School Introduces Penalty Charges

[Lula]

Hello Everyone, I have no idea where to post this, I am also INCANDESCENT, got this from the school yes, a SCHOOL , today

 

"

Dear Parents/Carers

 

FIXED PENALTY NOTICES

 

 

 

 

The Behaviour and Attendance Team see Fixed PenaltyNotices as an effective part of XXXX School’sdrive to improve attendance, reduce unauthorised absences and raise standards.

 

 

 

Fixed Penalty Notices are supported by both theLocal Authority and the DfE and we understand that several local schools haveadopted this approach. The GoverningBody of XXXX have agreed to introduce a system of Fixed Penalty Noticesfrom the start of the Summer Term 2013, ie. week commencing Monday 15thApril 2013.

 

 

 

Fixed Penalty Notices will be issued to studentswith 21 or more sessions of unauthorisedabsences in the current and/or previous terms. (One session is either 1 morning or 1afternoon, 2 sessions equates to one day and 21 sessions equates to 2 weeks andone morning or afternoon etc). Thismeans:

 

 

 

· Afine of £60.00, if paid within 28 days

 

 

 

· Afine of £120.00, if paid within 42 days

 

 

 

PleaseNote: Non-payment of fines can lead to prosecution.

 

 

An unauthorised absence is when:

 

 

· Your child arrives late, after the register hasclosed.

 

· We have not received notification of absence.

 

· A term time holiday has taken place.

 

· No evidence is provided, if requested by school (whenattendance is an ongoing concern, eg. persistently below 85%, the SeniorLeadership Team will meet with you and ask you for medical evidence eg.prescriptions and / or appointment slips).

 

 

 

In light of these changes, we are currently in theprocess of updating our attendance policy which will be published to you. We will be reminding you of the new systemthroughout this term, but please remember that this new system will not startuntil next term.

 

 

 

ATTENDANCE/PUNCTUALITY

 

 

 

Our whole school attendance figure for last term (3rdSeptember to 19th December 2012) was 94.7% and Ofsted would gradethis as “Requires Improvement”. This isnot a good situation to be in. However, we are mindful that attendance wasseverely affected during December by the high number of families suffering fromthe winter sickness bug and all the cough/cold type viruses. If we exclude December’s figures, ourattendance percentage between September and November 2012 was 95.7% whichOfsted would grade as “Good” – just a small percentage below Outstanding. We were Outstanding at the end of the firsthalf term and are hoping to get back there as quickly as possible.

 

 

 

Please find below punctuality figures for the firstand second half of the Autumn Term 2012/13, plus the attendance figures for thewhole term.

 

 

 

 

Wehave published these figures which include all absences including holidays,medical appointments and illness etc. Wefully understand and appreciate that, unfortunately, within some classes,children have serious ongoing medical conditions which obviously inflate thefigures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TERM TIME HOLIDAYS

 

 

2011- 2012 (1st Sept to 23rd Dec 2011)

 

 

2012 – 2013 (3rd Sept to 19th Dec 2012)

 

 

 

67 children = 483 sessions missed

 

 

 

 

90 children - 669 sessions missed

 

 

 

 

With regards to attendance, both the Leadership Teamat XXX and our School Attendance Improvement Officer will be focusingmore on the number of incidents of absence, ie. the odd days off “here andthere” compared with 1 bout ofillness. The minimum expectation is that children attend school for 95%of the time. Children are classed aspersistent absentees once their attendance drops below 85% and unfortunately,it only takes two or three incidents of absence (holidays, medical appointmentsand illness etc) to affect overall attendance percentages to this degree. Obviously, we are not advocating that yousend your poorly child into school, but if they are simply “under the weather”,then please consider sending them in. The children have responsibilities and commitments to their learningjust the same as adults do in their daily lives.

 

 

 

It is a major concern of ours to see how many termtime holidays are being taken. There isa significant increase on the same period last year. We fully appreciate how much cheaper holidaysare during term-time and in the current, ever worrying financial climate, wecan understand why parents make this decision. However, we still cannot authorise these absences; school is importantand the pace of the day is rapid, the children do miss a lot when they are awayand it could even mean an entire topic or aspect of one subject is completelymissed. Poor attendance can severelyaffect attainment and progress (see attached document), and always rememberthat primary school is just as important as secondary school. The impact on GCSE results as outlinedoverleaf is the same as SATS in Years 2 and 6.

 

 

 

Please remember that we want to support you in ensuringyour children achieve good attendance and punctuality. If there is anything at all that we can do asa school to assist you, please do not hesitate to pop in for a chat, we wouldbe pleased to see you.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely"

 

 

I would dearly love to hear what law says that they can charge a penalty notice and how this is enforcable.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Lula

[Night Owl]

I'm speachless Lula!!!!!!!

