Think twice about term-time holidays
The government is urging parents to avoid taking their children out of school during term time, following new research into the amount of school days lost to holidays over the last academic year.
Parents who are tempted to book term-time holidays risk their child’s performance at school and could face a fixed penalty by booking breaks, which have not been agreed by the relevant head teacher.
In Warwickshire 53,957 days were lost to holidays over the Autumn 2006 and Spring 2007 terms. New Government research shows that more than 5.4 million school days were lost nationally due to holidays during the same period.
In 2004 the government granted local authority officers, head teachers and the police powers to issue penalty notices for unauthorised absence. In some circumstances this can mean term-time holidays, which have not been approved by the school.
Although parents have the right to request up to 10 days off school, head teachers have received guidance from government that such holidays should be authorised in exceptional circumstances only. Availability of places, or cheaper prices will not be enough to justify authorisation of the holiday.
Viv Sales, Principal Education Social Worker for Warwickshire County Council, said: “Head teachers will always be prepared to talk to parents about any holiday plans, but regular absences of this sort can damage a pupil’s learning, disrupt school routines and other children in the class.
“Heads have to carefully consider the impact that a holiday can have on a child’s educational progress - research suggests that 17 missed days a year during secondary school can mean a drop of at least one GCSE grade at exam time.”