More South Yorkshire parents 'to take kids out of school for holidays'
A Sheffield travel counsellor says a high court ruling will mean more parents taking their kids on holiday during term-time
It's claimed more South Yorkshire parents are going to take their kids out of school to go on holiday, after a high court ruling on the issue.
A week ago today a court ruled in favour of Jon Platt who took his daughter to Florida during school time and refused to pay a fine.
There are now claims it'll lead to more parents booking holidays with their kids during term-time.
Sheffield travel counsellor Maxine Staniland told Hallam she thinks more parents in South Yorkshire will:
"I do think there will be an element of parents deciding to take children out of term time to go on holiday because there is no consequence or if there is a consequence they can just ignore it because of what's just been won in the courts."
Currently parents can be fined ÂŁ60 per child for unauthorised absence - which rises to ÂŁ120 if it's not paid within 21 days.
But Maxine says it's not enforced consistently:
"When I took my son out of school for 2 days I didn't hear a word from anybody yet there are people out there that are getting fines. I think parents are taking the chance - they may get charged, they may not. But I think this recent ruling will make more parents take the chance."
"The parents that are normally very strict and say no time out of school - they might decide 'one or two days is not going to hurt and if I'm not going to be fined then I'll take that chance'. They may be a bit more flexible where they can afford one or two days out of school definitely."
Maxine says one of the main reasons many parents decide to take their kids out of school during term-time is to save money.
"Sometimes the cost of holidays out of school holiday time can be ÂŁ500 or ÂŁ600 difference for a family of four - even more in some cases. My experience of talking to parents who are taking children out of school time it's for that reason - cost"
The Department for Education are warning that school attendance is 'non-negotiable'
They're trying to get the law changed so it's tighter on parents taking their kids out of school.