A BAN on parents taking their children out school during term time could be relaxed under new guidelines issued to head teachers.
The plans, drawn up by heads and backed by new Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, will allow children to attend special occasions such as family weddings, religious events and funerals, visit an ill relative as well as deal with personal loss or tragedy.
The previous guidelines drawn up by Michael Gove stopped schools from granting 10 days holiday per year in special circumstances.
This led to a string of incidents in which parents were fined £60 if they took their child out of classes for an unauthorised absence.
One of the most high profile cases was that of JP Morgan banker, James Haymore and his wife Dana, who took their 11-year-old son Toby out of Chancellor Park Primary School, Chelmsford,to attend a memorial service in California, when his attendance was already around 87 per cent.
The couple pleaded not guilty at a Colchester Magistrates Court hearing in July and were prepared to continue the legal fight until Essex County Council dropped the case in September.
A spokesman for the Department of Education, said: "The NAHT is clear that they firmly support the current policy and term-time holidays should only be granted in exceptional circumstance.
"There are no plans at all to change the policy and no u-turn. Headteachers have always been able to decide what exceptional circumstances are, but if they find that the NAHT's guidance assists them in making this judgement then we welcome that."
