Take the kids out of school says family travel website

A campaign to persuade schools to allow children to take educational family holidays during term-time has been launched by a travel website.

Take The Family (www.takethefamily.co.uk) wants the government to make the current entitlement of up to 10 days leave during term-time a legal right.

At the moment the leave has to be approved by head teachers, who can block any requests for time off, leading to parents being fined up to £100 for taking term-time family holidays.

Take the Family says parents who can demonstrate that holidays have significant educations aspects should be allowed to take their children away during term time, when package prices are significantly lower.

It suggests parents should submit a form to the school showing how trips will tie in with the school curriculum to persuade their head teachers to grant time off.

According to the Department for Children, Schools and Families, almost 65,000 children a day missed school in the 2008/09 academic year and family holidays were the second most common reason for absence after illness.

A poll of almost 450 families by Take the Family found that 92% of parents support the idea of holidays with some kind of learning aspect.

The website's editor and mother of two Rhonda Carrier said: We believe that schools should actively encourage parents to take their kids to places they're studying as part of the National Curriculum.

""The support of so many teachers and parents for our campaign shows that there's a real need for the government to adopt a more holistic approach towards our children's education.""

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