Ofsted chief insists: ‘Parents should face bigger fines for term-time holidays’

At the moment, parents face a £60 fine if they take their children out of school during term-time for a holiday.

However Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw has called for larger fines.

Speaking with The Sunday Times, he said: “I would like to see the fines raised.

"We have too many parents taking their children out in term time.”

Sir Michael added firmly: “I think schools should adopt a hard line and not allow the youngsters out."

The Ofsted chief did not, however, stop there.

He insisted that parents should also face court action if they refuse to pay the fines, insisting: “If parents are behaving irresponsibly then the state is right to say, ‘This is wrong and you are being a bad parent’.”

Justine Roberts, Mumsnet founder and CEO, disagreed with Sir Michael’s comments, telling the Huffington Post: “The new rules mean that even very short trips with genuine educational value, or for really important family events, are being refused - or the parents fined.

"It might be nice to return to a time when headteachers had more discretion, but of course this would mean parents would need to act responsibly too and only seek permission for really crucial events."

Whilst on the subject of schooling and good parenting, Sir Michael also urged the parents of disadvantaged two-year-olds to send them to nursery school.

Explaining that half of the parents entitled to 15 hours of free childcare a week were not taking up the offer, he said that those in need should make the most of those free early years places.

“It’s the poorer children who stand to benefit the most from this type of environment at the earliest age,” he said. “But this quite clearly is not happening.

“More schools need to take two-year-olds and more of the two-year-olds they take need to be from the poorest families.”

Do you think parents should be fined for taking their children out of school for a holiday?