The number of punishments handed to parents for truant children has reduced following a crackdown by a local authority.
Figures show 906 penalty notices were handed by Nottingham City Council to parents for their children’s ‘unauthorised absences’ in the 2015/16 academic year.
But that figure is a drop from 995 the previous year and, in the current 2016/17 academic year, there have been 48 notices.
The reduction follows Nottingham City Council taking a “zero-tolerance approach” to tackle poor attendance rates in 2014 – which were once in the bottom three of local authority-maintained schools in the country.
Parents were fined £60 or taken to court for their children being absent for no authorised reason, late after registration, taking holidays without authorisation or being seen in public while excluded.
There were 276 penalty notices in 2012/13 which jumped exponentially to 995 in 2014/15.
That year, the city council launched a crackdown on attendance rates – after Nottingham city schools ranked 150th, out of 152 schools, for attendance.
City schools are currently ranked in 91st place.
The authority says it has been working with schools to drive home its zero-tolerance stance to parents, and introduced recognition events to highlight good attendance and schemes to improve it.
Number of penalty notices issued to parents by academic year:
2016/17 (to date): 55 penalty notices issued; seven withdrawn.
2015/16: 1,129 penalty notices issued; 223 withdrawn.
2014/15: 1,207 penalty notices issued; 212 withdrawn.
2013/14: 722 penalty notices issued; 143 withdrawn.
2012/13: 338 penalty notices issued; 62 withdrawn.
Director of Education at Nottingham City Council, Pat Fielding, said the children should be in school every day, unless they are too ill to attend or there are ‘exceptional circumstances’.
He said: “The Department for Education and Ofsted are clear: holidays and day trips are not acceptable reasons for pupils to be absent.
“We want all children in Nottingham to achieve their full potential and those who have time off school find it difficult to catch up.
“At secondary age, just 17 school days missed can lead to one GCSE grade lost.”
Hotspots have been targeted by anti-truancy officers and Pat said the authority has been working with head teachers and parents to improve attendance – but ‘there is more work to do collectively’.
Penalty notices are handed to parents at the request of schools where pupils are ‘persistently absent’.
Pat Fielding says the authority has rewarded good attendance through the Lord Mayor’s Attendance Awards, with ceremonies held in the summer terms for the past three years.
The council also launched its ‘Get the Gig Competition’ in 2014, laying on high-profile music concerts for the best-attending secondary school pupils.
Parents can be issued fines of £60 per-child through the courts for unauthorised absence, and if not paid within 21 days, the sum can double to £120.
If the fine is still not paid, courts can impose fines of up to £2,500 and have the power to hand prison sentences to parents.
