5 live he “didn’t have to argue exceptional circumstances”.

Jon Platt, who took his six-year-old daughter to Florida with the rest of his family, said he “sent the council an email explaining” why he had to take the holiday during term time, but returned home to find they had given him a £60 fine.

The fine was doubled to £120 when Jon didn’t pay for three weeks, and after he refused to pay again, the council said they would be prosecuting him.

The case was dismissed after Jon argued that, according to the law, he only had to make sure his daughter “attend school regularly” to make sure he hadn’t committed an offence.

Isle of Wight Council says it was following government guidance and it’s now reviewing the outcome.

Hopefully paving the way so others can take the kids away too without a lengthy interview or risking a fine.

Taking away discretion from the Head Teacher was where it all went wrong, the Tories are obsessed with central control and micro-managing everything from Whitehall.

Good.

We’ll most likely take our five year old out of school a week early for the Feb half term.

That week makes a difference of over £700 per person on our winter holiday.
(Plus it is unlikely the missus will get half term off).

If they fine us £60 then so be it.

Agree discretion was what was needed.

Think the guy in the case had his daughters attendance at 93%?

Think I’d be considering whether to take my kids away if they were missing more than one day every 4 weeks though. Fair play to him for trying to get the law clarified, and it was only a magistrates court so can be overturned.

But I’m in the “it’s part of having kids and you should have thought it through first” camp.

But I’m in the “it’s part of having kids and you should have thought it through first” camp.

I did but we were able to take our kids out school when we decided to have kids. They changed the rules after I had kids.

Re; the taking away of ‘discretion’ from previously trusted decision makers. Does anyone else feel like this is a persistent and insidious trend in society these days? Or am I getting all daily mail and sensationalist about something that isn’t actually a problem?

As to the OP, it strikes me as a small win for common sense, which means it will probably be strongly legislated against at once, in order for normal service to resume…

Always thought it a pointless law anyway, holiday companies prey on families and hike costs in the term breaks.

My parents used to take our family summer holidays in the last week of August and the first week of September, that often meant missing the start of a new school year but the school never kicked off and my parents were honest with the school…..it saved the family a huge amount of money and we wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford holidays abroad.

Common sense really….in response to a cynical travel industry unfairly hiking costs on those who can least afford it…no problem with the decision.

Can’t see what the fuss is about with taking kids out of school during term time.
If parents are not bothered about their kids being on holiday instead of learning, why should schools be .

My sister is looking at pulling her 8 year old out of school for 4 days next summer, last week of term. This is because our brother and family who live in NZ are visiting, and the only weeks they can make it were in term time due to work commitments over in NZ. We have not seen them in 5 years, we have never met one of their kids. My sisters lad has had one day off in three years of school.

The school has refused permission already, and suggested they will ask for a fine.

This decision is one for common sense. And no I am not a great believer in a week off school twice a year to sit by a pool in Fuerwengirola eating chips. But it is parents decision, and should the attendance at school be good otherwise, it is their choice.

we were able to take our kids out school when we decided to have kids

Funny that; I always thought school was mandatory, not reliant on how much flights to the sun were.

You can’t put your kids education before a good deal though, can you?

Funny that; I always thought school was mandatory, not reliant on how much flights to the sun were.

Yes but you were allowed to take them out of school for holidays without such issues.

You can’t put your kids education before a good deal though, can you?

It’s nothing to do with that. I can’t choose my holidays so have to take them when I’ve been given them, that can often mean I’m not off during the school holidays. Still don’t let your blinkered ideas get in the way.

Lots of rules change Drac, not perhaps the most convincing argument. 😉

If a kid is achieving the required standard and their attendance is good, I’m fine with the head having discretion to let them take a week off.

The head needs to also have the bottle to say “Your kids are not achieving and/or their attendance is poor, so you will be fined”. And the fine needs to be big enough to really punish as well. The current situation is just a waste of everyone’s time.

Kids only go to school 190 days a year? Plenty of time off to spend with the family. I have little sympathy for those who can’t afford to do exactly what they want in that time and complain about it. Sorry.

Speaking as a parent who hasn’t had a cheap holiday in the 8 years since eldest started school. And won’t get one for another 9 years till the youngest finishes. No one is entitled to a cheap holiday.

Can’t see what the fuss is about with taking kids out of school during term time.
If parents are not bothered about their kids being on holiday instead of learning, why should schools be .

😯

Because schools are under immense pressure to ensure very child makes at least expected progress, if not greater. If not they are deemed to be failing (in the current system).

Below 90% attendance is the equivalent of missing 4 weeks of school in a year.

You can’t put your kids education before a good deal though, can you?

meh, kids can learn lots whilst on holiday too – maybe especially when it’s abroad
I’ve never taken the piss with our kids and absence and their junior school never declined a request. If they had, and particularly if they’d threatened a fine, I’d have asked for details of what the class was being taught during the absence and made sure we caught up. I’d still have gone though, as we’d only do so for what we thought was a good reason.

The only reason a few people can save money on holidays is because most people follow the rules. If significant numbers of people start taking kids out of school early, or returning late, the holiday companies will just make the peak season longer, and you’re back to square one. Or you end up with a free for all where people just take holidays randomly, whenever they like throughout the year, which will be very disruptive for class teaching.

bingo!

Re; the taking away of ‘discretion’ from previously trusted decision makers. Does anyone else feel like this is a persistent and insidious trend in society these days?

