Mother-of-two, 51, is furious to be fined £120 because she took her twin children, 15, out of secondary school so they could go to Glastonbury
- Rachel Bailey took twins Blade and Trinity Flint to Glastonbury during term time
- School fined her £60 for each child’s absence, marking it as ‘unauthorised’
- Mother-of-two, 51, says she wanted to take them to festival after cancer scare
A mother is furious after she was fined for taking her children out of school to go to the Glastonbury Festival.
Rachel Bailey took twins Blade and Trinity Flint for a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience to the event.
The 51-year-old has now hit out at her local council after she was fined £120 for removing them from class.
She was fined £60 for each child’s absence – and this will rise to £240 per child if it is not paid within 60 days.
Ms Bailey (left, with her partner) is furious after she was fined for taking her children to Glastonbury (right, one of her twins at a concert)
Ms Bailey says she wanted to take them after she was operated on last year because she showed symptoms of bowel cancer – a disease which killed four in her family.
‘I got fined for taking my kids to Glastonbury,’ she said. ‘It is something I have always wanted to do, and it was something so special to do as family, after what we have been through.
‘I want to make experiences for them while I can, and Glastonbury is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
‘I am sure my children learned more at Glastonbury than they would have done in the classroom.
‘The things that you do when you are there – to go camping, to recycle, to use the long drops, to watch all of that amazing music – you can’t teach that.’
The mother-of-two said her children’s school, Priory, which is in Dorking, Surrey, told her the policy was children cannot go on holiday in term time. Their absence was recorded as ‘unauthorised’.
She added: ‘We sort of expected it would happen [the fine], but I know some other people who have said that some schools have been OK with children going to Glastonbury.
‘My children had just done their mock exams – I didn’t want them to miss anything important, which they didn’t.
Ms Bailey (pictured) is outraged that she was fined for trying to share a meaningful experience with her children
‘The fine is £60 per child and if I don’t pay in 60 days, it goes up to £240 per child and if I still don’t pay, I have to go to court. I’d like to fight my corner, but the only people that would suffer would be my kids.
‘Last year I had a cancer scare. I had some symptoms, went to the GP and they suspected I had bowel cancer.
‘I have had four family members die from bowel cancer, so we were all very worried at the time.
‘I ended up having to have surgery, and luckily at the moment I have been given the all-clear, but I have to go back for a check-up every six months.’
Glastonbury was the family’s one big holiday this year as they are not going abroad.
She said: ‘It was the first time going to Glastonbury for all of us and we absolutely loved it, the whole thing was amazing.
‘My daughter especially is really big into her music and her diversity, she absolutely loved every minute of it. But both children are devastated that we got the fine.
‘They were asked at school about where they had been and of course they wouldn’t lie, I have always taught them not to lie.’
A Surrey County Council spokesman said: ‘Our main priority is that Surrey’s children get the education they deserve.
‘We follow government guidelines when it comes to issuing fines, and only prosecute if necessary in conjunction with the schools.’