It is generally not allowed to take a child on holiday during term time in the UK and can result in a fine of up to 160 – but there may be exceptions
Parents could be fined signifiacntly during the winter(Image: Getty Images)
If you’re planning a winter getaway to escape the UK’s chilly temperatures, be warned – you could face a £160 fine if you pick the wrong time. In the UK, taking children out of school for a holiday during term time is generally not permitted and can result in a penalty.
This follows last year’s confirmation from the Department for Education that UK schools must consider issuing a fine if a child misses 10 or more sessions without authorisation. Remember, 10 sessions equate to five school days, as each day is split into two sessions – morning and afternoon.
When a fine is handed out, parents are only required to pay £80 if they settle it within 21 days of receipt. However, if payment is made within 28 days, the fine doubles to £160.
If a parent has previously been fined for the same child within a three-year period, the higher rate of £160 is automatically applied. Moreover, parents could find themselves in deeper hot water if they exceed the limit of two fines within any three-year period. This could lead to a parenting order or even prosecution.
If you end up in court due to your child’s absence, you could be hit with a fine of up to £2,500 or even face up to three months behind bars. Government guidance reveals that approximately 89% of unauthorised absence fines are due to children being taken on holiday during term time.
Reasons why your child can miss school and avoid a fine
According to the Department for Education, you can only allow your child not to be in school when it’s open for the following reasons:
Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance.
You are a gypsy/traveller family with no fixed abode, and you are required to travel for work that day meaning your child cannot attend their usual school.
Your child is too ill to attend that day.
You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances.
Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.
Further guidance on school attendance and ascences during term time can be found here.
Ros Wynne-Jones visits a French retreat once revered by royalty and now loved by Hollywood legends. In 1660, King Louis XIV and his mum Anne of Austria made a pilgrimage to the Notre Dame de Grâces church here, to thank the Virgin Mary for Louis’ miraculous birth
Ros Wynne-Jones writes the Real Britain column every Friday in the Daily Mirror campaigning against government cuts and standing up for ordinary people.
Ros Wynne Jones visited Cotignac
Every place has a story, but Cotignac, a village hidden deep in the Provencal countryside in the South of France, is a place with more stories than most. From kings battling infertility to religious apparitions and Hollywood stars, from French crooners to Pink Floyd, this softly painted village at the foot of a huge limestone cliff, has seen it all.
In 1660, King Louis XIV and his mum Anne of Austria made a pilgrimage to the Notre Dame de Grâces church here, to thank the Virgin Mary for Louis’ miraculous birth. As the only place in the world where all three members of the Holy Family have appeared in visions, Cotignac is a major site for Catholic pilgrimage – with around 150,000 pilgrims a year.
But for decades, the village has also been a magnet for Hollywood royalty and musical legends. George and Amal Clooney, live close by – near enough for George to have a preferred baker in the village from which he collects his breakfast bread and croissants, according to one resident.
And another villager, Brad Pitt, is allegedly in dispute with ex-wife Angelina Jolie over their neighbouring vineyard.
Joe Dassin, one of the most famous French singer-songwriters, recorded nearby at Studio Miraval – before building his house in the village a few years later and dying at 41 of a heart attack. Which is where our hotel, Lou Calen, enters the story. When Chateau Miraval opened a studio that rose to fame after recording Pink Floyd’s The Wall, a nearby 16-room hotel-restaurant found itself ideally located to wine, dine and accommodate recording artists from all over the world.
Opening it in 1971, Huguette Caren named the hotel, Lou Calen – meaning the Oil Lamp – and her cooking and hospitality soon attracted names from Dassin to Brigitte Bardot, Pink Floyd, The Cure and even Yvonne De Gaulle, wife of Charles.
In 2001, the hotel closed, abandoned with its ghosts for two decades, until a Canadian entrepreneur decided to resurrect it. Graham Porter had spent summers in Cotignac as a student living with a Danish family who spent their holidays here.
He bought a home in the village in the early 2000s, but time spent there during the Covid pandemic convinced him to buy the hotel – and share his passion for pastis and petanque with guests from all over the world.
Porter saw the opportunity to rebuild not just a hotel but a luxe fairytale – a place of quiet eco-luxury where the routes between rooms are overrun with wildflowers, and no view or bedroom is the same. The sound of petanque boules echoes across the hillside, and guests are greeted with a cloudy glass of pastis on arrival.
This may be a wellness destination for well-heeled travellers, but it is far from pious – the hotel even has its own microbrewery with a wide range of beers from cold IPAs to dark porters named after La Tuf – the high cliffs that surround the village.
At the heart of it all remains food as good as that which once attracted the famous recording artists.
Hidden in the olive and lavender-scented grounds is the Secret Garden, an extraordinary restaurant by forward-looking chef Benoit Witz – one of the first in the world to have earned a coveted Green Michelin Star. The Michelin Guide notes the dishes created by Witz – who once trained with top chef Alain Ducasse – are “100 per cent authentic”.
In Witz’s kitchen, not one single stalk or flower is wasted, and seasonal ingredients are king. This, after all, is Provence Vert – Green Provence. The rosé wine comes from the neat rows of vines on the neighbouring hillsides, from vineyards with names like Carpe Diem, and the grapes of Miraval now harvested in the disputed Pitt-Jolie vineyard. Only seconds away, the House of Mirabeau offers wine and gin tasting.
Cheeses come from a tiny footprint of local farms and vegetables from the hotel’s own market garden where edible flowers and goats somehow co-exist.
All can be explored on foot or via electric bikes available at Lou Calen.
