PARENTS in Middlesbrough are being offered discount holidays on all breaks taken out of term time in an initiative to improve school attendance rates.

The scheme to provide cheaper breaks for families in school holidays has been launched by Hays Travel in Middlesbrough after its huge success in other North East areas.

Middlesbrough Council has joined forces with Hays Travel to offer families a 10 per cent discount off their holiday as an incentive not to take children out during term time when holiday prices are often cheaper.

The discount will be offered to more than 23,000 pupils in 55 Middlesbrough schools, with an average saving of £182 per family. Leaflets are to be distributed in Middlesbrough schools this week.

Hays Travel first launched this kind of school holiday discount scheme with Sunderland council in 2004 where, to date, 457 families have taken up the offer and saved a total of £77,464. Since that project started there has been a 13.8 per cent reduction in the number of missed school days due to holidays in Sunderland.

After the initial success of the Sunderland partnership, Hays extended the discount scheme into other areas of the North East and has pledged to keep it going until at least August, 2009.

John Hays, managing director and founder of Hays Travel, said: “The success of the scheme speaks for itself.

“Fewer children in the North East are being taken out of school for holidays as a result of the discount on offer, which is great news.”

The Government is sending out a strong message to all parents and carers that taking their children out of school during term time to go on holiday should be avoided in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

As a consequence Local Authorities are being required to investigate further the reasons why pupils are absent from school and in certain circumstances legal action will be taken against parents or carers if absences are without a valid reason and or not authorised by the school.

In Middlesbrough during the last school year 87 Fixed Penalty fines were issued and 48 parents/carers were summoned to Teesside Magistrates’ Court in connection with their failure to ensure the regular attendance of their children at school.

These court actions resulted in a number of heavy fines being imposed, in some cases which were over £500, with one parent spending 28 days in prison and another receive a suspended sentence.

So far this school year 43 Fixed Penalty fines have been issued and 12 parents/carers have been or will be in the courts in the near future.

Lesley Smith, Middlesbrough’s Principal Education Welfare Officer, said: “The courts are taking a hard line with parents who are not making sure that their children are in school regularly - recently some parents were fined a total of £890.”

John O’Boyle, Middlesbrough Council’s Behaviour and Attendance Adviser, said: “There is sometimes a misunderstanding that parents are allowed to take their children out of school for up to ten days a year for holidays – this is only true if special circumstances have occurred which mean that the family cannot take a vacation outside of school term time.

“The fact that holidays are often cheaper when children should be in school is not a valid justification for absence.”

Councillor Mike Carr, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive Member for Children, Families and Learning, said: “Every day at school counts and lessons missed are lessons lost.

“When school time is missed for whatever reason, a young person is then disadvantaged as they have to try to catch-up and this could seriously affect their life chances in the future.

“We are very grateful to Hays travel for supporting us through this scheme and hope that the generous discount will mean that more families are able afford to book a holiday at a time when it won’t damage their children’s education.”