A mum has branded her council ‘despicable’ after she received a fine for taking her son out of school during term time – insisting the trip was ‘educational’ due to its location
A furious mum has branded her local council “despicable” after she was slapped with a fine for taking her son on holiday during term time.
Michelle Partington and her husband Andrew Partington, 51, chose to take their son Oliver Partington, 12, out of school for 10 days so they could travel to Egypt on June 1.
The couple plumped for term time dates as they “couldn’t afford” to take the £3,270 trip during the school holidays as it would have set them back an extra £2,000.
Explaining her choice, Michelle says she wanted to cheer her son Oliver up after he switched schools in April due to bullying, but was shocked when they rejected her request to take him out of school. Local councils can issue a fine of £80 per parent for a child’s unauthorised absence from school, including holidays during term time.
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She was left “devastated” when both her and her husband received an £80 fine from Wigan Council on July 2, despite insisting it was an “educational trip” due to Egypt’s rich history.
Michelle says the fine means she’s had to cancel other plans they had for the summer holidays to afford the combined fine of £160.
If parents fail to pay the fine within a 21-day timeframe, the amount doubles and if it remains unpaid they may face prosecution.
The mum-of-two slammed the decision on social media, saying: “This is just despicable behaviour. Something needs to be done and soon”.
While she believes “education is important”, she defends her decision and urges others to sign a petition to abolish these fines.
Wigan Council hit back by saying that “parents have a legal duty to ensure their child receives full-time education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”.
Michelle, a driving school company director who lives in Wigan, Greater Manchester, said: “It was really upsetting. I was shocked when I found out it wasn’t just £80, it was £160 even though we’re one family unit. I was absolutely devastated that we had to cancel the plans we had made.
“The holiday was worth it despite the fine. It was a once in a lifetime trip and it was magical. We certainly couldn’t afford to go to Egypt [during the school holidays], maybe Pontins or Haven or something. We work hard so getting to spend time together as a family was nice and we don’t get to do that very often.
“As much as education is really important, I think spending time with family and relaxing with family and enjoying family time on holiday is equally as important for a child’s mental health.”
While parents can request to take their child out of school during term time, this has to be for valid reasons or exceptional circumstances, with holidays not falling in this bracket.
“I did let the school know we’d be taking him out,” Michelle adds. “I told the school this would be considered an education trip because we were going to Egypt which is where lots of civilisation began and there’s lots of history there.
“We arranged it to make sure there were no exams taking place so we were sensible in that much. They said the authorisation was denied and we would be taking him out of school without their consent. They advised me that we may receive a fine.
“I was expecting to get a fine and I’d heard that it was £80. Myself and my husband received separate letters. I just thought they were doing their due diligence by sending it to them both but it was £160. You’d think there was a better way to deal with this.
“We had trips booked during the summer holidays but because of the additional expense of the fine those things have had to go to the wayside. Oliver wanted to go to Jurassic World in London but the funds aren’t there.”
While on the holiday, they went snorkelling, quad biking and had a meal in the desert.
The mum defends her decision and calls on the council to change their policy as well as the holiday companies to stop charging higher prices during school holidays.
Michelle said: “We had to swap his high school because he was bullied. He was still very upset about what had happened. This holiday was to cheer him up about that as well.
“I feel like the school and the council didn’t really take that into consideration. You’d have thought there’d be some sort of lenience there.
“Even if the council said yes ‘you have to send this fine’ does each parent have to pay it? They should give an option to pay it in instalments so it’s not as big of a hit.
“I can understand the school wanting to take a stance on children being present at school and I understand education is so important.
“What is unfair is the holiday companies charging through the nose so much more money when people need to go during the school holidays. It just makes it impossible for normal people to book nice holidays during the school holidays because it’s too expensive.”
A Wigan Council spokesperson said: “Parents have a legal duty to ensure their child receives full-time education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
“Headteachers may only grant a leave of absence during term time if they consider that there are exceptional circumstances, and the Department for Education’s statutory guidance, updated in August 2024, reinforces that a holiday is not considered exceptional.”
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