Catherine Scott: Term time holidays. Let's go back to the way it was

Now, it seems, the courts too believe that taking children out for the odd week does not mean they are not attending school regularly after a father from the Isle of White won his fight not to pay a fine for taking his daughter out of school.

Before the then Education Secretary Michael Gove decided to tighten the rules, it was the discretion of headteachers as to whether parents were allowed to take their child out of school for a maximum of ten days. And if our primary school was anything to go by it was by no means a given that the head would grant permission. It was a system that worked well. Children, most of whom had at least 90 per cent attendance at our school, benefitted and so did parents. No one took advantage of the system and the school was able to police it for themselves. Who knows better a child’s attendance than the headteacher? However, for some reason the Government decided that headteachers should nolonger be able to use their discretion and changed the rules. As a result tens of thousands of parents have been fined and criminalised for wanting to enhance their child’s education, Yes, education does go beyond the classroom. However, this has completely backfired. One father’s refusal to pay the £60 fine for taking his child out of school in term time resulted in the High Court ruling in his favour. Now the floodgates have opened and there is no one to blame but the Government. Travel companies have seen an 80 per cent increase in parents taking their children out of school in term time. Many are no longer even bothering to apply to the school for permission as they would rather take their chances. As a result there is now a free for all with many schools having no idea exactly how many pupils they will be teaching.

What an unnecessary mess. The Government is now supposedly planning to change the law to ensure children cannot be taken out of school in term time. Is that really what is needed? It seems a very draconian approach to something which at then end of the day is aimed at enhancing a child’s experience and family time. If travel firms stopped hiking prices during school holidays there would be no need to anyone to consider taking a child out of school. Let’s have some sense and go back to the way it was. Reinstate headteacher’s powers to decide and monitor their own schools and give parents some credit about what is best for their own children.