Truancy and your child
Truancy is the term used for children who do not attend school. Truancy is illegal. Read this article to learn more about truancy and your responsibilities to insure you child is not a truant.School attendance – why it’s so important
Regular attendance at school is important to give your child the best possible start in life. For example, it can show potential employers that your child is reliable and can be trusted.
Research shows that children who skip school regularly are more likely to fall behind with their work, do less well in exams and even get involved in antisocial behaviour or crime.
Truancy - what you can do
You can help to prevent your child from skipping school by:
- making sure your child understands the importance of good attendance and getting to school on time
- taking an interest in your child’s education – ask about school work and encourage involvement in school activities
- listening to your child when they tell you about problems at school and informing their teacher or headteacher about serious problems
If your child starts missing school against your wishes, first talk to their teacher or form tutor. They might be able to advise you about problems that your child may be having at school. You can also talk to your local authority Education Welfare Officer.
School attendance and the law
Local authorities are legally responsible for making sure that parents of children aged between five and 16 provide their children with an education either at home or at school.
If your child is registered with a school but is not regularly attending, you will be contacted by your child’s school or the local authority. You may be visited by a member of the Education Welfare Service who will talk to you about your child’s attendance problems.
Schools and local authorities have a number of legal powers that they can use in cases of poor attendance:
Parenting contracts
You may be offered a parenting contract. This is a written agreement between a local authority or school governing body and a parent. It is drawn up to provide parents with support and to build positive relationships between all concerned.
Under a contract you will be expected to do certain things, for example making sure your child goes to bed by a set time and arrives at school punctually.
Although parenting contracts are voluntary, if you refuse to agree to a contract or do not keep to the terms of a contract, this can be used as evidence if the authority decides to prosecute you (see 'Taking you to court').
Penalty notices
Local authority staff, police officers and headteachers can all issue penalty notices to parents of truants. The penalty is £50 and rises to £100 if unpaid within 28 days. If you do not pay a penalty fine, you will be prosecuted.
Taking you to court
The local authority may prosecute you (they don’t have to issue a penalty notice first) and this could result in a fine of up to £2,500, a community sentence, a parenting order or, in extreme cases, a jail sentence of up to three months.
Parenting orders
A parenting order is a court order which requires you to attend parenting education or support classes. You will also have to do whatever the court says is necessary to improve your child’s behaviour and attendance at school.
Education supervision orders
The local authority may, instead of or as well as prosecuting you, apply for a court-imposed education supervision order. This order appoints a supervisor to help and give advice to you and your child, to make sure your child is properly educated.
Support from your local authority
The following link will let you enter details of where you live and then take you to your local authority website, where you can find out more about how the local authority supports families where school attendance is giving cause for concern.
More useful links
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