Only with the Tories, they absolutely hate local government and any public body with autonomy. You end up with the hilarious situation of Michael Gove making up lists of which kings and queens must be taught based on those he can remember rather than trusting teachers or exam boards or in fact anyone else….

I knew someone would come out with that “travel is learning” bollocks

Guy in the OP took his kid to Disney World

Lots of rules change Drac, not perhaps the most convincing argument.

Ermmm! But at the time it was part of the consideration of having kids. So your argument is just as flawed in my case.

ids only go to school 190 days a year? Plenty of time off to spend with the family. I have little sympathy for those who can’t afford to do exactly what they want in that time and complain about it. Sorry.

If you include weekends.

Speaking as a parent who hasn’t had a cheap holiday in the 8 years since eldest started school. And won’t get one for another 9 years till the youngest finishes. No one is entitled to a cheap holiday.

Once again. It’s not about the cost, my holidays don’t match very often with the school holidays.

I understand your point Drac – I was a RAFbrat, only had two family holidays as a kid due to my dad’s leave rota.

But this summer we had to juggle childcare around work between us, only had one week as an actual family together. It’s part of having kids.

But this summer we had to juggle childcare around work between us, only had one week as an actual family together. It’s part of having kids.

Snap! However, it meant we had no weeks as a family together. It’s part of having kids yes but wouldn’t it be better if there was also an option for a family to spend time together outside the school holidays as that was the only time they could?

It’s only 1 week so not going to put the attendance below the 90% mark as that requires month.

I can think of several holidays where my kids would gain more knowledge and experience than a term at school, so although I’m keen for highest attendance, I would have no compunction taking them to such places.

Good!

The jobworth Council has too much time on their hands.

I knew someone would come out with that “travel is learning” bollocks
Guy in the OP took his kid to Disney World

Well, the “travel is learning” bollocks was in response to a general comment rather than the guy in the OP.
Kids in our village went to harrypotterworld as a year 11 english study day a few weeks ago and pretty much all schools attempt to send kids abroad as part of languages, don’t they ?

And guess what the law doesn’t apply if your kids are in private school. So the Tories bring in a law that doesn’t apply to them.

Now are schools bothered by this because they want the best education for kids or because it effects their attendance stats. In today’s teaching culture I think it is the later!!

Funny that; I always thought school was mandatory, not reliant on how much flights to the sun were.

No, it isn’t.

For reference, this is why we’re taking her out a week early:

I’ll gladly pay the £60 fine from the £4,676 we save!

(That’s not some carefully cherry-picked extreme example by the way – that’s just the place we went last year)

e they want the best education for kids or because it effects their attendance

Nail; head.

#targetculture

Only with the Tories, they absolutely hate local government and any public body with autonomy.

Thats probably why the fine was issued under The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007 😳

Eh? I’m confused by the stupidity of the comments suggesting parents are bad for making their kids miss some days at school! I don’t get your thinking… posting condescending remarks, belittling those who do it… what is actually wrong with you?

Examples above clearly highlight why people do it – would you normally pay £4000 for your kid to have 1 week’s education? No, of course you wouldn’t.

Kids are surprisingly smart and most could catch up on the important parts of the missed work with ease.

Our children’s attendence is always in the very high 90’s. We have built some incredibly strong partnerships with some of the teachers and cooperated strongly to make sure we are working together. We have provided them with a huge amount of support and also invested in independent education assessment and tutoring when the school hasn’t been able to meet their needs. Sometimes that’s when the school has had a high turnover in class teachers (My boys had 3 last year) or when the teacher has not been able to build a good rapport with one of them and as a result my child has withdrawn from them.

Our commitment to their education is huge. I do think with this borne in mind that the headteacher should not be able to block a reasonable length of absence. We hold the primary responsibility for their care and should be trusted to make good decisions.

Some are and some aren’t, obviously. Presumably you’re relying on support from the teachers to help them catch up?

Its not one parent doing it every parent doing it. If every parent takes a week off then that is a lot of lost teaching hours.

I agree some balance is needed but lets not pretend that 3/4 of the class doing this has no impact on the teaching environment/education recieved

But what about us people that book in term time only to have to suffer some yummy mummy poolside shouting instructions to Octavia to be careful darling.

Funny that; I always thought school was mandatory

Looks like you may have thought wrong then. The amount of prisoners we get in who can’t read/write or do basic maths is quite startling. A lot of the travelling fraternity tend to fall into this category but we tend to find they can scrap & are ‘good with money’. 🙂

zippykona – Member
But what about us people that book in term time only to have to suffer some yummy mummy poolside shouting instructions to Octavia to be careful darling.

Wait till Octavia is in the Kids club and roger said yummy mummy senseless 😈

A quick email outline of the week’s work shouldn’t take much of the teacher’s time. Any relevant books can be popped in the kid’s drawer while they’re away, a few hours at home concentrated study without classroom distractions will be more than enough!

Point being, it’s not black and white, good vs bad. Kids are resilient, capable and flexible. They don’t become drop outs for life if they go a holiday once a year and miss 5 days of formal schooling.

This is the attitude I can’t understand, which makes me wonder about the people spouting off about it and their possible lack of common sense.

and what if those couple of hours doesn’t happen?

It also appears you’re sending your kids to school for about 20 hours a week more than they need.

Funny how parents can’t take their kids out but the school my sister teaches at in Perthshire arranges a school ski trip during term time.