Don’t let school get in the way of a good education

The decision by the courts this week to fine a couple for taking a term-time holiday reeks of petty bureaucracy gone mad.

It’s usually around this time of year, when everything around us is wet and gloomy, that we start planning our next summer holiday.

After months of being frozen to the marrow that break in the sun is the perfect remedy for thawing the bones and warming the soul. It’s also the only time many families get to spend some real quality time together.

However not everyone can take summer holidays. Whether due to affordability, being unable to take that time of year off or a host of other reasons, they have to plan their family vacation outside of the norm. And it’s here the problems start, as Stewart and Natasha Sutherland from Shropshire have just found out to their considerable cost.

Unable to go on a “summer” holiday because of work commitments, Stewart and Natasha decided to take their family away last September during term time and as a result found themselves facing a possible jail sentence after initially refusing to pay a £360 fine.

The magistrates didn’t throw them in the slammer but whacked them with a £1000 fine and warned them a holiday behind bars would be the next option.

Stewart said after the ruling: “The people who make these rules don’t live in the real world.” I couldn’t agree more.

However “people” would not be something I would describe them as. Totalitarian robots controlled by nanny state eejits would be a far more apt description.

The council defended its action by stating that, following changes in legislation, absences during term time can only be authourised by heads in exceptional circumstances. But surely not being able to take a summer holiday because you can’t get time off work is an exceptional circumstance.

If the law is an ass then this case has had a whole herd stampede through it.

If you subscribe, as I do, to the notion that you shouldn’t let school get in the way of a good education then this decision by the courts reeks of petty bureaucracy gone mad. I regard schooling as important for a child’s development, but not as important as seeing a bit of the world with your mum and dad.

What really rankles here is that if teachers strike or close the gates because of slightly dodgy weather they don’t get taken to court for non-attendance and the disruption caused. If the government ever does bring in some sort of MOT for them then we all know they won’t get failed for lack of breaks . . .

In Scotland taking your kids off for a family holiday during term time requires the blessing of the school. The education authorities could throw the book at you, but in the main common sense seems to have prevailed.

However, I wouldn’t bet against a similar stunt being pulled as a test case in the future.

Dispensation is given to a child’s absence if they are a traveller, if they are attending a wedding or religious ceremony or seeing a doctor. It is also given to members of the armed forces and emergency services but not the ordinary hard working family.

Well that’s wrong! Given that holidays during term times are a lot cheaper and some workers are not allowed to take time off during summer, dispensation should be granted. Maybe parents should be allowed to pick 10 days when they can take hols and the school should be open during the summer or at night for children to catch up. Aye right.

While I’m on the subject, after buying a timeshare in October to coincide with my children’s school holidays the authorities decided to change that week in my area.

Do you think I’ll get special dispensation?