Schools Out!!

As an Expert in Family law, I come across many issues facing families, one such issue hit the headlines again, this time with a parent challenging his right to take his child out of school during term time for a holiday. Schools take the view that any disruption to the child’s education will have a detrimental effect and should be discouraged.

The High Court considered the matter and decided that as long as the child’s attendance in school was reasonable then there should be no problem with the school giving consent for a short holiday in term time. This has caused controversy as what is “reasonable”. I suspect there will be an urgent draft in legislation to ensure that particular loophole is closed.

Logically though, if we are talking about primary school children can a few days away really have such a detrimental effect? Will they really be so far behind they cannot catch up?  If this is the case surely we are doing our young children a disservice putting so much pressure on them with a demanding curriculum. Primary school children need a basic breadth of education and time to grow and develop their experiences. They can do this, in my view, to greater effect experiencing travel rather than preparing to sit exams….leave that until they are older!