Scanning the letters my twin boys had brought home from their respective schools earlier this year, my eyes widened in shock.
One detailed a week-long ski trip to Italy, costing £1,600 – the other was for a Classics trip to Greece for a few days, costing £1,200.
Each of these trips represented the cost of a family holiday – there was no way I could afford one, let alone both.
At that moment, I decided that, rather than have one of the boys miss out, we would simply go to Italy to visit Pompeii for our family holiday instead. There was, however, a catch…
It was term time, and I’d probably be punished for it.
Both my children – age 14 – have autism and become distressed in overstimulating, noisy, environments.
They wouldn’t be able to cope with peak time busy airports, resorts, or attractions. It’s why I’d never taken them on a holiday outside of the UK until earlier this year.
Despite finding the school environment difficult, my sons have made great progress recently, and I felt confident that, if the right measures were in place, they could handle it.
Besides, their hard work on top of their neurodiversity had left them exhausted, and their mental health was weakening – so they needed and deserved a break.
It also transpired that taking them in term time was the only way I could afford it.
If we’d taken the holiday during the Easter holidays it would have been £200 more expensive, and during the summer it was around £700 more expensive – more than that, it would be so much busier, too.
I let my sons’ schools know well in advance that we’d be taking the boys on holiday, and, as I expected, the grammar school was supportive. While they said they couldn’t ‘set a precedent’ by authorising it, they wouldn’t take any punitive action.
The comprehensive school, however, sent a letter saying that holidays are never authorised in term time and, should I take my son out for a holiday, I might receive a fine.
But, since the trip was a mental health break due to my son’s disability, I emailed the school and asked them to record the absence as ‘sickness’. They didn’t respond, so I assumed they had.
Despite the fact that the airport was almost empty, the boys still found the experience of going through security and flying scary, holding onto my hand for the entire time. I was relieved we hadn’t attempted the trip during busier peak times.
They loved their holiday – one of them is studying Latin and found the trip to Pompeii fascinating. The other is teaching himself languages on Duolingo, and enjoyed practising ordering food for us in restaurants.
When we returned, they both went back to school happy – excited to tell their teachers and friends everything they’d learned and experienced. I asked myself why I hadn’t done it years earlier.
However, about two weeks later, I received a fine for £120 for an unauthorised absence from the local authority – £60 if paid within 21 days.
It’s long been known that school holiday fines are a postcode lottery. Statistics from the Department for Education show that more than half of all fines are issued by only 28 out of 152 local authorities.
But, my twins share a postcode. Their schools are within 10 minutes of each other and under the same local authority. So, why did one school recommend the local authority issue a fine and the other didn’t?
The only reason I can come up with is that their schools ‘serve’ different communities – and that poorer kids are being punished.
One of my sons attends a selective grammar school where few of the pupils are entitled to free school meals. His school was understanding of the unique circumstances.
However, my other son’s school – the one who recommended issuing a fine – is a comprehensive ‘academy’ school on a council estate where many pupils are entitled to free school meals. They were far less amenable.
In my experience of dealing with two schools that serve different demographics, poorer parents are assumed to be incapable of knowing what is best for their child – which is why they receive more fines for term time holidays.
Nationwide statistics show that councils in Essex, Bradford, Doncaster, Rochdale, and Wakefield (none of which are particularly affluent areas) generally issue the most penalty notices.
I personally don’t see how that’s fair. Fines for taking holidays during school terms are an assault on the poor.
It’s why I complained vociferously about the fine. The school initially responded to my complaint to say that this was school policy, and they’ve never authorised a term time holiday.
I asked the school to send my complaint to the board of governors, making my feelings that this was disability discrimination very clear, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take the school to a SEND tribunal. In the end the school agreed to ask the local authority to cancel the fine.
Except, the majority of parents are not as stubborn and outspoken as I am.
Yes, our children need education – but they also need holidays. They need balance.
And all parents should have the freedom to make such decisions, not just rich ones or those with additional needs.
Families of disabled children are also far more likely to be unable to afford a holiday outside of term time because they are disproportionately affected by poverty and by the increases in the cost of living.
Occasionally taking them out of school will not impair their education – in fact, research has shown it improves it. And I assure you, we parents do not take the decision lightly, either.
Like me, most will have endlessly weighed up the pros and cons to their individual child.
So though this fine has made me want to take them out of school for a holiday again – if only to defy an increasingly authoritarian government who thinks it knows better about parenting my children than I do – I won’t again for a while.
Still, it doesn’t change the fact that not allowing parents to make such minor decisions about two weeks of their children’s lives is controlling and dictatorial.
It’s about time fines for school absences were abolished altogether.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
Share your views in the comments below.
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