MUM FINED FOR KEEPING KIDS OUT OF SCHOOL

A MUM was fined £240 for keeping her son out of school for one day – after an Islamic State terror attack disrupted their holiday.

Debbie Proudler had been set to take her boys Lewis and Ellis to visit Sharm El Sheik, in Egypt, last December.

But after ISIS jihadis blew a Russian plane out of the sky – killing 224 people on board – flights to the resort were grounded.

The travel agency offered them an alternate resort with a catch – the boys would have to miss one extra day of school.

But while one of the boy’s schools accepted acts of terrorism as an extenuating circumstance the other did not – forcing the fuming mother to fork out £240 to Dudley Council.

Ms Proudler said: “When I went in to explain the situation to Ellis’ school, they just said: ‘Well we can’t authorise it’.”

An education officer eventually agreed to hold off on the fine – if she could talk Ellis’ school around.

But the school reportedly said it would not accept terrorism as an excuse – and over the time the mother had fought her case her fine had doubled.

Ms Proudler said: “We have a gas business, which shuts down over Christmas so it’s the only time we could go.

"If we hadn’t taken that trip we’d have lost all our money.”

She told the Sun: “It’s ridiculous. We ended up paying £240 fine for one day as Blanford Mere Primary School do not see terrorist action a exceptional circumstances, for a child with very good attendance.”

Ellis managed to maintain above 90 per cent attendance over three years – and is believed to have only missed festive activities during the final week of term.

She added: “He missed seeing Santa, watching DVDs, playing games and a disco.

"It was the last week of school before Christmas so I honestly don’t feel he’s lost any education whatsoever.

"It’s a joke.”

Nikki Miller – head teacher at Blanford Mere Primary School – said: “Good attendance in school is vital for an all round education, and it is something we pride ourselves on.

“These national rules are set by the Government and apply to all schools up and down the country.

"The rules make it impossible for us to agree for children to have time off during school term, unless there are exceptional circumstances which does not include family holidays.”