Term-time holidays to cost pupils their place

Jul 20 2007 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

CHILDREN who miss the start of the new school term because their parents have opted to take them on holiday instead won’t have a class place to come back to.

Liverpool City Council has agreed with schools to test a tough new regime on pupils due to start either primary or secondary school.

Those who miss the first fortnight will be told that their place has been handed to others.

Education experts say the first fortnight in September, along with the summer term, are the times of year when parents are most likely to allow their children to skip school for a holiday.

The cheaper holidays during term time are very attractive to parents who believe their children will not miss much at the start of the school year.

Earlier this year, the city council handed out the power to exclude pupils who miss 20 days a year

without good reason but that date has now been slashed in half for new-starters.

Up to 20% of lost school days are due to holidays taken by children in term-time, the council said in February.

But exact details of the plan come as the travel operators revealed the Government’s “Every Lesson Counts” programme to reduce holiday prices during school breaks had failed.

Even travel agents at the companies said to be working with Liverpool City Council to reduce holiday prices seemed unaware of extra discounts.

Heads have also been told they have the power to decide whether to remove a child from the school register if they feel parents have ignored instructions over in-term holidays. Alternatively, they can hand out £100 fines.

Some 1,700 were handed out across Merseyside by education officers prior to headteachers getting the power too.

Cllr Paul Clein, Liverpool city council’s executive member for education, said: “We hope that this power will be used sparingly, because we hope parents will have more sense than to take their children on holiday in term time.

“To think that the first couple of weeks of school don’t matter is nonsense because it is essential that young people have the chance to settle into something new.

“Not only does it damage the education of the child being taken on holiday, but it can disrupt the rest of a class.

“We have signed off an agreement with local schools, but I think its use will depend on whether schools have a waiting list to replace the absent child with.

“Some schools, mainly the over-subscribed ones, will find it a more useful tool than other schools, but it is important headteachers have all the power available at their disposal to tackle truancy.

“Parents need exceptional circumstances to justify taking a child on holiday in term time, and parents should understand that if one child is granted permission to go on holiday, that doesn’t mean a precedent has been set.”

The sweetener for parents to adhere to the new rules had been promises from the Government that travel operators would offer discounts in the summer holidays which had traditionally only been available in term time.

But when Daily Post reporters looked at websites run by operators including Thomas Cook and Airtours, many holidays in the last fortnight of August were up to £400 more expensive than if booked two weeks later.

The “Every Lesson Counts” initiative was supposed to include access to cheaper summer holidays.

But a spokesman for Abta, which represents the travel industry, said: “’It’s a classic situation of supply and demand.

“It was never going to be the case that people could get May or September prices unless they actually travelled in May or September.”

Liverpool City Council said in February discounts of up to 10% were available at several city travel agents but most of those discounts were dwarfed by even bigger savings in term-time, the Daily Post found.

Liverpool’s tough stance is not being followed by its nearest neighbours, with both Sefton and Wirral saying they had no plans for such a policy.

davidhiggerson@dailypost.co.uk