I could see why mum Laura Melling described the decision to take her two daughters out of school for a holiday to Egypt as a ‘no-brainer’.
She and her husband, Paul – from Leyland in Lancashire – were fined £240 in total for their children’s absence from school, which was apparently a drop in the ocean compared to the £3,000 they said they saved by not jetting off during school holiday time.
But I still winced as I read the news, as – even though I’m opposed to taking kids out of school – I don’t think that fining parents is the solution.
Holidays during term time is something that you will never catch my family doing. We are militant about it.
You see, my husband is a teacher, and it is very much frowned upon for teachers to take a break during term time. Can you imagine the uproar from parents if a bunch of school staff just took leave wherever they wanted to?
So even before having our children, Ella and Leo – aged 11 and seven respectively – we’ve done it. With the kids, we’ve had some lovely holidays on Greek Islands – Kos, Corfu, Skiathos, Kefalonia and Crete – all on the cheaper side of a package holiday, but all in school holidays.
Of course, travelling during the school holidays is busy. The queues at the airport are longer, the flights are often fuller and resorts can feel a little overwhelming at times.
Then there’s the extra costs. According to a travel agent who spoke to the BBC, it can be as much as 40% higher to holiday out of term time. In fact, these extortionate costs are why we haven’t actually had holidays abroad for the last few years.
But I still think it is unfair that parents like Laura and Paul get to have a well-deserved break whenever they choose.
Sure, you might just say that I have a smidgen of jealousy because I can’t do the same.
But I’m thinking about the children.
The thing is, the argument really boils down to how being away from school may affect their learning.
Some kids will struggle to adapt back into their social circles after an extended period of time, others might get a fear of missing out, while some may genuinely fall behind their peers.
According to the latest Government data in England, the higher the percentage of absences, the lower the level of attainment. For example, students who did not achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared with 2.7% among those who achieved the higher standard.
Student absences affect teachers too, making it harder for them to ensure that those children catch up on what they have missed.
While most kids might be just fine, I still feel that it should be a fair and equal playing field for all who attend and work in a school setting. I’m not alone, either.
The Department For Education (DoE) feels that kids having high attendance is key to giving ‘every child the best start in life’. While former Schools Minister, Damian Hinds, said in February that persistent absence ‘denies [children] the future they could and should have’.
I don’t disagree that children can thrive and have more success in life if they spend as much time as possible at school. But whether a week’s holiday on the Costa del Sol will be detrimental to that, will largely depend on the child, and how many holidays overall are taken within the school term.
In a likely bid to help crack down on this – and to bring it in line with inflation – school absence fines are set to increase from £60 to £80 in September.
I believe that more needs to be done to make holidays affordable for everyone
Schools have a lot of pressure put on them from the DoE to ensure that all children attend lessons for as many days of the school year as possible, with many rewarding children at the end of the summer term for high attendance.
I’m glad that my children’s school is very good at sending out emails to remind us about absences. Not that this stops some parents, of course.
At the end of the day, I think it’s unjust that some parents are reaping the benefits of term-time vacation, while others – like myself – stick to the rules and suck it up.
To change this unfair system, I believe that more needs to be done to make holidays affordable for everyone. And instead of penalising parents by way of fines,airlines and travel agents should be given tighter thresholds to reduce costs during school holiday time.
If a holiday costs the same throughout the entirety of the summer season, more families would stick to term time.
This is something I feel that the Government should be looking into as a way of helping keep attendance scores high.
In the meantime, if you are looking for a last-minute teacher gift, perhaps some holiday vouchers would be a good idea.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.
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