A couple from Stockton, on Teeside, have had to go to court for taking their daughter out of school for their five-day honeymoon trip.
Janine and Shane Scott took their seven-year-old daughter Elissa on a holiday to New York, but returned home to find that her school had given them a fixed penalty notice for the school days that Elissa had missed. They believed that the school would classify the trip as ‘exceptional circumstances’, however, the head teacher felt that their holiday did not meet that.
The couple have refused to pay the penalty out of principle, but now they have until 7th December to decide whether to pay £300 to the school and accept a caution, or to fight the case and risk criminal conviction if they lose.
Janine has said the £3,000 trip paid for by wedding guests was meaningful and educational, with trips to the 9/11 memorial, Broadway, the National History Museum and Wall Street. She added, “This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I fully support regular attendance but it was our honeymoon.”
The couple have both acknowledged that they should have notified the school of Elissa’s absence a lot sooner, however, Mrs Scott has said that "[She] still believes now in the five days [Elissa] was there she got a lot more education than she would [have] in the five days if she was at school."
