I’m head of the PTA but took kids, 9 & 11, out of school for a trip to Disney Florida – I still saved £5k with the fines

FINES for parents taking their kids out of school will soon rise to £80 per child.

But mum Emily Cleary, 46, says:

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“A self-satisfied smirk crept across my face as I watched my kids dive into the pool while I soaked up the Florida sunshine.

I couldn’t help but imagine other mums frantically preparing packed lunches and navigating the school run as my family and I enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime.

A getaway that cost us £5,000 less — thanks to the simple fact we were taking it during term time, rather than during the official school break.

Spending our savings on a trip to Disney World in Orlando was not a decision I’d taken lightly, especially as it meant pulling my 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter out of school for a week.

I’m a very judgy person and looked down on people who take their children out of school during term time.

I thought it was pretty obnoxious to think the rules applied to everyone else but not them.

But now I am one of them and — after saving so much cash by doing so — I don’t regret it one bit.

There was a time when my kids could have had a limb hanging off and I’d still have sent them to school with nothing more than a dose of Calpol to get them through the day.

And I have always booked doctor, dentist and hospital appointments outside school hours.

As I’m chair of the PTA at my children’s school in Buckinghamshire, I’ve always felt I should set an example.

I’m the face of fundraising at the school and I worry ­people will think less of me, or believe that I feel I’m better than them, if I don’t do everything precisely by the book.

But things have changed.

Earlier this year, I started looking at package holidays to Florida.

My stomach sank as I realised splurging £10,000 on a family getaway wouldn’t touch the sides.

Our dream holiday was looking to be over before it had begun.

But then I started playing with dates and researching cheaper alternatives, such as a villa instead of a hotel, organising our own itinerary, shopping around for park tickets and hiring a car.

To my surprise, I soon realised that by booking flights just one day outside of the holidays, we would save up to £500 on the cost of travelling to the States.

By edging another day into term time, the drop was another £500.

I was open to taking the kids out of school a few days ahead of the Easter holidays as there never seems to be any learning done in the week before they break up anyway.

But then, out of curiosity, I checked the difference in flight prices if we went mid-holidays and returned to school a few days after the summer term had begun.

To my amazement, we would save a whopping £4,000.

It was a no-brainer for me and my husband Jamie, 47, who works in construction.

Our holiday of a lifetime was back on.

Not only were flights cheaper, our villa was £400 less per week and by timing our holiday to avoid the US spring break, parks and attractions were cheaper, too.

The reality is, holiday companies and airlines are holding parents to ransom.

They are forcing parents to break the rules by hiking up prices — and the deterrent of a fine doesn’t even make a dent in the potential savings enjoyed.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a moral dilemma I really struggled with.

Even after making the decision and booking the holiday, it took me two weeks to tell my own mother.

I’ve never been a rule breaker and of course it doesn’t sit right with me.

Our local council currently issues fines of £60 per child, per parent, for unauthorised school absences, if paid within 21 days.

This goes up to £120 if not paid within 21 days.

We haven’t been fined yet but I’m expecting it.

For the five days we took the kids out of school, it could be up to £480.

But as my children have 100 per cent attendance for the rest of the year, we will appeal.

But even with the charge, weigh up a £480 fine against a £5,000 saving.

It’s not rocket science.

I believe the pandemic shifted attitudes towards school attendance, when so many of us became homeschool teachers overnight.

And last year’s teachers’ strikes meant my kids were subjected to at least half a dozen last-minute no-school days.

Schools aren’t fined if children can’t go in, so why should parents be?

Also, a smallish fine is little deterrent when you compare the huge cost of going away during school holidays compared with the hugely discounted rates in term time.

Not only are holiday prices themselves significantly less, but queues are shorter, everywhere is less busy, and it is easier to take time out of work if you have colleagues who are also vying for time off during the holidays.

I also firmly believe that the opportunity my kids had to see the sights, enjoy attractions and explore a new country more than outweigh a day or two of sums.

Disney is a surprisingly educational place, Orlando is full of exotic wildlife and my children spent more hours swimming at water parks in two weeks than they would in six months at the local pool back home.

A holiday is an education in itself and while I’m not claiming Mickey Mouse offered algebra lessons, a week spent seeing, reading, watching and enjoying is worth so much more than a week in the classroom.

There’s also the love — we made memories that will last a lifetime.

I’ve never been one to break the rules but if breaking the rules means not breaking the bank, I’m all for it.

And I will do it again.

Other parents who I’ve talked to say they would do it too, and teachers say they understand.

I think it’s totally unfair that children are missing out on holidays because parents cannot afford to take them away in school holidays, nor stump up cash for fines.

We’re in a cost-of-living crisis but the holiday companies still make big bucks out of cash-strapped families who just want to spend time together and make memories.

The Government should be going after them, not parents.”