Term-time holiday fines fail the parent test

From: N Bywater, Oak Grove, Morley, Leeds.

AT last, someone is challenging these stupid term-time holiday fines.

Members of Parents Want a Say are seeking a judicial review challenging a Department for Education decision to remove the discretion of headteachers to approve term time absences in “special circumstances”.

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These changes were not in any manifesto, and no parents, businesses or pupils were consulted. The Department for Education insists there is no outright ban and that a head still has discretion to grant leave of absence, but only in exceptional circumstances.

However, they refuse to define exceptional circumstances. A £120 fine per child per parent for quality time spent with their families is just another tax on the poor. There have been instances where children have not been granted time off for their parents’ wedding.

Michael Gove has been described as a “ideologically obsessed zealot”, and this policy is the result of this man’s blinkered views.

This new system is a political joke and should be treated as such. Everyone should refuse to pay these fixed penalty notices, I will be doing exactly that. Children with very good attendance should be granted some flexibility.

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