It is really important that your child attends school regularly and it is vital that we work together to ensure that your child arrives on time, every day.
If your child has an appointment to attend during school time e.g. doctor, dentist, we will now need proof (a letter or text confirming the appointment) when you collect your child. Otherwise, this will be put down as an unauthorised absence on your child’s record.
If your child’s attendance goes below 90%, we do have to report this to the Educational Welfare Officer and you could receive a fine.
From August 2024, a new national threshold for issuing penalty notices was implemented, meaning that a fine will be issued if a child has 5 school days or more (10 sessions) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.
If, however, in an individual case the local authority believes a penalty notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. For example, if parents/carers are seen to deliberately avoid the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below the threshold of 5 school days, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events.
As a Staffordshire school, we are legally required to send Staffordshire County Council any applications of unauthorised absence that we receive into school which exceed the threshold stated above. We ask that you understand that it is not a school decision whether or not to fine parents. This is the responsibility of Staffordshire County Council.
As of 19th August 2024, if a child has 5 school days or more (10 sessions) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks the penalty notice will consist of:
– £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days, rising to
– £160 per parent, per child if paid between 21-28 days
**If the fine is not paid within 28 days, you may be prosecuted under S444.1 of the Education Act 1996. If the prosecution takes place, the maximum fine is £2500 per parent, per child. This reflects the seriousness of unauthorised absence from school**
Two penalty notice limit and escalation in cases of repeat offences:
Only two penalty notices can be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3-year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action should be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution.