Truancy
Tackling the problem
Every day 50,000 children play truant from school. Missing out on education severely affects children's life chances.
Truancy is always in the news, but what does it mean for parents and what can parents do to tackle the problem?
Your responsibility:
As a parent you have the legal responsibility for making sure your school-registered child attends school regularly.
Five tips for preventing truancy problems:
- Make sure your child understands how important it is to attend school regularly and that you do not approve of them missing school.
- Take an active interest in your child's schoolwork. Ask them about their day and praise and encourage their achievements at school.
- If your child tells you they are bored at school, ask to meet with their teachers.
- If your child makes excuses to try to avoid going to school, listen to them - you may find there is an underlying problem. It could be problems with schoolwork - it could be bullying.
- Make sure that your child gets to school on time. Arriving late can be disruptive for your child and the other children in the class.
Where to look for help:
If your child starts missing school, help the school to put things right.
Work with the school and with the professionals who support the school such as
Education Welfare Officers at the local
authority (LA). They are there to help you and your child. Sometimes
a child may not want to go to school because they are being bullied.
Bullying
Online
[External Site]
provides advice on ways parents can tackle the bullying problem.
Attendance Legislation:
- Parents are committing an offence if they fail to ensure their child's regular attendance at school.
- Prosecution could result in a fine of up to £2,500, a jail sentence of up to three months or a community sentence.
- Alternatively, education welfare officers, police officers and head teachers have the authority to issue penalty notices to parents of between £50 and £100. Failure to pay a properly issued penalty notice will result in prosecution as set out above.
- Parenting contract - where parents need support to prevent their child from truanting, schools and LAs may offer to enter into a parenting contract. This is a voluntary two-sided agreement between the parent and school or LA under which the parent agrees to comply with certain requirements and the school or LA agrees to provide them with the support that they need.
The costs of missing out:
- All absences come at a price - children missing school may not be able to
keep up with school work. In a busy school day it is difficult for your
child's teacher to find the extra time helping them to catch up.
- Missing two weeks of term time in each year of a child's school life is
the same as missing one whole school year.
- Its not only academic work that is affected by missing school. Missing out on the social side, especially at primary school, can affect children's ability to make and keep their friendships, a vital part of growing up.
Taking holidays in term time:
- Remember that you should not expect your child's school to agree to a
family holiday during term time. Schools have the discretion to grant up
to 10 school days a year for holidays, but it is not an automatic
entitlement and only schools can authorise these absences.
- Always talk to the school before you book your holiday and work with the
school to minimise any effect on your child's education.
- Book early - the cost of holidays can be an issue, but booking holidays early can mean that you are more likely to get lower prices for school holiday times.
Helping your teachers and local school:
- When your child has to miss school because they are ill, contact
the school on the first morning of your child's illness. Staff will be
concerned if they do not hear anything.
- If your child has to visit a doctor or dentist, try to arrange an appointment after school hours or during the holidays.
If you need to take your child out of school, discuss the reasons with the school as soon as possible. Some short absences are acceptable, but reasons such as shopping or birthdays are not acceptable reasons.
Next Steps
 | Sometimes speaking to parents and carers who have experienced the same
issues and problems as you can be a great way to get valuable advice and
information. Read, respond or ask a question in the |
|---|
 | Benefit from the advice and tips given by our experts by reading or asking a
question in the |
|---|
 |
|
|---|
 |
|
|---|