Places with so much history need a historian, and ours comes in the form of an American guide John Peck, who leads us up the hot, winding routes into La Tuf to tell us the stories of the place.
The cliff is inset with a giant wooden olive press once used by the entire village to make oil, and inlaid with paths that lead past former troglodyte dwellings, where villagers once hid from the invading Saracens.
We see where local craftsman Jean de la Baume once saw a vision of the Virgin Mary and where Saint Joseph is said to have appeared to Gaspard Ricard, a thirsty shepherd tending his sheep on Mount Bessillon.
At the village’s ancient, magical spring, pointed out to Gaspard by Saint Joseph, John shakes out his “pocket museum” onto a stone wall. It is an extraordinary collection of findings that tell Cotignac’s history better than any guidebook.
There is a Napolean-era greatcoat button, flattened and heavily worn Roman coins, a gladiator’s strigil – or arm-scraper that once removed oil, and even a coin bearing a swastika – a reminder that during World War II Lou Calen was an orphanage for children who had lost their parents in the Nazi occupation.
As we walk past the well-stocked modern art gallery, Centre d’Art la Falaise, a Frenchman from central casting or perhaps the Napoleonic-era, cycles past in a beret.
The next day we tour the wild-flower filled gardens with a local herbalist, Vera Schutz, who tells us the names of the different plants and their ancient uses.
We get a tour of the Jardin Secret kitchen gardens in the quiet of Sunday morning, and even meet Monsieur Witz, who is teaching his friend’s children how to shell broad beans. In our room, a portrait of singer Joe Dassin looks down on us from between windows that perfectly frame views of the village, terracotta roofs dotted between the green.
A line from one of his songs – “elle m’a dit d’allez siffler la haut sur la colline” or “she told me to go whistle up there on the hill” – is inscribed on the wall. There are no screens or televisions at Lou Calen, so we play Dassin’s love songs, “Les Champs-Elysees” and “Et Si Tu N’Existais Pas”, through the wireless speaker.
France’s Mediterranean beaches are just an hour away, but who needs them? Instead of TVs and iPads, guests are instead encouraged to mingle on long tables, play petanque, enjoy the local jazz “manouche”, swim in the bright blue of either the family or adult swimming pools, or to rest and recuperate at a peaceful spa in the round turret of the old pigeon loft.
The food is just as good at the bistro where smiling staff battle smoking barbeques in the afternoon heat to deliver tasty seared swordfish and grilled lamb.
All that is missing is Hugette Caren herself, the founder and spirit who once drew the recording artists from the surrounding countryside with her cooking, the way the magical spring drew visitors to Cotignac. She still lives in the village and is known to visit the bars and restaurants. When you visit you might see her there, like an apparition – pastis in hand.
In 2025 Lou Calen, the oil lamp that Hugette lit back in 1971, is still shining brightly.
GET THERE
Fly from airports across the UK to Nice or Marseille; rail to Aix-en-Provence or Avignon.
BOOK IT
Rooms at the Lou Calen hotel in Cotignac, Provence, South of France, start at around £175 a night.
Senegal is a vibrant West African country that’s just a six-hour plane trip from the UK – and it boasts some pretty incredible beaches as well as 32C heat in November
A six hour flight from the UK to the pristine beaches and waters of Senegal(Image: Leamus via Getty Images)
Just a six-hour flight from the UK, the lively African nation of Senegal boasts pristine golden beaches that stretch along most of its coastline.
This haven for beach lovers offers endless expanses, with each beach offering something unique for every type of traveller. Whether you’re looking to unwind and relax, get involved in watersports or dive into the party scene, there’s a beach in Senegal just for you.
The West African country has become a hotspot for the international surf scene. Home to a world-renowned wave, it’s not uncommon to spot pro surfers on Senegal’s shores. But don’t worry if you’re new to the sport – there are plenty of calmer beaches with surf schools catering to all abilities.
In the heart of Dakar, Senegal’s vibrant capital, keen surfers often flock to the bustling Virage beach. After a day riding the waves, visitors can kick back and enjoy the stunning views at one of the many beach bars or restaurants lining the coast, reports the Express.
But it’s not just about the beaches – this diverse country is also home to an array of incredible wildlife. Birdwatchers will be in their element, with the chance to spot some of Africa’s rarest species.
And with a range of habitats to explore – from mangroves and freshwater pools to savannah lands and forests – nature lovers won’t be short of places to explore.
Senegal, known for its stunning beaches, is also a hub for trendsetting art, culture and fashion. It hosts the renowned Dak’Art exhibition every two years, attracting art enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate African artwork.
While many African countries boast of their cuisine, Senegal’s rich culinary dishes are a standout. The national dish, Thieboudienne (pronounced ceebu jen), is a tantalising rice and fish meal. It features stewed broken jasmine rice and vegetables paired with marinated fish, which can be any type available.
For those with a penchant for trying new foods, this dish can be perfectly complemented with Bissap, Senegal’s national drink. This highly nutritious tea is made from hibiscus flowers, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with mint.
However, first-time travellers to Senegal are warned by the UK Government about potential dangers, such as pickpocketing, particularly in Dakar.
Holidaymakers are advised against walking alone in the evening and after dark, especially women. They’re also cautioned not to wear conspicuous jewellery and to keep handbags or satchels on the side furthest from the street.
The Government further advises travellers to pre-arrange taxis to avoid bogus drivers and ensure they show ID. For those who fancy a self-drive holiday, UK driving licences are valid for up to six months in Senegal. However, due to the stark difference in driving standards, Brits are advised against driving after dark if possible.
Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We’d love to hear from you!
