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Thread: The State owns your kids.

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  1. The State owns your kids. 
    #1
    Active Member Stuntsunlimited's Avatar
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    Parents who took their teenage son out of school without permission for a five-day holiday ended up with a £1,200 bill and a visit from the bailiffs.
    The couple were originally fined £120 over the 14-year-old’s unauthorised absence from Sweyne Park School, an academy in Rayleigh, Essex.
    Parents must be allowed to take children out of school for holidays, council leaders say
    Why term-time holiday fines are worth the risk for some. Term time holiday parents handed criminal record
    But after an unsuccessful appeal the unnamed couple were taken to court under the Education Act 1996, which allows education authorities to impose fines on parents who fail to send their children to school.
    They were convicted in their absence and ordered to pay fines of £200 per parent plus costs and a victim’s surcharge.
    The amount was left unpaid and court bailiffs arrived on the family’s doorstep threatening to remove items to settle the debt.
    They were even threatened with prison if they refused to co-operate.
    Essex County Council was accused of acting like the Stasi over the methods used to secure the sum, although a council spokesman said the decision to employ bailiffs was taken by the courts service.
    The boy's grandmother, from Benfleet, Essex, paid the bailiffs in full to avoid goods being confiscated.
    The grandmother, who asked not to be named, said: "My son rang me in a state of panic and I in turn rang the bailiff who informed me that if the eye-watering fine of £1,230 wasn't paid immediately they would force entry and remove goods to the value.
    "These goods would then be auctioned and all charges would be added to the bill, making an estimated total of £3,500, while inability to pay would have automatically incurred a three month custodial sentence for both parents.”
    She added: "He's a bright boy, my grandson, and he could easily hack five days off.
    “I know it was wrong to take him out of school, but I thought the punishment was completely out of proportion - I thought it was a bit Stasi and Big Brother."
    The couple took their son on holiday to Spain last year, pulling him out of the 1,300-pupil academy, which was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, in its most recent report in 2010.
    In November they were convicted of failing to ensure their child regularly attended school under the Education Act 1996.
    The family appealed unsuccessfully against the fine, and did not pay.
    On March 6 bailiffs arrived at their home in Hullbridge, Essex, they were visited by bailiffs demanding the full sum.
    The grandmother said the action to send in the bailiffs was "draconian".
    "My grandson had never been in an aeroplane and [his mother] wanted him to have the experience,” she said.
    "Part of the problem is the tourism industry, which deliberately hikes up prices during the summer holidays.
    "It's quite a sober warning to other parents."
    A spokesman for Essex County Council said: "Parents have a legal duty to ensure regular school attendance for their children who are registered at a school.
    "Where there is concern for a child's attendance, schools will work with the family to address the cause of the absence.
    "If this is not successful and the absences are not authorised by the school, the matter may be referred to the county council's Education Welfare Service (EWS) which will arrange a meeting between the school and family.
    "If the situation does not improve the EWS will escalate the matter as appropriate, which may include issuing a penalty notice, prosecution or education supervision order.
    "If a penalty notice is not paid within 28 days the EWS would proceed with prosecution.”
    He added that changes to the legislation in September 2013 made clear that headteachers should only permit term time absences in “exceptional circumstances”.

    A 'Victim surcharge' I fail to see whom the victim is... Kids should be left to grow up and have creativity, form intelligence. Apparently "daydreaming is a condition'... http://www.theguardian.com/society/s...der-rival-adhd you couldn't make this stuff up...
     
     

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    #2
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    They shouldn't have registered the birth of the child
     
     

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    #3
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    Rules is rules, they would have been very aware of the fine before they took him out of school. Don't agree with the rules/fines at all but they can't have been surprised by the consequences
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    Active Member Stuntsunlimited's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dabz View Post
    Rules is rules, they would have been very aware of the fine before they took him out of school. Don't agree with the rules/fines at all but they can't have been surprised by the consequences
    Come on Dabz, why should a school tell you when you can or can't take your kids on holiday. My parents took me off school for a week to go on holiday, was no issue back then, so why now? I tell my ten year old, be good at remembering and play the game... I ask her how 'kiddy prison' was when I see her... They're more like prisons.
     
     

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    #5
    The Boss Dabz's Avatar
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    I agree with you mate - as I said, I don't agree with the rules about this at all, I think it's ridiculous. The odd week or 2 here and there missing school but gaining life experience and memories isn't going to make a blind bit of difference to school grades.

    I was just saying the schools and councils make it very clear to parents what the fines are, so these people shouldn't have been surprised to be slammed with a fine.
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    #6
    Active Member Stuntsunlimited's Avatar
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    My bad, misunderstood what you'd said... Yeah they make it clear, but on what grounds? We're supposed to live in a free society where we have choices... The f**kin worlds mental. They can worry about kids going to school, but not our elderly growing cold and hungry.
     
     

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    So when the teachers go on strike and we lose a days pay to look after the child (who should have been at school!) can i fine them £120 and a days salary as well? I hate schools when it comes to this sort of thing. Yes its written down but surely common sense needs to be applied somewhere.
    Would be interesting to know what the background of the child was in the news story. Wonder if they were regularly off of school or if this was a one off?
     
     

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    I make no apologies for politicising what is in essence a political issue. The then Government Education Secretary Michael Gove amended the legislation in September 2013 which previously gave Heads discretionary powers to grant 10 days for family holidays in ‘special circumstances’. As Stunts points out, Gove removed the reference to the 10-day limit from the regulations which meant that Heads could only authorise absence in term time under ‘exceptional circumstances’ which didn’t include family holidays. LA's were duty bound to enforce the tightening of the legislation, although I think there has been a relaxation of enforcement in response to the 200,000 signature petition opposing the regulation.

    Not only are private schools exempt from this legislation, but as their terms tend to be shorter than state school terms, it means that parents of privately educated children can often book cheaper holidays before state schools break up in peak holiday season. I wonder how many children of our parliamentarians attend private school and whether the percentage is representative of the country as a whole?

    Like all sectors in our unregulated free market economy, holiday companies’ tariffs are priced at the maximum market forces will allow at any particular time of the season. We are all aware that demand is at its highest during the school summer break and that is when holidays are most expensive. Now you don’t need to be a socio political scholar to know which families will be hit the hardest by this ridiculous legislation.
    What does a millionaire government minister know about the struggle facing a working family at the bottom of the income scale trying to budget every week, let alone afford a holiday? Heads should be given discretionary powers because they are best placed to make these decisions on an individual basis and based on a sound judgement. They know the pupil’s attendance record, level of application and family background. Of course the state has a duty to ensure that parents fulfil their obligation to send their offspring to school, but IMO this is way OTT.
    Last edited by redken1; 13-04-15 at 07:50 PM.
     
     

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    #9
    The Boss Dabz's Avatar
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    Am I right in thinking that they were talking about passing rules to stop the holiday companies raising prices in school holidays, or did I imagine it? (Wishful thinking?)
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    No James you didn't imagine it. There was a petition and plenty of talk, but the bottom line is that a lowering of prices would only happen if the holiday industry agreed to self regulate. I think we both know the answer to that one. Lol. To be fair some companies did lower prices during the school break to try and secure a bigger market share.
    Last edited by redken1; 13-04-15 at 08:56 PM.
     
     

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