Ensuring Good Attendance

In March 2015, Hampshire County Council published a letter from John Clarke, Deputy Director of Children’s Services that explained the County policy for managing unauthorised absences from school from September 2015. We shared this with you in a school news article. Hampshire County Council have shared a further document that explains the actions that will be taken in the event of unauthorised child absence.

Changes to the law mean that from September 2015 all schools are required to respond to unauthorised absence according to specific procedures and legal requirements. This change is explained in our previous news article in the form of extracts from the recent Unauthorised Absence Code of Conduct Letter to Parents and Carers , published by Hampshire County Council.

Further to the earlier communication, we would like to share with you the explanatory leaflet that explains the process and implications of receiving a penalty notice for unauthorised absence of a child from school.

The Information On Penalty Notices For Non-attendance At School leaflet explains the powers granted to the local authority (Hampshire County Council) to act in those instances where a child fails to attend school regularly. It also explains how penalty notices may be issued for unauthorised absence, how these may be paid and the legal action that may be taken in the event that a penalty notice is not paid and if conditions of attendance are not met.

We recommend that all parents ensure they are familiar with their obligation to ensuring good attendance of their child by reading the guidance we previously published and this further explanatory leaflet.