The Department for Education has issued new guidelines prohibiting children from attending protests during school hours, following accusations that teachers allowed pupils to skip lessons for pro-Palestine rallies. Thousands of students participated in demonstrations against the war in Gaza in November, organised by the Stop the War Coalition (SWC). The Government's guidance, effective from August, explicitly states that leave of absence should not be granted for protest activities during school hours. SWC criticised the new rules as an attack on students' democratic right to protest. However, the Association of School and College Leaders expressed the view that pupils should not miss school for protests but recognised that they might well feel very strongly about the cause about which they are protesting: ‘We feel that these are matters that are best left to the discretion of schools.’