'71% of teachers' oppose fines for term-time holiday

Almost three quarters of teachers do not think parents should be fined for taking their children out of school during term time for a family holiday, an exclusive Daybreak poll can reveal.

Read: Council-by-council: Parents find for term time travel

Read: Over 166,000 back school holiday price petition

The OnePoll survey found 71% of teachers disagreed with parent being forced to fork out £60 per child for an unauthorised absence.

A further 66% of teachers told the survey they did not think taking primary school children out of the classroom for a family holiday had a detrimental effect on their learning.

The poll comes as MPs debated measures for lowering the extra cost of a family getaway and the education secretary called for the suspension of air duty during school holidays.

Watch: Gove attacks travel firms for trying to 'fleece parents'

A seven-year-old girl with a brain tumour has had her request to go on holiday during term-time refused by her school, a senior Labour MP has claimed.

Natascha Engel said the girl's father, who is separated from the girl's mother and lives 120 miles away, put in a request to the school but it was turned down because of new Government policy in what she described as a "distressing, individual case".

Ms Engel said: "The school has cited government legislation to say there will be no unauthorised absences.

"It sounds quite threatening, but the school has no option, this is what the rules are."

Under recent amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 Act, which came into force on 1st September 2013, headteachers may not grant any leave of absence for holidays during the term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Families could see a drop in the price of holidays as schools are given more control on setting half-term dates, the consumer affairs minister says.

Jenny Willott insisted the coalition has no plans to regulate as it is not convinced higher prices during school holidays are caused by "market abuse" by the holiday industry, but instead reflect the demand in an international competitive sector.

Read more: MPs to debate price of holidays during school break

But Ms Willott said proposals to enable schools greater choice on when to set holidays by next year could result in different break times for pupils across the country, which would extend the peak holiday period and could help bring prices down.

Read more: Council-by-council: Parents fined for term-time travel

We asked you if the decision of when to holiday should be left to parents, or if councils are right to enforce the rules after it was revealed that thousands of fines have been issued to parents who have taken their children on unauthorised holidays.

Read more: Council-by-council: Parents fined for term-time travel

• Lynne Hallworth: I'm British but now live in Canada. We can take our kids on vacation at any time. The teachers consider travel an education, new countries, new languages and cultures. Now my kids are older, they decided they don't want to miss school - they have made that choice, not a government.

• Clair Hanson: People seem to forget that a holiday is a luxury item, not a necessity and that travel companies are business, not charities. If they can charge more during school holidays and still sell all the places then why shouldn't they?

• Jason Marshall: When I was at school, never a week went by without someone being on holiday, it was the norm in the seventies and eighties.
• Kaz Langley: Can parents fine teachers and NUT for teacher training days in term time?

Join the conversation on the ITV News Facebook page.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has condemned holiday firms for trying to "fleece parents" by ramping up travel prices when schools are out.

His comments come as a poll for ITV News found a third of adults said they have gone on a family holiday during term time, when costs are significantly lower.

Mr Gove, though, said parents "should not take children out of school during the school term".

Instead, he said varying term dates across schools would help families benefit from off-peak travel prices.

Read: How many families have been fined for term-time travel in your area?

More than two thirds of Britons have condemned the cost of travel during school breaks, an exclusive poll for ITV News has found.

The ComRes survey found only 13% of adults agreed that current travel prices during school holidays were "fair" - compared to 71% who disagreed with the statement.

However, the 2,052 Britons questioned were divided over whether parents should be able to take their children out of school at any time they like.

Half of Britons (49%) believed that was a step too far while just over a third (35%) thought parents should be free to travel with their children whenever they wanted.

Read: Father's Facebook rant sparks debate on holiday prices

A third of parents say they have taken their children out of school during term time for a family holiday, an exclusive poll for ITV News has found.

Half of parents of children under the age of 18 (51%) and 42% of the public in general also confirmed they would do the same to benefit from cheaper travel prices.

The ComRes poll of 2,052 adults was conducted as MPs prepare to debate whether holiday companies should do more to keep the price of family getaways down when school is out.

The poll found more than half of British adults (54%) disagreed that a £120 fine for taking a child out of school was reasonable, compared to 30% who agreed with the council-imposed penalty.

Read: How many families have been fined for term-time travel in your area?

More than 166,000 people have backed the petition to stop travel companies raising their prices during school holidays which has triggered today's MPs debate.

The online campaign received a huge boost in support after a Facebook post by an angry parent complaining about being "ripped off" by steep rise in holiday prices outside term time went viral.

Paul Cookson, 41, said he was "sick to death" of the practice after being quoted £999 for a holiday that would have cost £699 during the school year.

Read: Paul Cookson's rant on holiday prices helps trigger debate

Stewart Sutherland says people need to take children on holiday in term-time to save money and also because of the difficulty of taking leave during school holidays.

He says life is short and will be difficult for young people so they should have as much family time as they can.