A mother has divided opinion with an anonymous confession about lying to take her children on holiday during term-time.
Taking to the online forum Mumsnet, the woman wrote: “So before anyone decides to go hard on me, I have never ever lied about kids sickness before.
“I don’t know why I did it this time, I guess money is tight.”
She goes on to say she took her school-age children away on holiday over three days of term time, calling into their schools to say they were unwell.
“We worked hard to be able to afford the holiday, but still could not afford the holiday in half term, so we decided to take kids out of school for three days. I reported my children to have sickness. And off we went,” she confesses.
However, the mother quickly became concerned that the school’s staff were on to her.
“Probably based on their hunch, school called me the next day. I did not answer, just sent them a message instead. But they replied they got an international ringing tone….ooops,” she told Mumsnet users.
She says she did not reply or pick up the call while on holiday, but arrived back to find a letter from the school suggesting that she lied and was on holiday during the supposed “sick days”.
The mother said she was ridden with guilt and asked if she should tell her children’s teachers the truth.
”I don’t know what to do, I hate lying and I regret not telling the truth, but has it gone too far now to just admit I lied?
“I can also expect the fine for my children, well tough I suppose. But I feel like a criminal, like I did something unspeakable. But I only allowed for my family to have a wonderful time together, we had such a great time, it is really priceless.”
She went on to justify the decision, saying: “My kids are both doing great academically and their [attendance] was above 95 per cent”, asking: “What is everyone’s take on it? Should I own up now?”
She also added in a follow-up comment that her children were in Reception and Year 6.
UK rules generally dictate that parents must apply to headteachers to take their children out of school in term time, with heads able to grant a few days of leave in exceptional circumstances. However, they must give a reason and the number of days granted is down to the head teacher.
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