Parental Responsibilities

If children are to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them, then good behaviour and attendance at school are essential. If children do not attend school punctually and regularly and behave well in the classroom, then they may not be able to keep up with their school work and will miss out on their chances of a good education.

Children who persistently misbehave or fail to attend school regularly are more likely to:

• fall behind in their schoolwork
• become drawn into antisocial or criminal activity
• be at risk of becoming victims of crime or abuse
• leave school with few (if any) qualifications
• have difficulty getting or holding down a job
• experience social and other problems later in life.

Your Role

If you are a parent of, or are responsible for, a child between the ages of 5 and16, the law states that you must ensure that they attend school regularly. Anyone who fails to ensure their child's regular attendance at school is committing an offence, for which legal action may be taken. Prosecution could result in a fine of up to £2,500, a jail sentence of up to three months or a community sentence.

Alternatively, Police Officers, Head Teachers and Education Welfare Officers (also known as Education Social Workers), have the authority to issue penalty notices to parents of between £50 and £100. Failure to pay a penalty notice will result in prosecution.

Children only get one chance at school - it is vital that they make the most of it.

The Local Authority's Role

Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for making sure that parents fulfil their duty of ensuring that their child receives a suitable education; whether this entails their regular attendance at school, or at home. If your child is not attending school regularly, an education welfare officer may visit you. They are there to help you to meet your responsibilities and make sure your child overcomes their attendance problems and receives a proper education.

If you do not do everything you can to cooperate with the education welfare officer and school, the local authority can prosecute you in a magistrates court, resulting in a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to three months.

Parenting Contracts

Local authorities and schools can make formal agreements (parenting contracts) with parents to address a child's attendance and behaviour at school. This is a two-sided formal agreement between the local authority (or governing body) and the parent. Although the contract is a voluntary arrangement, the local authority may use a parent's refusal to agree to the contract as evidence if (at later date) they have to prosecute the parent for their child's truancy.

The contact is designed to encourage a positive working relationship between the school, local authority and parents, so that truancy or poor behaviour may be dealt with, along with any underlying causes. The parent has to agree to comply w...