Term-time vacation high-quality rise will not cease us, say dad and mom | EUROtoday

More pupils in England have been off faculty with out permission within the final week of the summer season time period than at any level within the tutorial 12 months, official figures present.

The newest faculty attendance knowledge reveals 5% of pupils in England have been off with out permission within the week ending 19 July – round 450,000 pupils.

It comes as the federal government tightens guidelines to attempt to cease dad and mom taking their youngsters out of faculty to go on vacation.

Fines issued to every father or mother have gone up from £60 to £80 per youngster which shall be doubled if it occurs once more inside three years. Those with a 3rd high-quality in a three-year interval now face prosecution.

But some dad and mom have instructed the BBC this isn’t a deterrent.

Megan Hall and her husband Michael acquired their first fines after taking their two youngsters on a ski vacation in March and have now booked a two-week vacation later this month.

“The kids will be missing 10 days of school, which is a worry because of the new fines,” Mrs Hall told the BBC.

The couple run a pub and bed and breakfast in Northumberland and said if they took their children – aged four and eight – away during their busy summer season they would incur a cost to their business as well as higher holiday prices.

“I won’t stop doing holidays because that’s what family is about,” said Mrs Hall.

“The alternative is to not have family time, or to teach your kids to lie, saying they are sick, which is something I’m not happy to do,” she added.

Nearly 400,000 penalty notices were issued to parents in England for unauthorised school absences during the 2022-23 academic year. That is much higher than pre-pandemic levels and unauthorised absences have remained at a similar rate over the most recent academic year.

Rachel Kelly and her partner took their children out of primary school in May and are waiting for a fine to be issued.

“You don’t want to take them out of school during term time,” she added. “But if it means it’s going to save you thousands of pounds then that’s the best alternative.

“If I can save [money on a holiday] to go towards bills then you are going to do that, it seems to be the sensible option.”

She said fines and prosecutions are “a danger that we’re prepared to take”.

Holidaying during term time is substantially cheaper and travel agents say they have seen an increase in enquiries from families weighing up the price difference.

Long haul flights in particular can double during the six-week summer holiday, according to data from the Flight Centre, the fifth largest travel agency in the world.

It gave the BBC examples of price rises between term-time and the summer holidays:

• Thailand: Term-time £554, summer holidays £1,112

• New York: Term-time £586, summer holidays £942

• Orlando: Term-time £556, summer holidays £754

According to Colman Coyne, managing director of travel agency Jetset in Huddersfield an increasing number of families have been looking for holidays during term time.

“Going back three, four years ago it was very rare that we would find a family with school age children travelling outside the Easter, half terms and summer holidays.

“We see now it’s quite a regular thing. And you can see they’re weighing up whether it’s worth risking a fine.”

For Dee and Lee Morgan, who’ve been fined six occasions lately, the brand new menace of prosecution means they may now stick to high school holidays for getaways with their youngsters aged 10 and 13.

“I’m angry we’re having to do this. Life’s hard enough,” mentioned Dee, who’s a nurse.

“Money’s tight, things are going up, we all have to go to work, we deserve a holiday – everybody deserves a holiday – why do they have to make it hard?”

“We’re being victimised…everyone has rights, I have rights and they’re my children and it’s my right to take them on holiday.”

The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has previously said: “Parents have a legal responsibility to make sure their child is in school, so they benefit from the high and rising standards this government will seek to drive.”