School offers pupils an extra week off for ‘enrichment’

‘Parents will be able to treat their children to worthwhile but affordable experiences under the new initiative’

A HEAD teacher has introduced an “enrichment” week, allowing parents to take children on term-time holidays.

Simon Cox of Woodlands School in Basildon, Essex, said that under the new initiative, parents of pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 will be able to treat their children to “worthwhile” but “affordable” experiences.

The move comes amid a rise in the number of pupils being taken out of school to go on holiday during term time – despite incurring a fine.

In a letter to parents, Mr Cox said that July 15-19 next year will be set aside as an “enrichment” week so that parents can take their children on a moral, social or cultural trip – as long as they demonstrate they have learned something from the experience.

He told the BBC: “If a family went to Greece, we’d need to see that they have mastered some basic communication, for geography we’d need to see key information around GDP and population, for history, the type of place and how the past has impacted, English would be about literature and maths will centre around currency.”

He added: “We get an awful lot of holiday requests – well over 150 a year. Our authorised holiday is already at 1 per cent and we’ve got 2.9 per cent unauthorised absence. We’re the second highest finer in Essex for unauthorised absence.”

Pupils must have a minimum attendance rate of 92 per cent to take part in the special scheme, unless they have evidence to prove they were away from school for medical reasons.

Statistics from the Department for Education show that 8.9 million days in unauthorised absence were recorded during the autumn and spring terms of the last academic year, up from 7.4 million the previous year.

Campaigners have warned that many parents are prepared to pay the £60 fine when they are planning a holiday during term time, since they are saving far more than this by travelling outside the peak season.

The Isle of Wight fought a prolonged legal battle against Jon Platt, a local businessman who took his daughter on a trip to Disney World Florida without her school’s permission. Magistrates eventually fined him £2,000 for failing to pay a £60 truanting fine following a ruling by the Supreme Court.