By . Sean Poulter . Stringent: The tough line on punishing parents who take their children out of school during term time has been championed by Michael Gove . Parents are being turned into cheats, liars and criminals because they are taking children out of school during term time to try to cut the cost of a family holiday. More than one in three are risking fines and prosecution because they will not or cannot afford to pay the inflated holiday prices that kick in the day that the schools break-up. At the same time, some one in five of these parents are telling lies and trying to hide what they are doing by putting their child’s absence down to an invented illness. The vast majority of people breaking the rules -72 per cent – say the sole reason is because of the high cost of holidays during the official school summer break. The figures come from research by the Nationwide building society, which also found the current system means a family can expect to pay an extra £1,347 for a foreign break in Spain. This compares to the current penalty of £60 for an unauthorised absence which can be increased to £2,500 if the case ends up in the courts. The tough line on punishing parents who take children out of school has been championed by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, who said they could not afford to miss lessons if they were to achieve the results expected. He has turned the screw on parents and schools by ending a policy that allowed schools to grant up to 10 days holiday a year to families in ‘special circumstances’. The policy has caused enormous anger among parents, while a London banker has recently lodged a legal test case to challenge the law. James Haymore was summonsed to court after he refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his children to America for six days at the start of the spring term for a memorial service for their great-grandfather. Mr Haymore, who works for JP Morgan, will argue that the decision to prosecute him for taking his three children out of school is a breach of the Human Rights Act. A spokesman for the Nationwide said: ‘Given the fact that the premium for a typical holiday in Spain for a family of four could be as much as £1,347 more during school holidays compared with term-time, it’s no wonder that parents are still tempted to face the ire of their children’s head teacher, plus the threat of a fine, in order to save some significant cash.’ It looked at the cost of a holiday for a family of four with two children aged seven and nine for the first week in July, which is in term time, versus the first week in August. The cost of the same one week holiday in Spain rose from £1,508 to £2,855, which is an increase of £1,347. The price of a holiday at CenterParc in Wiltshire rose by £860 to £2,448, while the figure for Disneyland Paris went up by £369 to £2,827. Price hike: A survey by Nationwide found that a holiday to Disneyland Paris for a family of four, with two children aged seven and nine, went from £369 in July to £2,827 in August . The research suggests that parents try to take children out of school at a time when it least affects their education. Some 57 per cent took them out at the end of term, compared with 18 per cent who chose the start of term and 17 per cent who went for a mid-term break. The vast majority of parents – 72per cent – said the sole reason for doing so was because of the cost. Some 62per cent of the children taken out of lessons were at primary school, compared to 32per cent at secondary school. Nationwide’s Director of Banking, Graham Pilkington, said: ‘People are used to tightening their belts now, so even though the economic recovery is well underway, families baulk at paying a premium for vacationing during school holidays. 'However, schools and local authorities are getting tougher on parents who take their children away during school time, with the threats of fines and even prosecution.’
One in five are telling lies by saying their child's absence is due to illness .
More than 70% say holidays cost too much during the summer break .
Tough line on punishing parents has been brought in by Michael Gove .
Current penalty for parent if their child's absence is not authorised is £70 .
However this can be increased to £2,500 if the case reaches the courts .
By . Sean Poulter . Stringent: The tough line on punishing parents who take their children out of school during term time has been championed by Michael Gove . Parents are being turned into cheats, liars and criminals because they are taking children out of school during term time to try to cut the cost of a family holiday. More than one in three are risking fines and prosecution because they will not or cannot afford to pay the inflated holiday prices that kick in the day that the schools break-up. At the same time, some one in five of these parents are telling lies and trying to hide what they are doing by putting their child’s absence down to an invented illness. The vast majority of people breaking the rules -72 per cent – say the sole reason is because of the high cost of holidays during the official school summer break. The figures come from research by the Nationwide building society, which also found the current system means a family can expect to pay an extra £1,347 for a foreign break in Spain. This compares to the current penalty of £60 for an unauthorised absence which can be increased to £2,500 if the case ends up in the courts. The tough line on punishing parents who take children out of school has been championed by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, who said they could not afford to miss lessons if they were to achieve the results expected. He has turned the screw on parents and schools by ending a policy that allowed schools to grant up to 10 days holiday a year to families in ‘special circumstances’. The policy has caused enormous anger among parents, while a London banker has recently lodged a legal test case to challenge the law. James Haymore was summonsed to court after he refused to pay a £120 fine for taking his children to America for six days at the start of the spring term for a memorial service for their great-grandfather. Mr Haymore, who works for JP Morgan, will argue that the decision to prosecute him for taking his three children out of school is a breach of the Human Rights Act. A spokesman for the Nationwide said: ‘Given the fact that the premium for a typical holiday in Spain for a family of four could be as much as £1,347 more during school holidays compared with term-time, it’s no wonder that parents are still tempted to face the ire of their children’s head teacher, plus the threat of a fine, in order to save some significant cash.’ It looked at the cost of a holiday for a family of four with two children aged seven and nine for the first week in July, which is in term time, versus the first week in August. The cost of the same one week holiday in Spain rose from £1,508 to £2,855, which is an increase of £1,347. The price of a holiday at CenterParc in Wiltshire rose by £860 to £2,448, while the figure for Disneyland Paris went up by £369 to £2,827. Price hike: A survey by Nationwide found that a holiday to Disneyland Paris for a family of four, with two children aged seven and nine, went from £369 in July to £2,827 in August . The research suggests that parents try to take children out of school at a time when it least affects their education. Some 57 per cent took them out at the end of term, compared with 18 per cent who chose the start of term and 17 per cent who went for a mid-term break. The vast majority of parents – 72per cent – said the sole reason for doing so was because of the cost. Some 62per cent of the children taken out of lessons were at primary school, compared to 32per cent at secondary school. Nationwide’s Director of Banking, Graham Pilkington, said: ‘People are used to tightening their belts now, so even though the economic recovery is well underway, families baulk at paying a premium for vacationing during school holidays. 'However, schools and local authorities are getting tougher on parents who take their children away during school time, with the threats of fines and even prosecution.’
telling lies and trying to hide what they are doing by putting their child’s absence down to an reason is because of the high cost of holidays during the official school summer break. The unauthorised absence which can be increased to £2,500 if the case ends up in the courts. The tough line on punishing parents who take children out of school has been championed by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, who said they