ATTENDANCE
who are otherwise sticklers for convention and wouldn’t infringe so much as the most minor of bylaws have started to keep their children off school en masse. And not for huge life events, either. Birthdays, sunny days, high days, Fridays and fun days are all, in some parents’ eyes, increasingly good reasons to give lessons a miss. School is seen less as the focal point of their children’s formative years and more an optional extra which has to prove its worth in a sea of rival attractions. Even some politicians are weighing in, telling parents that, just because they can snap up a bargain priced holiday in term time, doesn’t mean they should. During the pandemic, both children and parents got used to being at home. When lockdown ended, many families were in no hurry to abandon it. Adding “Law-abiding families have started to keep their kids off school en masse”
24 SPRING/SUMMER 2024
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