Parents, think twice about term-time holidays
| Published: 4th September 2007 10:29 |
Term Time Holiday Penalties
The Autumn is a popular time to book next summers holidays but parents could face a fixed penalty and risk their child's performance at school by booking breaks, which have not been agreed by the relevant head teacher.
In 2004 the government granted local authority officers, head teachers and the police powers to issue penalty notices for unauthorised absence. In some circumstances this can mean term-time holidays, which have not been approved by the school.
Although parents have the right to request up to 10 days off school, head teachers have received new guidance from government that such holidays should be authorised in exceptional circumstances only. Availability of places, or cheaper prices will not be enough to justify authorisation of the holiday.
Viv Sales, Principal Education Social Worker for Warwickshire County Council, said: "Head teachers will always be prepared to talk to parents about any holiday plans, but regular absences of this sort can damage a pupil's learning, disrupt school routines and other children in the class. Research suggests that 17 missed school days a year during secondary school can mean a drop of at least one GCSE grade at exam time."
She added: "We would always prefer to work with parents rather than impose fixed penalty fines, but must ensure that the message about the impact of unnecessary time off school is understood."
When a child fails to attend school regularly, and the absences are unauthorised, penalty notices can be an effective way of dealing with the problem and they offer an alternative to prosecution. There are two levels of penalty notice - £50 (if paid within 28 days) and £100 (if paid later than 28 days but within 42 days).
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