Should Parents Face Holiday Fines?

The great summer getaway has begun: airports are jam-packed with families heading away for some quality time together while the motorways go into gridlock. Can you blame  families for wanting to get a head start on the summer holiday madness? There has been a lot of discussion recently over the fines imposed by schools on parents who take their children out of school. Since a change in the system in September 2013, parents are liable to pay a £60 fine, per child, to their local authority for unauthorised absences during term time. If it isn’t paid, parents face further fines and possible prosecution. All sounds pretty harsh, right?

We all know the travel industry lowers its holiday prices off peak and the most expensive time to travel is during the summer holidays – to the detriment of families. So what do we do?

Holiday website, Travelzoo, recently issued the results of its ‘Parent Trap 2015 Study’ in which it polled over 2000 parents of state-school children, and 500 primary and secondary-school teachers. It found 50% of parents had lied to their schools to avoid being fined when they take their children out of school during term time while 69% disagreed with the fines.

In Travelzoo’s study, what I found really interesting was that eight out of 10 teachers admitted that missing the last few days of school would not damage a child’s education while over 60% admitted pupils would mostly be playing games and 50 per cent said they would be putting on a DVD for the class. This sounds very familiar – who else remembers being physically and mentally exhausted by the end of term and not being able to absorb any more information? I do! The VHS (I’m so old!) came out a fair few times in my end of term classes.

Although I am a huge advocate for standard school education, I also believe travel helps enrich and is an education in itself. I remember returning from my year out travelling after university and I almost wished I could do my degree again because I had a renewed perspective on life. I certainly regretted not doing more travel before I embarked on my studies.

The same goes for younger children. Travel is a learning process, a chance to experience different places, cultures and think and breathe with space and time in new environments as well as to spend quality time together as a family. My two-year-old daughter gets so much out of travel, whether it be a new country, city, word, taste, smell or the ability to converse with a variety of people of all ages. It does wonders for her confidence. Travel for her is one big learning process and adventure. Every time we return from a break, her nursery school teachers remark on how much she has developed while we have been away.

We have another year until we personally fall into the ‘Parent Trap’ so it is difficult to say what we will do. I would not have a problem taking her out for the odd day and having to pay the fine but it would be a huge shame if it were to cause issues with her teachers. I am hoping we have an understanding school and headteacher who won’t frown upon our decision.

It does feel like families are being penalised with many being unable to afford the holiday they want. Holidays at peak time are as much as 40% higher than outside school summer-holiday dates. This is huge so goes some way to explaining why so many are prepared to pay the fine – it just makes financial sense.

One good thing to come out of the continuing campaign is that the Airport Passenger Duty tax for under 12s was scrapped in December 2014 and will apply to under 16’s from May 1st 2016. The UK has the most expensive air duty in the world so the Government’s concession will certainly help.

I am not sure what the overall solution is but the word ‘common sense’ comes to mind. The reins of power on deciding whether a child can be taken out of school should down to the headteacher and school rather than the local authority and looked at on a case by case basis. Surely, if a child has a good attendance record and is on top of their work, a couple of days out of school will make little difference in the grand scheme of things? Surely a holiday is an education in itself and it is better to have one than none at all. Surely, as parents, we are capable of deciding what is best for our child and have their best interests at heart. As for the idea of schools staggering their holidays, while this sounds like a good idea in theory I can’t see travel prices coming down enough for us to see a massive difference.

The issue of whether parents should or should not pay fines is only set to get more heated as petitions are signed and parents rally the government to change the guidelines for local authorities. What do you think? Would you pay the fine or follow the line? Has your relationship with your school  been compromised? I would love to know your thoughts and experiences.

If you are having difficulties with your school granting leave, the organisation Parents Want A Say could help.