But Mr Potts, who is head teacher of Newman College, said truancy rates in Oldham were less to do with parents seeking a cheaper holiday, and more linked to economic disparity.
“Where you’ve got high areas of deprivation, some of these young people are staying off school in order to support parents who are keeping down zero hour jobs,” he said.
Pupils may also have “siblings that need looking after” or are acting as “carers to members of their family”, the head teacher added.
When fines were increased in February, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said families with absent children should first be offered support – but fines were an important option.
“If it’s a deliberate decision to take your child out of school for unauthorised absence, then that’s something we do not want to encourage,” Ms Keegan said.
Schools across the borough were “generally supportive” of fines, a spokeswoman for Oldham Council said.
The local authority recognised absences were a “complex issue”, but said schools “need to do everything they can” to get pupils in the classroom.
