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Schools: Absenteeism

Answer

Good discipline and regular attendance at school is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education. It is this Government's intention to restore the authority of teachers and head teachers so they can establish a culture of excellence in their school. School should be a place where there is good behaviour in the classroom, where pupils feel safe, give respect and are respected in turn, and want to come to school to learn.There has been no change to the regulations that govern the amount of family leave that can be granted. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 state that a pupil may be granted leave of absence from school to enable them to go away on holiday but that, save for exceptional circumstances, they should not be granted more than 10 school days leave of absence in any school year.Head teachers and local councils already have powers to issue penalty notices (fines of £50 to £100) to parents who fail to ensure their children's regular school attendance, which includes taking them on holiday during term time without the school's permission. Alternatively, local councils can prosecute parents under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. If parents are found guilty of the offence the Act provides for heavier sanctions where the parent condoned their children's absence from school, as in the case of taking them out of school on an extended family holiday without permission. The court can fine parents up to £2,500 and or give a prison sentence of up to three months. The parent will also get a criminal record. Prosecutions should be used as a last resort by local councils as in most cases a penalty notice will be a sufficient sanction to deter parents.The Department publishes absence and attainment data for schools as part of the annual Schools Performance Tables. The recently published Primary School (Key Stage 2) Performance Tables included schools overall absence, persistent absence and unauthorised absence data. The Secondary Schools (Key Stage 4) Performance Tables are due for publication in January 2011.Ofsted, as part of their inspection criteria, will also look at trends in a school's absence data when considering school inspections.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

31681; 522 c413-4W

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Truancy

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk