Truanting for a holiday
3:54pm Thursday 13th September 2007
Parents in Oxfordshire are being urged to stop taking their children on holiday during term time after figures revealed too many school days are missed for cheap deals.
More than 40,000 half-days were lost in Oxfordshire secondary schools and almost 18,000 in primary schools because of unauthorised absences during the spring term this year.
Holidays, truancy and lateness were the three most popular reasons cited for these missed classes. Education chiefs are now warning parents that taking their children out of lessons for holidays could harm their development more than they realise.
Kate Curtis, headteacher at Wheatley Park School, in Holton, near Wheatley, said: "I think headteachers in Oxfordshire feel very strongly that parents should not take their children out of school for holidays during term time.
"We, in common with other schools in the county, now have a rigorous application procedure for parents wishing to take their children on holiday during term time.
"I would expect to see most schools tightening up and increasing pressure on parents not to take their children out of school. Sometimes they underestimate the impact this has on their children's education."
Mrs Curtis said parents with children at Wheatley Park are only able to request up to two weeks off for pupils each year.
She said: "Parents have all sorts of reasons for requesting this time off but it is usually because holiday prices are so much cheaper in term time. We think pressure should be put on holiday companies to make it easier to afford trips abroad during the school holidays."
Parent Louise McNamara, of Greater Leys, who has two children at Peers School in Littlemore, and another at Windale Primary School, agreed.
She said: "You get more choice and they are far cheaper outside the school holidays, so it isn't hard to see why parents do it. But more should be done to prevent holiday companies hiking up prices."