The great school holidays scandal – Dad’s Diary by Simon Carter

It’s a ruling which thankfully my parents never had to consider. In 2013 the government gave local councils the power to fine parents for taking children out of school without permission.
They may look happy but they probably paid an absolute fortune to go on that beach vacation during the school holidaysThey may look happy but they probably paid an absolute fortune to go on that beach vacation during the school holidays
They may look happy but they probably paid an absolute fortune to go on that beach vacation during the school holidays

Overnight, mums and dads could be hit in the pocket for taking little Johnny and Sarah on a week’s holiday when they should be enduring, sorry learning, double maths.

As a result, councils are now handing out more fines every year – a new record 260,877 penalty notices issued during the 2017/18 school year for unauthorised absences.

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The fines aren’t cheap either –it’s £60 per child taken out of school without permission.

This rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days, and after 28 days parents can be prosecuted. And in 2017/18 there were a startling 19,518 prosecutions in England – up from 13,324 the year before.

The figure in Wales was a lot less – 19,518 less to be exact. Because Wales doesn’t have a ridiculous rule like we do in this country. Welsh schools can grant pupils up to 10 days absence for a family holiday during term time.

Why can’t we be sensible too?

At times it seems like parents are being forever hit in the pocket. It’s expensive enough bringing up kids as it is, without needless fines.

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Of course, there is a reason why parents take their kids on holidays in school time – it’s far cheaper than during the ‘proper’ holiday periods when family-friendly destinations scandalously jack up their prices.

Here’s an example. I’ve just looked online and the cheapest three-night break, starting on Friday, May 10, for two adults and two kids (5-16) at Longleat Centre Parcs is £579. For Friday, April 12 – during the forthcoming Easter hols – the cheapest price is £949. For Friday, August 9 – during the summer hols – it’s £779.

Center Parcs, it must be said, are by no means the only company to hit parents in the pocket this way.

Anyway, did you know that any parents taking their kids out of school for a ‘cheap holiday’ are performing a ‘remarkably selfish action’? No, really, we are.

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So says Chris McGovern, chairman for the Campaign for Real Education. He’s a former headteacher so could probably afford to take his kids away during school holidays. Lots of mums and dads don’t earn a headteacher’s salary, though.

McGovern has also said term-time holidays were mostly ‘for the benefit of the parents, rather than the children’.

Possibly, possibly not. But the government are targeting the wrong people in allowing councils to fine parents.

They should instead be looking at companies like Center Parcs, and others like them, and asking how they can justify their disgusting pricing policy.

Sympathy in short supply

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A horse stepped on my toes on Sunday. Not a small Shetland-type pony, but a large one.

I was helping Ellen groom AB prior to her riding session when the incident occurred. Do you know how painful it is when a large horse stands on your toes?

Very.

As I hopped around like the Easter Bunny overdosing on energy drinks, I quickly realised I was getting no sympathy from Ellen. After all, I once spent a few hours with her in A&E after a horse stood on her tootsies and ripped the nail off her big toe.

‘Dad, it can’t be that bad – you do remember a horse once stood on my mobile and it didn’t break.’

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True, but Ellen has the most indestructible smartphone ever invented. It’s been dropped down the toilet, dropped into the bath and trodden on by a horse..

Ellen also once left it overnight in a horse’s stable, and was slightly surprised when she returned the following day to find it still working.

Me less so. ‘Ells, the horse wouldn’t have gone anywhere near it – every 10 seconds the phone lights up with your latest Instagram, Snapchat or nonsense text message coming through.’

As always, social media provided me with the sympathy my daughter failed to show.

First Facebook message: ‘Is the horse okay?’

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