Children absent from school

[hollins]

The school involved is Marple Hall and the head teacher - despite many of the ill-informed comments in the Manchester Evening News - happens to be female.

The Head has deemed it reasonable, in order to raise educational standards, to place a ban on parents taking their children out of school for holidays during term time. I'm inclined to agree with her, and I still have a child at her school.

The woman concerned took her son out of school for a wedding. This wedding apparently took 11 days(!). That's not a wedding - that is a holiday. (And times have obviously changed when you take your children on your honeymoon!)

The woman was originally fined 50 pounds. Given the likely cost of her nuptials in ... St Lucia ... I think she could well have afforded that. If it had been a one-day wedding in England (like normal folk) the school would not have minded.

Time to support those who are trying to raise educational standards. The only one who has suffered from embarrassment here is the child, not his mother.

[Water Rat]

Forgive me if this seems inappropriate but I cannot but feel a little sympathetic for the Marple lady who asked for time off school for her son to attend her wedding in the Carribean as reported in today's Telegraph.  Whilst I fully accept the need for attendance for educational purposes I can also understand the situation of the family.

Stockport has fined the lady as is customary - luckily based on the situation before the marriage as otherwise both partners would be fined the same amount.  This fine is now in dispute and obviously will rise.

I can remember only very few years ago approaching a secondary school to ask for the last week of term off to attend a family function outside of the UK - perhaps because of the timing I was luckier - I was advised that permission could not be granted but the Head Teacher hoped that we would have a great visit and that was the end of the matter.