UNTIL last September, head teachers in England could grant up to ten days leave a year for family holidays in “special circumstances”. Now they can only grant absence, outside school holidays, in “exceptional circumstances”.

Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), says current guidelines are causing confusion, so NAHT has drafted new guidelines that deem funerals, weddings and religious events as acceptable “exceptional circumstances” although being able to benefit from cheaper holidays are not.

Teaching unions in York want to go even further and are calling for fines for unauthorised absences to be scrapped altogether. We have some sympathy. These penalties can be unfair, especially to parents who cannot afford the price hikes that take place during school holidays.

There is a need for flexibility. Attendance at school is important, but so too is family time, so denying children access to the benefits of travel could be seen as a retrograde step. We’re hardly talking truancy here; surely there is room for common sense.