School Attendance
The Education Welfare Service
The Education Welfare Service (EWS) carry out the statutory function held by the Local Authority with regard to school attendance. The EWS has the aim of improving school attendance. It also tries to ensure that as far as possible all pupils are included and therefore able to gain the maximum benefit from the education opportunities available to them.
Why it is important for your child to attend school
Most parents want their children to get on well in life. Nowadays, it is more important than ever to have a good education if you want opportunities in adult life. Children only get one chance at school, and your child's chances of a succesful future may be affected by not attending school regularly.
Children who do not attend regularly may not be able to keep up with school work and in a busy school day it is difficult for teachers to find the time to help a child catch up.
It is not only the academic work that suffers. Missing out on the social side of school life, especially in the first few years of education, can affect children's ability to make and keep friendships that are a vital part of growing up.
Establishing good attendance patterns from an early age will help your child later on. Employers will want someone reliable, so those who have a poor attendance record may have less chance of good employment.
Being on time is also vital. Arriving late at school can be very disuptive for your child, the teacher and the other children in the class. Arriving after the register closes results in an unauthorised absence being recorded for that session.
Research has also shown that some young people who regularly miss school for no good reason may be drawn into anti-social behaviour or crime.
If you are having difficulty in getting your child to school, please see What you can do to help your child and What the Education Welfare Service can do to help you.
What the law says
By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must receive a suitable, full-time education, at school or otherwise. As a parent you are responsible for making sure this happens, either by registering your child at a school or by making other arrangements which provide a suitable education.
Once your child is registered at a school, you are responsible for making sure they attend regularly. If your child fails to attend regularly, even without your knowing, the Local Authority may take legal action against you. The Local Authority is responsible for making sure that parents fulfil their responsibilities. Parents are responsible for making sure that their registered children attend school regularly.
Authorised absence - when it is ok for your child to be off school
There may be times when your child has to miss school because they are ill. When your child is too ill to attend school, you should contact the school on the first morning of absence and keep the school informed if the absence continues for more than a day.
Children may also have to attend medical or dental appointments in school time. However, you should make every attempt to make routine appointments, such as dental check-ups, after school or during the school holidays.
Any absences must be requested as far in advance as possible as absences can only be authorised by the school. Birthdays and shopping are not acceptable reasons for absence and will not be authorised. If your child is going to be absent for any reason, you must contact the school.
Holidays in term time
If you are considering taking your child on a family holiday during the school term, there are certain things you should take into account:
- have you considered the disruption to your child's education?
- do you really need to take a holiday in term time?
- can you take the holiday during school holidays?
If you must take the holiday during the school term, you will need to complete a request form for each school attended, which is available from your child's school. As with any absences, you should make the application as far in advance as possible. Where a booking has been made in advance of the application for holiday, absences will be recorded as unauthorised.
Parents do not have the right to take children on holiday in term time and it is the school's decision whether or not to authorise holidays in term time. When making their decision, the school will take into account:
- the age of the child(ren)
- the time of year proposed for the trip
- the overall attendance pattern of the child(ren)
Schools cannot legally authorise more than 10 school days of holiday per school year, unless, in the view of the Headteachers, there are 'exceptional circumstances'. Holidays taken without the school's permission will be recorded as unauthorised absence and may result in your child being referred to the Education Welfare Service.
Your child's school should supply you with the term dates for each academic year. Further information is available about school holidays, including term dates for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 academic years.
What happens if your child does not attend school regularly
Your child's school will monitor the attendance of all it's pupils and has a legal duty to refer any pupil with regular unauthorised absence to the Local Authority.
If your child is not attending school regularly, and the school refer to the Education Welfare Service, you will receive a letter from the service. An appointment may be made for a meeting or a home visit. The Education Welfare Service work with parents to address their child's attendance difficulties. It may be necessary for the Education Welfare Officer to work in partnership with other agencies such as Children and Young People's Social Care, Connexions 
, Relate and other appropriate agencies in order to address the issues.
As a parent/carer you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends school regularly, even if they are missing school without your knowledge (truanting).
If, after planned work, unauthorised absences are still a concern, the Local Authority has a duty to consider legal action. Parents can be prosecuted in the magistrate's court and fined up to £2,000 each per offence and/or up to 3 months imprisonment. The magistrates can also issue a Parenting Order.
A Fixed Penalty Notice can be issued with a fine of £50 payable within 28 days, doubling to £100 if not paid within the timescale.
The Local Authority may apply for an Education Supervision Order (ESO) in addition to or instead of prosecution. An ESO is heard in the Family Proceedings Court and makes the Local Authority responsible for advising, supporting and giving direction to a child and their parents in order to make sure that they attend school regularly.
What you can do to help your child
If you suspect your child may be missing school or is unhappy at school, you should contact the school as a matter or urgency to discuss the situation.
If your child is ill or absent for any other reason, contact the school on the first day of absence as early as possible but before 9:30am at the latest. You should also send a signed, dated note of explanation on your child's return to school.
Contact the school if there are any circumstances which are likely to result in absence.
Make sure your child arrives at school everyday and on time for both the morning and afternoon sessions, unless absence is unavoidable. You can ensure your child:
- takes all of the appropriate quipment with them to school.
- is dressed in the correct uniform, including wearing the correct shoes.
Take an interest in your child's education. Ask them about their day, and praise and encourage their achievements at school.
Attend meetings at school if requested and attend parent's evenings.
If your child makes an excuse to try to avoid going to school, listen to them. You may find there is an underlying problem.
Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you believe there is a difficulty.
What the Education Welfare Service can do to help you
The Education Welfare Service (EWS) will work with the school to monitor and audit the attendance of pupils each term. Any pupils with attendance under 90% will be discussed with the school.
If attendance remains of concern, despite intervention from the school, the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will contact parents and work to try to resolve the situation. EWOs will work with the school, parents/carers and pupils to maintain and improve school attendance to avoid the need for legal action.
Further information and advice
If you require any further information, please contact your child's school or the Education Welfare Service in the first instance.
You can contact us by telephone on 01202 261914, or by using the details below, addressing any correspondence to the Education Welfare Service.
Other sources of information include:
The Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) provides independent, practical and legal advice on schooling issues. You can view a number of advice booklets, including those on bullying and special educational needs. General and Exclusions telephone helplines are also available.
ChildLine is a free, confidential helpline for children.The telephone helpline number is 0800 1111.
Parentline Plus provides a free, confidential helpline (including a textphone facility) for parents including leaflets, courses and workshops.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has information on all aspects of school attendance including links to relevant legislation.
The ParentsCentre offers information and advice on how you can help with your child's education.
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