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Attendance at School
Parents have a duty to ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that they may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. Failure to do so is an offence and can lead to prosecution. Schools must report unauthorised absences and LEAs have a responsibility to prosecute parents in appropriate cases.
Gypsy and Traveller parents are protected from conviction for the non-attendance of their children at school where they can demonstrate that:
To protect the continuity of learning for Gypsy and Traveller children, the DfES introduced the concept of ‘dual registration’. If parents inform their ‘base’ school or the Travellers Education Support Service that the family will be travelling and intend to return by a given time, the school may keep the child’s place for them and record their absence as authorised. The child can then register at other schools whilst the family is travelling.
Gypsy and Traveller parents can also take advantage of school-based distance learning whereby school teachers and the Traveller Education Support Service work together to provide pupils with a package of curriculum based material to be taken away and studied by them whilst the family is travelling away from the area.
Gypsy and Traveller parents are protected from conviction for the non-attendance of their children at school where they can demonstrate that:
- They are engaged in a trade or business of such a nature that requires them to travel from place to place.
- The child has attended at a school as a registered pupil as regularly as the nature of that trade permits; and
- Where the child has attained the age of six years, they have attended school for at least 200 half-day sessions during the preceding school year (September to July).
To protect the continuity of learning for Gypsy and Traveller children, the DfES introduced the concept of ‘dual registration’. If parents inform their ‘base’ school or the Travellers Education Support Service that the family will be travelling and intend to return by a given time, the school may keep the child’s place for them and record their absence as authorised. The child can then register at other schools whilst the family is travelling.
Gypsy and Traveller parents can also take advantage of school-based distance learning whereby school teachers and the Traveller Education Support Service work together to provide pupils with a package of curriculum based material to be taken away and studied by them whilst the family is travelling away from the area.
