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Daily Record
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Sonia Sharma & Nicola Croal & Laura Sharman

Mum hits back after she is fined for taking daughter out of school to go on holiday

A mother who was fined for taking her kid on holiday during schoo l term says her child learned more being away than she would have in class. The woman was issued a £60 penalty fine for disrupting her daughter's school lessons but she claims even with the fee included, her trip was nowhere near the amount it costs to jet off abroad during the holidays, the Mirror reports.

The pair travelled to Spain where she said the youngster was exposed to new languages and cultural experiences allowing her to discovered new things that further enhanced her education of the world, something she wouldn't have been able to do from her classroom. "She learnt so much about Spanish culture, learnt some Spanish and tried lots of new foods," the mum wrote on social media.

"Secondly the £60 fine didn't come close to the savings I made. I wouldn't have been able to go if not during term time." She further explained she felt how her family needed a break after the disruption of the pandemic.

While agreeing that school was important she added that there were other things in the world that children need to learn and experience. Her comments sparked an online debate, with other parents sharing their views on the topic.

One dad said he was fined £120 for taking his two sons out of school for a week in June. "Saved nearly a thousand pound on the price of the holiday it would have cost me if I took them during the summer holidays," he said.

"Will carry on doing so as it's still much cheaper, even with the fine." A mum told how she was being taken to court after taking her child out of school and refusing to pay the fine.

Children raising hands in classroom (Getty Images)

She claims she tried to get permission from the school to go away but that staff failed to reply. Many parents have been fined for taking their children on holiday during term time and admitted they would do it again because it still works out cheaper overall.

Education officials in Hull, for example, were shocked at the number of fines being handed out to parents and have vowed to look at a city-wide strategy to address the issue. Meanwhile parents writing on social media claim they have saved thousands of pounds on holidays, despite being fined as much as £120 for taking children out of school.

Some blamed travel companies for putting up prices during popular times of the year, which encouraged parents to take holidays when they were cheaper. The debate followed the publication of figures from Hull City Council, which showed 34 parents were prosecuted and 937 received fixed penalty notices in 2021 to 2022.

Some 610 of the parents had children in primary while the remaining 327 had children in secondary school. A total of £33,660 in fines were netted during the same period.

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