 

How can you put a fixed penalty fine onto a child?

How can the regulatory bodies EVER agree to this barbaric idea?

 

Removal of privaliges appropriate to a childs age and understanding has far more impact on challenging behaviour.

What do they expect to learn from having a Fixed Penalty Fine slapped on them?

 

What happens to the revenue generated from the fines?

 

This cannot be legal surely?

[Lula]

Hi Night Owl, this is what I am trying to ascertain. It is scandalous !

[Night Owl]

This is from the Department of Education Web Site.

 

Parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices provide a balanced package of support and sanctions to reinforce parental responsibility for school attendance and behaviour.

 

Education supervision orders (ESOs)

 

The LA may apply to the Family Proceedings Court for an ESO as a means of attempting to ensure a child's regular school attendance, whether or not the child is enrolled at a school. Before instituting proceedings for an offence of irregular attendance or failure to comply with a school attendance order, LAs must consider whether it would be appropriate to apply for an ESO instead of, or as well as, prosecuting the child's parents.

[Night Owl]

This is from Haringey Council!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

1. Legal basis

 

Section 23 of the Anti-Behaviour Act 2003 empowers designated local authority (LA) officers, head teachers (deputy and assistant headteachers authorised by them) and the police to issue penalty notices in cases of unauthorised absence from school.

The education penalty notices (England) regulations 2004 came into force on 27 February 2004.

The issuing of penalty notices must conform to all requirements of the Human Rights Act and equal opportunities legislation.

The LA has the prime responsibility for developing the protocol within which all partners named in the act will operate.

Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for pupils to maximise their educational opportunities.

In law, an offence occurs if a parent fails to secure their child's attendance at school and that absence is not authorised by the school.

Penalty notices supplement the existing sanctions currently available under S444 Education Act 1996 or S36 Children Act 1989 to enforce attendance at school where appropriate.

The Education Welfare Service (EWS) delivers this LA responsibility.

The issuing of penalty notices will be based on clear threshold criteria which will need to be applied consistently and equitably across the borough's schools.

Any person authorised to issue a notice in Haringey must comply with the guidance set out in this code of conduct.

[Lula]

Thanks for that, so I guess the key word here is Consistency, it cannot be just a few schools, it has to be all or nothing.

[leigh04]

This has been going on in my daughters school for a while now, many parents have refused to pay it ESP when their child has been off ill with one thing and another.

[Night Owl]

Yep looks like it.

 

Shocking all the same.

 

Sounds like another Quango job!

"The LA retains any revenue from any penalty notice to cover enforcement costs. It is unlikely that revenue will be greater than enforcement costs."

[Lula]

Have sent a letter to the Chair of Governors, dont know if it is actually a FOI request, but should get them thinking about this for a while.

 

I am writing to you as Chair of the Board of Governors of xxxx Primary School to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. If a Freedom of Information request in not relevant to a board of Governers then I would still appreciate the information listed.

 

I have been given to understand that the school is considering using its powers under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 to issue fixed penalty notices for non attendance.

 

Please send me all the information the school holds relating to the development of this policy.

 

I would expect to receive information such as:

 

Presentations to the Board of Governors on the policy

 

Minutes of the Board of Governors discussions of the policy

 

Documents generated by school staff discussing this policy (including emails)

 

Advice sought and received from people or organisations outside the school

 

but would be grateful to receive any additional addition information

held as well.

 

My preference is to receive this information by email but if any of this information can only be supplied on paper I will make arrangements to receive physical copies.

 

I understand that you have 20 working days to respond to this request and so I expect to receive your response on or before Monday 4th February 2013. If there is a possibility of the response being delayed please contact me as soon as this becomes apparent.

 

If any of the above is unclear please come back to me with questions.

 

I would be grateful for an acknowledgement that you have received this email by return.

 

Yours sincerely

[Nystagmite]

This has been going on in my daughters school for a while now, many parents have refused to pay it ESP when their child has been off ill with one thing and another.

 

I'm with the parents on that one. The school would soon moan if you sent your child in with some contagious illness.

 

I remember last year, my cousin got sent home for being sick. Her mum kept her home the next day. The school phoned up to ask where she was?

[Lula]

I am heartily sick of being told what to do and whn to do it, especially by a school, they should realise that the kids have two extra years of school now, so plenty of time to impart the knowledge required.

