WDW Holiday in Term time - Need to know the fixed penalty facts

[mark&sue]

I would be very grateful if I could have the facts on how much the fixed penalty is for taking a child out of school and whether this could result in a criminal record. For example if the parent worked with children could this result in the loss of their job.

Any help would be much appreciated


Susan

 

[buzz for boys]

Sue,
This is very complicated ad by no means easy to answer for anyone.
The only way you can get the correct facts for our area is to call your local educatio authority and speak to the education welfare officer assigned to the school thatthe child/children go to !!

Each authority has differents penaltys and rules although I am fairly sure the prosecution only happens if you dont pay any fine that is put in place by the individual education authority.

Hope that helps a bit x x x

 

[paulh]

work on schools not in schools and find that teachers and staff are not allowed time off in term time (probably why we never see them around when were busy in the holiday periods )
Think for yourself taking your child out it varies from area to area some just fine and others worse
Best bet check out your council/school web site for details or they could throw a sickie
Paul

 

[Danauk]

I would check with your school and LEA. At my school we authorise up to 10 days holiday as long as the child has acceptable attendance (92% I think for our school.) Above that the absence goes unauthorised but I have yet to hear of anyone actually being fined (not saying it does not happen though.)

 

[hildasmuriel]

Fixed penalty notices are similar to parking fines - you have a certain amount of time to pay them before they increase in price. If you still don't pay then you will be summonsed to court, but even then it is not a criminal offence, so there will be no criminal record.

The amounts of the FPN are laid down in law - £50 per child per parent so a couple who have 3 children out of school would be fined £150 each. This doubles to £100 per child per parent if not paid in time. If you end up going to court the penalties increase dramatically.

Local Authorities will not issue FPN unless the Headteacher signs it, so it depends on your particular school policy.

Many schools, including the one I work at, issue FPNs regularly.

 

[mark&sue]

Thanks everyone this is very positive. The criminal record is the part I was concerned about. So the fixed penalty is a bit like a speeding fine or something like that and does not need to be disclosed when applying for a job?


Susan

 

[joolz1910]

Thanks everyone this is very positive. The criminal record is the part I was concerned about. So the fixed penalty is a bit like a speeding fine or something like that and does not need to be disclosed when applying for a job?


Susan

Definitely not - you don't have to declare it anywhere. It is a policy designed to intimidate parents. Your child's attendance has to be quite a big problem (or a refusal to pay FPN) before the 'authorities' investigate and take you to court. My children's school sends out a standard letter saying that the holiday is unauthorised and that the student's attendance will be monitored on their return.

Policy
Commencing on 27th February 2004, under the provisions of subsection (1) of section 23 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, it will now be possible that in certain cases of unauthorised absence a penalty notice (Appendix G) may be issued to the parent(s)/carer(s) responsible. Under these provisions thepenalty is £50 if paid within 28 days of receipt of the notice, rising to £100 if paid after 28 days but within 42 days of receipt. Non-payment will result in prosecution for non-school attendance under Section 444(1) Education Act 1996.

I found this particularly interesting:
A Warning letter (Appendix F) will be issued prior to a penalty notice: the trigger for a Warning letter will be at least 20 sessions of
unauthorised absences.
3 A penalty notice (Appendix G) may be issued, subsequent to a
Warning letter, if there are a further five sessions or more unauthorised
absences.

A session is either a morning or afternoon. This suggests that a FPN could be issued if your child had more than 12.5 days off in a year.

 

[mark&sue]

very helpful Jools

thanks

 

[hildasmuriel]

In the case of holidays it could be after just 10 days. In our Borough they will issue warning letters EXCEPT where it is an unauthorised holiday, then they may skip warning letters and go straight for FPN.

For example we put through 2 FPNs last week who had no warning letter, but were told before the holiday that it was unauthorised. They took the holiday anyway, so now we have requested the Attendance Improvement Officer to issue the FPNs. In one case the holiday was for 11 days. (Before you feel too sorry for that parent, the holiday was refused because the child already had an attendance of below 70%)

In the case of general absence then, yes, you will get a warning that your attendance will be monitored for the next 20 school days and that ANY further unauthorised absence in that time will result in an FPN. This is usually the case where a parent is just not bothering to send a child to school and is mostly unconncected to holidays.