About our school attendance officers
Officers’ responsibilities
Our school attendance officers have a legal responsibility to monitor school attendance and to take court action against parents whose children fail to attend school regularly.
Parents’ responsibilities
As a parent, you're legally responsible for ensuring that your children receive a suitable education. You can do this by registering your child at a school and ensuring that they regularly attend that school. If you choose to home educate your child, we have to be satisfied that the education the children are receiving at home is suitable.
You can help to ensure your children’s regular attendance at school by:
- encouraging your children to attend school regularly and on time
- taking an interest in your children’s education and life at school
- communicating with your children’s school to discuss any emerging issues or problems
- notifying your children’s school on the first day of any absence
- not arranging any family holidays during term time
How our school attendance officers work
Schools can refer children who don’t attend school regularly to a school attendance officer. You can also contact a school attendance officer directly. Other agencies such as health, social care, and the police may also refer children.
If your child is referred for non-attendance, a school attendance officer will contact you and arrange to meet. The officer will remind you that you're legally responsible for ensuring your child attends school regularly and advise you that unless your child’s attendance improves, you may be prosecuted in the magistrate's court, where you can be fined, or in some circumstances, imprisoned. The school attendance officer will, of course, want to avoid this and will offer to work with you, offering support and advice which may help return your child to regular attendance.
The school attendance officer will usually give you up to a maximum of 12 weeks to improve your child’s school attendance. If, after 12 weeks, this has not been achieved, the officer will, unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances, notify you that a summons for you to appear in court will be issued.
Improving a child’s attendance
School attendance officers will work with you and your children to identify ways of improving school attendance. They may suggest:
- meetings in school
- strategies which might support you and your child
- referrals to other services
Officers will keep in regular contact with you and will keep written records of what has been discussed and agreed. They will expect you to agree on targets for improvement and will review progress.
They will also keep in close contact with your child’s school.
Court action
If, after 12 weeks, your child’s attendance fails to improve, and there are no exceptional mitigating circumstances, the school attendance officer will begin legal action against you. If you're convicted in court, you may be fined up to £1000. In some circumstances, if you have knowingly allowed your child to be absent from school, you may be fined up to £2,500 or even sent to prison for 3 months.
Returning a child to regular attendance
Hopefully, the need for court action can be avoided and by working together with you, your children, and schools, officers can help return children to regular attendance. This is vital if children are to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them.
Contact
If you would like a school attendance officer to contact you, please email access.inclusion@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.
School attendance officers are based at our offices in Dunstable but work with schools and families across Central Bedfordshire.