Every lesson counts

Meanwhile, senior judges have ruled that magistrates in Bromley who acquitted a mother who took her daughters out of class to attend a holiday were incorrectly advised and had been misdirected when they acquitted her. The ruling makes clear that taking unauthorised breaks could lead to court convictions and that only a school – not parents nor magistrates – can decide if a child can be absent in these circumstances. In their summation they decided that ‘It was plain in law that leave of absence “means leave granted by the school” – not leave which magistrates consider might have been justified’.

In another recent case a High Court judge has ruled that a woman was wrongly convicted last year when magistrates found her guilty of failing to ensure her son attended school. The judge found that she had done all that was physically possible to ensure that her ‘large’ 14 year old son attended school. He claimed that he was being bullied and attended only 23 out of 122 school sessions. The woman’s solicitor claimed that the decision showed that education authorities should not prosecute parents who were doing their best with difficult children, but offer greater assistance in cases where the parents were doing all in their physical power to ensure attendance.

What are your experiences of dealing with truancy? To what extent is this a priority in your school? What are the financial and other implications of any prosecutions?

We are interested to hear from schools that have tackled the issue of truancy head on, and the effects this can have on the school – both in terms of time and resources, and the effects on people. Is this an issue that is worth pursuing by schools, or should a certain amount of unauthorised absence to attend family holidays be tolerated? As workforce remodelling gathers pace, it is school support staff who are likely to bear the burden of combating truancy, so we are also interested to hear of any successful models for staffing this ever-present problem in schools.