Rooneys rapped on knuckles for taking boys out of school for TWO WEEKS to visit Coleen as a surprise in the I’m A Celebrity jungle
Coleen Rooney’s family have been ticked off for letting her youngest sons miss school so they could visit her in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.
As millions watched Mrs Rooney, 38, enjoy a tearful reunion with Kit, eight, and Cass, six, in Australia, questions were raised over why they were skipping two weeks of school to be there.
MPs and school experts last night accused the Rooneys of ‘setting a bad example’ – although Mrs Rooney previously revealed the boys would have to bring school work with them.
The boys flew out nearly a fortnight ago with Mrs Rooney’s parents, Colette and Tony. On Friday, they made a surprise appearance on the ITV show.
Mum-of-four Mrs Rooney wept as she embraced her children after not seeing them for almost a month. She said: ‘I’m crying because I’m happy, because I’ve missed you so much.’ In the scenes, watched by six million viewers, Kit then joked: ‘She stinks!’ as he hugged his mum.
Fellow contestant Danny Jones’s son Cooper, six, was also flown out to Australia to be reunited with his dad. The McFly singer asked him: ‘Have you been telling everyone at school to vote for me?’
However, shadow education minister Neil O’Brien 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’.
The boys flew out nearly a fortnight ago with Mrs Rooney’s parents, Colette and Tony
Mum-of-four Mrs Rooney wept as she embraced her children after not seeing them for almost a month
Ms Rooney previously said her two youngest sons had been taken out of school to travel to Australia but that her older boys had decided to stay at home
Fellow contestant Danny Jones’s son Cooper, six, was also flown out to Australia to be reunited with his dad
Ofsted last week warned that school absence rates were far too high. The Government has been trying to increase attendance, including increasing fines for parents and threatening repeat offenders with prosecution.
Ofsted chief inspector Sir Martyn Oliver said: ‘I am very concerned that an awful lot of young people are not getting regular oversight by professionals.’
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.’
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.’
Wayne Rooney has stayed in the UK along with elder sons Kai, 15, and Klay, 11.
Last month, on taking her children out of school, Mrs Rooney 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.’
A spokesman for Mrs Rooney declined to comment.
