Early Help & Family Engagement: Fixed Penalty Notice Code of Conduct - School attendance
3. Circumstances where a Fixed Penalty Notice May be issued
The issuing of a Fixed Penalty Notice is considered appropriate in the following circumstances:
Leave of Absence - In cases of absence from school when the child has been taken on holiday or had a leave of absence during term time and the absence has not been authorised by the school. Schools must have made the parent aware of their policies in relation to leave of absence through publicity materials, general correspondence, policies etc. There must be at least 10 consecutive sessions (5 school days) lost due to unauthorised leave of absence during term time and the child has attendance below 95.2% (combined National average for both primary and secondary schools 2018/19), for the previous 12 months, including the holiday absence period.
Persistant Absence - For those parents of children where there is unauthorised absence, notification of unsatisfactory attendance has been issued via the Rotherham School Attendance Matters Pathway, and when unsatisfactory attendance remains a concern. Where the Local Authority School Attendance Panel (LASAP) or the FPN panel (subgroup of the LASAP) agree that a Fixed Penalty Notice is the most appropriate way to deal with non-school attendance
Excluded pupils - Where an excluded pupil is present in a public place during the school hours of the school where the child is on roll.
In each of the above scenarios, each parent may receive a separate Fixed Penalty Notice for each child.
Rotherham is committed to ensuring that children are supported to attend school when it is open and seeks to reduce incidences of unauthorised absence. A parent will not be issued with more than 1 FPN in respect of an individual child in any 2-year period commencing on the last day of the leave absence pertaining to the FPN. For additional offences the Local Authority may proceed directly to a criminal prosecution without issuing an FPN. This is designed to be a deterrent to prevent children being taken out of school for holiday’s / family trips / special occasions repeatedly in their school career. Where poor school attendance is evident following an FPN, or where there is a second unauthorised leave of absence within a 2 year period (commencing on the last day of the leave of absence pertaining to the FPN) then there will be escalation to the multidisciplinary LASAP, for a decision on an appropriate course of action which may include legal action through the Court.
