School holiday fines: Sheffield parents share mixed views on taking children out of class during term time
The Sheffield Star’s readers have shared their thoughts on taking children on holiday during term time
It’s almost impossible to win as a parent when it comes to taking a family holiday.
If you go abroad during the six-week summer holidays, you’ll pay much higher prices for your hotel and flights or alternative forms of travel and accommodation.
If you opt to take the risk and go during term time, you face the risk of paying a hefty fine from the school and potentially even a day in court.
And that’s without even factoring in the ethical considerations of taking a child out of school, given the pressure on youngsters to succeed in their exams and the importance of qualifications when it comes to employment in an increasingly challenging job market.
Statistics show a record 459,288 school holiday fines were issued in England last year, with 7,359 fines being directed at parents from Sheffield, according to new figures from the Department for Education (DfE).
With all that in mind, we decided to ask Star readers for their opinion on this issue - and whether parents should be allowed to take their children out of school during the holidays.
Dave Allen started the conversation. He commented: “I take my kids out regardless of fines. The fine is still cheaper than the inflated holiday prices.”
A view shared by Paul Harrison, who said: “Damn right.”
Samantha Motion added: “I am a teacher and still think you should be able to take them out. Family memories, experiences worth more.”
Dave Smith said: “A fine I would gladly take a fine to save thousands on a holiday.”
Keith Jones believed taking his kids on holiday during school time didn’t have a negative impact on their education. He explained: “We always took our kids out of school for our holidays. Not having a chuffing school tell us how we can run our family life. Both kids are adults now and have good jobs by the way so no harm done.”
Kylie Jay-Holt emphasised the importance of holidays. She added: “Education doesn’t only happen in school. Traveling, seeing other cultures, foods, language, currency the list is endless, all this is as important.”
Denise Booth explained that cost is not the only factor worth considering: “It's not always about the cost. Parents have to compete with others for holiday weeks in the workplace and not everyone succeeds in getting school holidays.”
Gail Harrison added: “Yes. If holiday companies didn't treble their prices during school holidays there would be no reason for people to take their children on holiday during school hours.”
Ella Vale disagreed. She said: “No. They get 13 weeks a year of holidays. Use the school holidays.”
Kevin Michael Bennet added: “Simple answer is when the kid returns to school they are a week behind and studies prove kids behind struggle to catch up.”
Kelly Cosgroove agreed adding: “No they shouldn’t be allowed to take them out. Having free education is a blessing. However, holiday companies shouldn’t be allowed to raise their prices in the school holidays.
Gerald Kelly said: “No it gets in the way of teaching. Because you have to go over what the children have missed. My children have not had a holiday during school time. We always holiday in this country at Easter or during the 6 week holiday. It's been this way for 16 years and will continue for another 8 years . So I do practice what I preach.”
Claire Creaghan argues that holidays should be dependent on the child’s attendance across the year. She said: “If your child has excellent attendance then it should be allowed.”
Craig Hanson agreed. He added: “Yeah provided attendance has been above 90 per cent.”
Jayne Dyson said: “Yes, provided they are not missing SATS or GCSEs.”
Karen Wright argued that younger children should be able to go on holiday during term time, but not once they reach secondary school. She commented: “In primary yes. Secondary no.”
Elaine White added: “It depends. If it's an important year for a child, studying for exams then no.”
Philip Gascoyne shared a similar view. He said: “No problem with primary kids, but not when they are doing exam courses, missing lessons at that time is not good.”
Andrew Wake explained that both teachers and students should be allowed a week to use during term: “Yes! Every teacher should also be able to book one week off for a holiday in term time to get the luxury of a cheaper holiday.”