English school holidays issued with a penalty notice whenever they take their children on holiday during term time without getting authorisation from the school. Penalty notices can be issued by local councils, headteachers (including deputy and assistant heads authorised by them) and the police. Generally, schools will agree to no more than 10 school days of absence in any school year. The Swallows and Amazons series of children’s novels by Arthur Ransome are all set in the school holidays, generally the long (August) summer holidays although some are set in Easter or winter. For example, in "Pigeon Post", he wrote: "Term time was
Swallows and Amazons series of being as tough as Nancy, but often needs the encouragement of her sister to get through the more dangerous parts of their adventures. She is frightened of thunderstorms. A third major set of characters are brother and sister Dick and Dorothea Callum, introduced in the fourth book of the series, "Winter Holiday". Dick and Dorothea are the intellectuals of the group, Dick in matters of science, Dorothea in the arts. The Callums later acquire a dinghy of their own, the "Scarab". The Callums were originally seen as useless to the group, until it was realized that they had great