Celebrity couple Coleen and Wayne Rooney have been accused of setting a 'bad example' to parents after they allowed their youngest sons to miss school so they could visit the I'm A Celebrity jungle.
Earlier this week, WAG Coleen, 38, was treated to the surprise of her life when her youngest boys, Kit, 8, and Cass, 6, visited her in the I'm A Celeb jungle in Australia. The proud mum-of-four was reduced to tears upon laying eyes on her sons after the wonderful surprise - but not everyone was as pleased.
Questions have now been raised over why the two young boys were allowed to skip school for two weeks in order to fly to Australia. MPs and those working in the educational system have now accused the Rooneys of 'setting a bad example'. It comes after Coleen previously revealed the boys would have to bring school work with them if they were to visit Australia.
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ITV/REX/Shutterstock)Kai and Cass flew to Brisbane over a fortnight ago with Coleen's parents Colette and Tony. They then made a surprise visit to the jungle and camp, before Coleen gave them a tour after the sweet reunion. While viewers were left in tears after the scenes aired, school experts were less than impressed.
Shadow education minister Neil O'Brien took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam the decision by the Rooney's to allow their children miss school for over two weeks. He fumed: "Famous people setting a bad example is the absolute last thing we need right now. If people see them taking their children out of school, then that makes matters worse. If a whole bunch of children take a couple of weeks off school, it makes life difficult for the teacher to help those kids catch up'.
Mr O'Brien added: "We are pressing ministers to get a grip on the school attendance crisis. A child who is taken out of school for a two-week holiday every year, and is absent for the average number of sick days, will have missed the equivalent of a full year of school by the time they reach 16."
Meanwhile, Dr Helen Wright, a former president of the Girls' Schools Association and international education consultant, said: "I am a believer in the importance of experiential learning but I would rather see schools incorporating this in their curricula than parents taking their children out of school as the Rooneys appear to have done. It runs the danger of sending the message to other parents that school is not important.' Labour MP Alex Sobel said: 'There can be no exemptions for the rich and famous."
Coleen previously addressed taking her children out of school. She said: "My two younger ones are coming over. The two older ones decided they would stay at home to continue with school and football. I think I said when you come you'll have to bring your work with you, so they quickly changed their minds."
The current national framework requires parents and guardians to seek authorisation from the head teacher if they wish to remove their child from school for a holiday during term time. If the head teacher does not approve the absence it is marked as an unauthorised absence and fines could be issued. However, private schools do not have to follow the same rules and parents who wish to remove their child from school during term time do not face fines or court action.
The Mirror has reached out to Coleen's representatives for comment.
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