[stu007]

Hi

 

I think the main reason these were introduce was to stop parents taking their children on holidays during the school term - but it seems its been lost and taken over by Big Brother State as a Money Earner for the Local Authorities as the Education Dept comes under their remit.

 

One main question I would be asking the School and the Local Authority is exactly where will Penalty Fines once collected be going to i.e. will this income be going back into that Schools Budget for the next Financial Year.

 

Bet if this is asked you will get a Black Hole Answer.

 

Now the following info is from Department for Education link: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance/a00208166/penalty-notices

 

Revised regulations on education-related penalty notices from September 2012

 

The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 increased the current amounts of penalty notices payable by parents from 1 September 2012.

 

These will apply to any parent who fails to ensure the regular attendance of their child of compulsory school age (5-16) who is registered at a state school or fails to ensure that their excluded child is not found in a public place during schools hours without a justifiable reason.

The amounts stated on the penalty notices will increase from £50 to £60 for those who pay within 28 days; and from £100 to £120 for those who pay within 42 days.

 

Who is authorised to issue penalty notices?

 

A police constable, local authority officer, headteachers and those authorised by them (deputy and assistant head only).

All state schools can use penalty notices including maintained, academies, Free Schools, alternative provision and pupil referral units in England. The local authority must publish a local code of conduct which sets out how the penalty notice scheme will work for all schools in the area.

 

Revised regulations are now available and we will issue revised guidance shortly. (SEE ATTACHED PDF)

 

Legislative Background

 

Education-related penalty notices were introduced by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 which amended section 444 of the Education Act 1996 to allow parents to be issued with a penalty where they failed to ensure their child of compulsory school age (5-16) and school registered, regular attendance.

 

Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 also requires parents of excluded pupils to ensure that their child is not found present in a public place during school hours in the first five days of their exclusion from school without a justifiable reason.

 

If parents fail in their duties they commit an offence either under section 444A of the Education Act 1996 or section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and can be served with a penalty notice by an authorised officer. Full payment of the penalty discharges the parent from liability for conviction following a prosecution.

 

Now this PDF is the S T A T U T O R Y I N S T R U M E N T S :

Edited January 12, 2013 by stu007

[Lula]

Thanks for that, the main thing that I got was that it is only applicable in England, once again, we get clobbered. ! Ihave had an acknowledgement from the Chair of Governors saying that he will get back to me when he has spoken to the school.

[ifhthsbdw]

Personally, I really can't see what the problem is. Do you allow your child to take 21 periods of unauthorised absence in one term?

 

The School is being entirely reasonable in my opinion.

[ifhthsbdw]

This has been going on in my daughters school for a while now, many parents have refused to pay it ESP when their child has been off ill with one thing and another.

 

But that's not an UNAUTHORISED absence is it?

[Lula]

Personally, I really can't see what the problem is. Do you allow your child to take 21 periods of unauthorised absence in one term?

 

The School is being entirely reasonable in my opinion.

 

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, my opinion is that it wont stop parents taking their children out for a holiday as they will be able to afford the fine, the trouble will come with the parents who come from a lower socio economic background, they wont be able to afford the fines and it is these children that will be more likely to be ill or not fully understand the reason why reasonable attendance is necessary.

 

The other reason is that , why the hell should an Education Authority be given the power to fine someone for the non attendance at school, where will it end? and 21 periods of absence is 10.5 school days, not really much when you consider the incidence over the past few years of norovirus and swine flu.

[ifhthsbdw]

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, my opinion is that it wont stop parents taking their children out for a holiday as they will be able to afford the fine, the trouble will come with the parents who come from a lower socio economic background, they wont be able to afford the fines and it is these children that will be more likely to be ill or not fully understand the reason why reasonable attendance is necessary.

 

The other reason is that , why the hell should an Education Authority be given the power to fine someone for the non attendance at school, where will it end? and 21 periods of absence is 10.5 school days, not really much when you consider the incidence over the past few years of norovirus and swine flu.

 

You contradict yourself with almost every sentence. First you say that it won't stop parents taking their kids on Holiday, then you say that those from a lower socio economic background won't be able to afford the fine - but presumably they can afford to to take their kids on holiday. What's more important, holiday or their kids' education?

 

Education has always been compulsory, nothing has changed except perhaps that some parents, at last, are being forced to accept their responsibility towards their children. Do you really think it is acceptable for children to take 10.5 days UNAUTHORISED absence in two terms? If you did that in the workplace you would lose your job. Sickness is not unauthorised is it?

 

I have a feeling that you are one of these parents who swans off to the South of France each year with Chloe and Phoebe but does it before the end of term or when school has already started, because you want to enjoy the benefits of cheap holidays. Why are you so outraged about such a perfectly reasonable policy?

