Parents put holidays before school
THOUSANDS of days are being lost at school by families taking term-time holidays, according to figures obtained by The Star.
The number rose by a third in the 2009-10 academic year, compared with the same period the year before.
The figure for 2008-09 was 46,019 days lost by pupils taking holidays during term time - but last year that rose to 59,005 days.
Of those, 6,956 days had not been agreed with the school in 2008-09 - which had risen to 11,331 for 2009-10.
Bosses at the council said the 2008-09 figures did not include Trinity Academy in Thorne or the Autumn figures for Outwood Academy at Adwick and de Warenne Academy in Conisbrough, but the new figures included all the schools.
But Coun Tony Sockett, who has been a governor at Trinity, said few pupils took holidays during term at the school because of its stance against the practice.
Coun Sockett, a former teacher and ex-cabinet member for education and vice chairman of the all party Schools, Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel, was concerned about the rise but said he understood why families take holidays during term time.
He said: "I would be concerned that the figures are going up given all the attention that has been address to reducing it school governors and the education authority, and towards challenging it if it is authorised or unauthorised.
"The other issue is that in the national tables, statistics relating to schools taking into account the absence rate, and high absence rates are seen as reflecting badly on the schools.
"I certainly would not be encouraging children to be taken out of school during term time. Taking them out especially near exam time can be detrimental to their futures."
Coun Sockett added he understood why families would take children out of school for holidays because holiday companies raise the prices for those times of year and some parents' jobs limited when they were able to take holidays.
During his time as the borough's cabinet member for education, he had attended conferences which proposed changing the school year to four terms with shorter holidays in between, and working with holiday companies to try to stabilise the prices across the year.
He did not think including the Trinity figures would make much difference as the school was keenly against people taking term time holidays.
Director of the Children and Young People's Service Chris Pratt said: "When children are not at school they are missing out on critical learning experiences and benefits. There is clear evidence that those children who have poor or irregular school attendance tend not to get the best education outcomes.
"We are keen, therefore, to stress the responsibility parents and guardians have to ensure their children do not take unnecessary time off school and we work closely with our schools and families to encourage this."
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