by Joe Jeffrey
Claims made by Mother Ivey’s Holiday Park that thousands of youngsters are being denied important quality time with their parents owing to threat of imprisonment
A holiday park in Cornwall has claimed that a government crackdown on school term-time absences is preventing many children from enjoying family holidays.
Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park near Padstow says its booking figures show that around 200 fewer children between the ages of five and12 took term-time holidays in 2014, compared with 2013.
Mother Ivey’s director, Patrick Langmaid, said the figures clearly indicate that the threat of fines – and even imprisonment – was scaring parents into not chancing a term-time holiday.
“This devastating drop suggests that many thousands of youngsters throughout Britain are being denied important quality time with their parents,” said Patrick.
“For many grown-ups, traditional family holidays form some of their most cherished memories, but the government’s tougher line on absences has put paid to that for these children,” he added.
Patrick went on to say the suggestion that holiday providers, such as caravan parks, should even-out their prices throughout the year was illogical and economically impractical.
Term-times, Patrick pointed out, were never as busy as the school holidays, and this meant that providers would be unable to generate the annual income they need to stay in business.
In addition to the 200 drop in 5-12 year old children staying this year, he said that there were also falls in the volume of other age-ranges, both younger and older.
Even though children up to age five weren’t affected by the new fines regime, he said, many might have been unable to take a holiday because they had an older brother or sister at school.
Patrick, who runs Mother Ivey’s Bay, which provides 230 caravan holiday homes, plus 120 pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, with his wife Margaret, added: “Cornwall is a magical place to stay, especially for children – and many parents tell me they think the government is being unduly harsh with its new approach.
“To my mind, holidays for youngsters are not a luxury but an essential, and missing such experiences takes something very important from their lives.”
What do you think? Is the government being “unduly harsh” or should holidaying be secondary to providing children with the education they need? Have you taken your kids out of school during term time only to face any repercussions?
