Simple solution... take the kids out of school, send them to work and voila no fines and extra money to pay for the holiday.
Seriously though we haven't been through this yet as our little lass is only 10 months, but how do they prove it, does little Johnny have to provide a doctors certificate if he is off for a day or so?
I'm guessing it depends on the individual school policies. Lots of primary schools round us don't require a doctors note for any absence, if you tell them your child is ill then usually you're taken at your word.
Of course, if little johnny is 'off sick' for a couple of weeks and comes back in with a tan and a new found grasp of Spanish then there might be questions.
I never knew about this rule until the other day, when a friend of mine took her daughter out of school for a day as her little sister had died a year back and it's an upsetting day for her and she still got fined, even after explaining the situation. I think that is ridiculously harsh!
That doesn't sound right - the government advice is
"Any pupil who has an attendance of 85% or less with at least 15 % ( 4.5 days) unauthorised absence over a 6 week period or 10 consecutive sessions (5 days) unauthorised absence will meet the criteria for legal intervention which could be in the form of a Fixed Penalty Notice."
So you shouldn't be fined for up to 4.5 days as long as the child hasn't been away for further days in the same 6 week period.
And the £60 fine is per child per parent, so £120 in total. This is still the case even if you're separated as long as you have parental responsibility, so someone's ex can take a child out of school without the other parent's knowledge and they will still both be fined with no right of appeal.
