Q:
What are the legal consequences on parents of 'school refusal'? My child, aged 14 hasn't been in school since December 2020. Will be we fined, or ...
What are the legal consequences on parents of 'school refusal'? My child, aged 14 hasn't been in school since December 2020. Will be we fined, or imprisoned? (My child is in private school, does that make a difference?)
O T
Family with ADHD, ASD, dyslexia
03 Mar 2022
A: SenseCheck
- 0 Yes
- 0 No
- 2 Other
- 19 May 2022
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Other
Complex
Conflicting rules exist.:
Parents have a legal duty to ensure children are accessing suitable full-time education. This does not mean physically attending a school and parents can electively home educate a child. Further guidance on elective home education can be found here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/gov…
Local authorities do have powers to take a number of legal measures to address non attendance from parenting orders to penalty notices to fines, and potentially imprisonment. Any parent facing prosecution should take legal advice from a criminal solicitor.
However, if a child has been unable to attend school since December 2020 then an Education, Health and Care Needs assessment may be a more appropriate step to ascertain whether specialist education provision needs to be made through an Education, Health and Care Plan. In some cases, the assessment process may conclude that it is necessary for a child to receive education otherwise than at a School. In those cases, and where that is recorded in the EHC Plan, it would no longer be 'elective' home education and the local authority would be responsible for providing an education package away from School, for example, within the home.
Polly Sweeney
Rook Irwin Sweeney LLP - 22 Mar 2022
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Other
Other
Too fact specific, I can't generalise.:
I'll have a go at answering the question will I be imprisoned.
You could be. But the chances are very small.
What are common purposes of sentencing people in court?
- Punish
- Protect victims or the public
- Provide a deterrant to others
- Rehabilitate
Which of these are advanced by sending a parent/carer of a SEND kid for a short prison sentence? Other than in very rare or repeated cases, none.
There's law on this (Education Act 1996, 444 etc) about parents needing to secure regular attendance. But I'll leave any details of this to the legal minds on this forum.
That said, lots of kids with low attendance do get back. There's always hope. Do everything you can, even if hard. See things through. Listen to others and work with them whereever you can - especially if they've got kids back to school successfully before. If the current school isn't happening, be open to consider other options - including non-private such as an alternative provision or PRUS (Depends on what's provided nearby). Credit yourself and kid for small steps - even long journeys start somewhere and... there's always hope.
Aaron King
9000 Lives SEND Consultancy
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