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UK: Parents face £1,000 fine in truancy crackdown

The Telegraph ^ | 9/4/2007 | Graeme Paton

Posted on by bruinbirdman

Parents face fines of up to £1,000 if they allow their children to roam the streets after they have been thrown out of school.

The penalties - which come into force for the first time this week - are part of a new crackdown on soaring truancy rates and bad behaviour.

Parents of pupils suspended from school will also be hauled before headteachers for a "reintegration interview" before their child is allowed back into the classroom.

Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, said he wanted parents to take responsibility for their children's behaviour.

"Good discipline and strong leadership are vital for driving up standards in our schools," he said. "But schools can only do so much in isolation. Parents have to be responsible for instilling right and wrong too.

"Our measures help to build strong and supportive partnerships between parents and teachers that will create a more united front against poor behaviour.

"I want heads to engage with parents, including using parenting contracts at an early stage so that schools and parents are able to work together to prevent bad behaviour from escalating.

"It is also important that parents take a central role when a child is excluded - making sure they are at home working, rather than treating the exclusion as a holiday or an excuse to wander the streets."

Under laws - first announced in the Education Bill last year - parents can be hit with fines of £50 if their children are found in a public place without justification in the first five days of an exclusion.

The fine will rise to £100 if it is not paid within 28 days and if parents do not pay up after 42 days they face prosecution and a possible £1,000 fine.

The reforms also allow headteachers to require parents to sign "contracts" governing the behaviour of their children even before pupils have been excluded.

Mr Balls said it was right that, in the "rare cases" where parents "persistently obstruct or fail to work with schools on their child's behaviour", heads could seek parenting orders from the courts.

Parenting orders enforce the terms of a parenting contract. If parents fail to comply with the order, they face being fined.

However, the proposals were attacked by the Conservatives, who said that headteachers should have more power to expel pupils.

In the past, there has been criticism that some decisions by heads to expel pupils have been overturned on appeal.

Michael Gove, shadow children's secretary, said: "Let's not kid ourselves that these measures, welcome as they are, do anything like enough to solve the behaviour problem in our schools.

"You can't have a proper discipline policy unless heads are free to exclude disruptive pupils without being second-guessed. And children who've been excluded shouldn't be left to sink or swim. They need a tough love regime to turn round their behaviour and get their lives back on track."

Meanwhile, the Government also announced today that all secondary school children will have lessons in "happiness" and emotional wellbeing to help improve discipline in the classroom.

Mr Balls unveiled a £7 million-a-year initiative to expand lessons to older pupils following a successful pilot in primary schools.



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To: bruinbirdman

Both parents have to work FT in Britain too — to pay for all the free government services. What’s a parent to do?



by 2 posted onby Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?)

To: Snickersnee

"the Government also announced today that all secondary school children will have lessons in "happiness" and emotional wellbeing " Happiness is free Ritilin. yitbos



by 3 posted onby bruinbirdman ("Those who control language control minds." -- Ayn Rand)

To: bruinbirdman

Backass backwards. I thought kids were the responsibility of their parents. I know this is the UK; but we hear everyday of rights of citizens being eroded both here and other countries. Does or doesn’t our government have the power to rule citizens? I don’t believe so.



by 4 posted onby freekitty (May the eagles long fly over our beautiful and free American sky.)

To: bruinbirdman

the government also announced today that all secondary school children will have lessons in "happiness" and emotional wellbeing



I still remember the horror in 1st grade of learning that there was a 2nd grade.



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