A dad who took his daughter on holiday during school term time has lost his Supreme Court battle.
Jon Platt was originally fined £60 by his local education authority (the Isle of Wight Council) last year but disputed it and refused to pay the fine, which then rose to £120.
Now, he must pay a fine of £1,200.
Headteachers used to be able to allow parents to take children out of school during term time under 'special circumstances' for up to 10 days but regulations introduced in 2013 changed that.
As it stands, head teachers can only grant leave during term time in "exceptional circumstances" – and the rules make no mention of this including family holidays.
Unsurprisingly, parents have complained about the rulings which effectively force families to pay over the odds for holidays due to the high expense of flights and other travel costs during school summer holidays.
Local authorities have also fined parents for 'unauthorised absences' as a result of the ruling.
The BBC reports:
A Press Association survey found there were almost 20,000 prosecutions in 2015, up more than 20% on the previous year, leading to more than 11,000 fines and in eight cases, jail sentences.
Mr Platt's legal team were arguing that it's unacceptable to interpret the rules in such a way that so many parents are prosecuted for taking their children on holiday during a more affordable season.
The Supreme Court ruling has serious implications for family holidays and term-time travel – especially for anyone who's already got a term-time holiday in the pipeline.
We'd love to hear your views on this story. Have you been fined for taking a child on holiday during term-time? Do you agree with Mr Platt's lawyers that the current ruling is too stringent, or do you share the Supreme Court's view that a child's education shouldn't be disrupted for a holiday?
Leave us a comment below or come and join the conversation over on our Facebook page.
where has it even been said he has to pay a fine of £1200 or face prison. Utter rubbish! Complete lack of facts posted
Parents should be aloud to take their children out of school during term time for a holiday. The rise in cost for a holiday in the school holidays is ridiculous making it unaffordable for many parents to ever take a holiday which is unfair. Give the children some home work that will take up no more then an hour or 2 each day or some reading so when they come back to school they are not completely behind. When I was a child and was taken out of school for a holiday, even in gcse time, it was easy enough to catch up by sacrificing a couple of lunches and a little extra homework. It should go back to this.
complete and utter incorrect post. At no point has he been fined £1200! Lack of facts
completely disagree with taking a child out of school for a holiday for a couple of weeks, however something needs to be done about holiday prices!
I've taken mine out for a few days but it's always been approved. I think it's depends on the circumstances. A day or two before the end of term can mean a saving of thousands on a holiday and, let's face it, how much work is done at that time? If the child is up to grade at school then I don't see that a day or two is going to hurt their overall education. However, if a child is underperforming at school then it should be rejected. Also they would need to take overall attendance into account. Also frustrating that my two children have slightly different term dates.
My children have always been allowed a few days. I think it's down to the individual case and overall attendance. If you child is up to the grade then yes, they should be allowed providing it's not at a critical time (like SATS) but if your child is underperforming then no, it should be rejected. I don't see that taking a few days at the end of term is harmful to overall education and can save literally thousands from a holiday. Taking a whole week or two mid-term is a different story though. I think they should maybe bring a 5 day rule in like they used to have, but not 10 days.
Absolute rubbish another money making scheme.if they have 2 weeks sick leave.is that authorised absence??? If a child has a good attendance record then why can't they have a holiday in term time??? If holidays were more affirdable during high season then no one would need to take there children out of school. It is alright for those where money is no problem
As a former Primary school teacher I can vouch for the fact that having to spend time bringing a child up to speed with what has been covered in class while they were away impacts on the time you have with other pupils, so I can understand the stance that in an ideal world children should not be taken out of school in term time if at all possible. BUT, there are only so many school holidays and some companies - especially small ones - cannot run effectively if all their staff take holidays at the same time! There need to be far better guidelines for Head Teachers as what they can allow (unauthorised absences cause problems with Ofsted). What is authorised in one school may not be in another - it seems to vary far too much. A parent's wedding for example, a seriously ill grand-parent or sibling. And one week in several years of good attendance should be allowed as family time is such a valuable time. I taught children whose holidays consisted of playing in the yard where their parents were working, who had never been to the seaside. A short trip away when the prices were lower would have been invaluable"
My children have a 100% attendance at school , I look forward to the day my children get their high payed job from the state for all their attendance and family time lost , Which is owed to them . The only thing Jon Platt did was to have quality family time . He got the wrong judge on the day who had it in his mind from the start , I assume he sends his own children to boarding school so has no idea of family time .He is to involved with his high payed job .As a child my hard working parents took me and my siblings on a week uk family holiday when my parents could afford it in school time ,I can honestly say it wouldn't have changed my life if I'd been at school them few weeks missed , but I do have the memories of having fun precious time with my parents and siblings . in my mind if a child has under 90% attendance it shouldn't be authorized and sometimes a fine needs to be given , if a child's misses a lot of school because it is the parents responsibility to make sure they go to school .