[leigh04]

My daughter was off ill with the sickness bug for a week and the she came down with the flu (she's asthmatic) so had more time off I had a letter from her school threatening to fine me aswell as the liaison officer putting her under supervision if she has any more time off I'm getting a visit from the welfare officer this is all after I informed the school that my daughter was ill.

So absences count as unauthorised whether you inform the school or not in my case.

[ifhthsbdw]

My daughter was off ill with the sickness bug for a week and the she came down with the flu (she's asthmatic) so had more time off I had a letter from her school threatening to fine me aswell as the liaison officer putting her under supervision if she has any more time off I'm getting a visit from the welfare officer this is all after I informed the school that my daughter was ill.

So absences count as unauthorised whether you inform the school or not in my case.

 

Well you may well have cause for complaint. According to the OP in the first post of this thread, unauthorised absence is:

 

· Your child arrives late, after the register hasclosed.

· We have not received notification of absence.

· A term time holiday has taken place.

· No evidence is provided, if requested by school (when attendance is an ongoing concern, eg. persistently below 85%, the SeniorLeadership Team will meet with you and ask you for medical evidence eg.prescriptions and / or appointment slips).

 

Absences are absences for whatever reason, but are you sure they are counted as "unauthorised".

 

It's quite evident that this policy is aimed at two groups of people:

• Those who deliberately take their kids out of school before term has ended so that they can get a cheaper holiday.
  
• Those who have no control over their kids.
  

 

It's quite clear that if a child has an illness, then this is not who it is aimed at, unless of course the parent is lax enough not to inform the school of such.

 

My guess is the OP falls into one of the two categories above, otherwise, why the false outrage?

[leigh04]

The way my daughters School is acting they are classing illness absences as unauthorized.

 

I am most definately not a parent who lets their child avoid school/ don't give a damn or take them on holiday in term time.

 

I am quite lucky my kids enjoy school and like going, my daughter is already achieving A/B's at school and she's 14 and a pleasure to have in class.

 

Why should we be fined for an absence thru illness that the school are informed about personally I think that's wrong.

 

For the ones whose parents don't give a damn about schooling for their kids that's a different. matter entirely.

 

Education is very important and I have instilled that in my kids.

[Lula]

 

My guess is the OP falls into one of the two categories above, otherwise, why the false outrage?

 

How dare you make a judgement on me, you dont know me at all, if you have nothing constructive to say than I suggest you say nothing!

 

False outrage, I can assure you that there is nothing false about my outrage, you may consider it ok to be ordered around and fined "will he nill he" but I can assure you that i will fight against anyone or anything who presumes to have that sort of power over me or my family.

 

The penalty parking charges started like this too, not going too well at the moment is it, also, bank charges, hmmmm I am sensing a pattern here.

[ifhthsbdw]

How dare you make a judgement on me, you dont know me at all, if you have nothing constructive to say than I suggest you say nothing!

 

False outrage, I can assure you that there is nothing false about my outrage, you may consider it ok to be ordered around and fined "will he nill he" but I can assure you that i will fight against anyone or anything who presumes to have that sort of power over me or my family.

 

The penalty parking charges started like this too, not going too well at the moment is it, also, bank charges, hmmmm I am sensing a pattern here.

 

So what, exactly, is your problem with this? How does this policy affect you personally? Does your child take 10.5 days unauthorised absence every two school terms and if so, why?

[Lula]

My problem, as I have already stated, is that this is the thin edge of the wedge, surrepticiously placed, if we allow this then were does it end, and , if you REALLY want to know, my child has had 2.5 days off at the end of the last term due to norovirus, his only time off school in 2 years. !

[ifhthsbdw]

My problem, as I have already stated, is that this is the thin edge of the wedge, surrepticiously placed, if we allow this then were does it end, and , if you REALLY want to know, my child has had 2.5 days off at the end of the last term due to norovirus, his only time off school in 2 years. !

 

Interesting. If you're incandescent already, then how are you going to feel if you get fined? Personally I don't think anyone should get worked up about the idea of parents getting fined for letting their kids take, on average, 2 unauthorised days off every 5 weeks. That would be extremely bad parenting and I'm sure you don't consider yourself in that vein.

 

How do you feel about people who let their kids take that much unauthorised absence? I think it is appalling.

Edited January 13, 2013 by ifhthsbdw

[huggy41]

if we allow this then were does it end

 

it ends with pupils getting better grades meaning jobs.

and not hanging about on street corners dossing.

if you cannot or will not follow the Law without a penalty then it will not belong before your before the courts.