In 1990 when I first arrived in Mallorca, families used to visit the island every month. So you wouldn’t see a major difference whether the children were on holiday from school or not. This changed however in 2012 when the coalition government of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats brought in a law that only allowed children to go on holiday in the official school holidays.
The minister was Michael Gove (remember him?). He said at the time: “It is wrong for parents to take children out of school during term time to take advantage of cheaper holidays and there should be a call for action to stop holiday companies cashing in by ramping up prices during the school holidays.” He added that “the holiday industry should look at itself in the mirror and ask whether it is doing enough to help its customers”.
Well that didn’t work did it. Tour operators, airlines, hotels, in fact pretty much everybody involved in the tourist industry puts their prices up in school holidays. I know, as I book mine at Christmas both in the UK and abroad.
I mention this as the government have decided in their wisdom to raise the fine for parents removing their children from school for a holiday in term time. Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (five days) for unauthorised reasons.
From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days.
You have to get permission from the head teacher if you want to take your child out of school during term time. You can only do this if:
• you make an application to the head teacher in advance (as a parent the child normally lives with)
• there are exceptional circumstances
It’s up to the head teacher how many days your child can be away from school if leave is granted. Isn’t this all a bit draconian? What about asking governments to actually think outside the box and relaxing the rules on not allowing kids to travel during term times? Before 2013 this was the case and do we truly believe that kids suffered in their education?
This is not about encouraging truancy this would be an agreement between parents and teachers who, let’s face it, are the people who should decide, not a government minister. If the child has a good attendance record and is not behind in their work in my view they should be encouraged to go on holiday.
Seeing new countries, experiencing new cultures, hearing new languages and tasting different cuisines should be part of their education. And of course Mallorca would be the perfect destination.