Mum taken to court over son's 'term-time holiday' (From The Northern Echo)

Mum taken to court over son's 'term-time holiday'

6:02am Friday 16th February 2007

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A MOTHER-of-two has become the first parent in the region to be taken to court, accused of taking her child on holiday during school time.

Durham County Council is warning that more parents will follow Mandy Hopwood into court as part of a clampdown on unauthorised term-time holidays.

The 32-year-old care worker, who appeared before magistrates yesterday, is charged with failing to ensure the regular attendance of six-year-old Brad at his primary school between September 2005 and last May.

Mrs Hopwood told The Northern Echo she did not take him on unauthorised holidays between those dates.

But she admits taking Brad and his 13-year-old brother to Disneyland Paris for a week during term time in September last year.

She insists that Brad, who attends Timothy Hackworth Primary School, in Shildon, County Durham, has a good attendance record.

"It's ridiculous. I could understand if Brad had been off for months but he's only been off for a few days and always because he was ill," she said.

"We had one week at Disneyland Paris in September 2006 and that's the only week he's had off - five days.

"I asked the school for permission to take him to Disneyland and they said no, but it was booked and it cost us £1,800. I know that week was in school time but it was the only week I could get off."

This is the first time a parent has been prosecuted as a direct result of a term-time holiday in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

It follows a test case in south London last year when the High Court overturned a decision to acquit a mother who took her three daughters out of school for two holidays.

Yesterday, Maureen Clare, head of access and inclusion at Durham County Council, said: "Children have just one opportunity to get the best out of their education so it is vitally important they attend school regularly and don't miss large parts of the term because they are on holiday.

"We have issued a number of fixed penalty notices where parents are deciding to ignore the decisions of schools, and while we would prefer to work with families to resolve the matter, we will not hesitate to take court action."

North Yorkshire County Council has not issued any such prosecution but does not rule it out while a spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council said: "There can be a variety of issues affecting the young people involved and so each case is looked at individually and prosecution would only be considered as a last resort."

Mrs Hopwood, of Dalton Crescent, Shildon, said: "I've never been warned about Brad's attendance, or fined. The first thing I heard about this was two weeks ago when I got a letter saying I should be at court."

Mrs Hopwood, who is married to Malcolm, 43, faces one charge of failing to ensure Brad attended school.

No plea was entered when she appeared before Bishop Auckland magistrates and the case was adjourned until March 1.

Every year, about 7,500 parents nationally whose children are absent from school without permission are prosecuted.

Research shows that children who miss school through illness or holidays may never catch up with coursework.

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