Mayor backs school absences for Lincolnshire Show

Senior councillors have agreed to write to schools asking them to give pupils the day off to go to the Lincolnshire Show.

The Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Dame Andrea Jenkyns said the event played an important role in showcasing the county's farming industry and inspiring young people to pursue careers in the sector.

Chris Wilkinson, who received a fixed penalty warning after taking his sons out of school to attend the show last year, said he was "delighted" by the proposal.

The Department for Education said head teachers had sole discretion to grant an authorised absence in exceptional circumstances, but this was "up to the school's individuual judgement, not a guaranteed entitlement".

The Lincolnshire Show is a two-day agricultural and country life event held each June at the Lincolnshire Showground.

Dame Andrea said many schools did not currently allow pupils time to attend the annual show.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, members of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority agreed to write to schools across the region encouraging them to give pupils the day off to attend.

Speaking at a meeting on Wednesday, Dame Andrea said the show helped raise awareness of the importance of food production and the need to "get this next generation" into the workforce.

Lincolnshire County Council leader Sean Matthews described it as a "fantastic advert for our county and the food that we produce".

Wilkinson, 57, from Yarburgh, near Louth, said allowing pupils a day off to attend the show was "the way forward".

Last year, he received a fixed penalty warning and was told he could be fined up to £120 for taking his two sons out of school to attend the event.

He then called on the council to change the policy. At the time, Lincolnshire County Council said schools were "advised to record absences as unauthorised unless they fall under exceptional circumstances".

Speaking about the authority's proposal, Wilkinson said: "I was very pleased to hear it. It's just logical."

Wilkinson said the show benefited children by helping them learn about rural Lincolnshire, as well as giving them a chance to interact with different people.

"They get to see how parents are reacting meeting folks, they get to look around the livestock, they understand we live in a splendid rural county," he said.

"The people that live in towns and cities don't see what happens out in rural Lincolnshire."

The Department for Education said nearly one in five children in Lincolnshire were "persistently absent".

It said it was tackling root causes of absences through measures like breakfast clubs, attendance monitoring and early intervention.

It added days off for secular cultural events, general heritage days, or non-religious celebrations were not automatically granted as a legal right.

The Lincolnshire Show will be held on 23 and 24 June next year, just after the school exam season.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North.

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