School Attendance: Fixed Penalty Notice Code of conduct
7.Notice to improve
A notice to improve is a final opportunity for a parent to engage in support and improve attendance before a penalty notice is issued. If the national threshold has been met and support is appropriate but offers of support have not been engaged with by the parent or have not worked, a notice to improve must be sent to give parents a final chance to engage in support.
An authorised officer can choose not to use one in any case, including cases where support is appropriate, but they do not expect a notice to improve would have any impact on a parent’s behaviour (e.g. because the parent has already received one for a similar offence)
A Notice to Improve letter should be issued by the school prior to requesting an FPN from the Local Authority in line with the School Attendance Matters Pathway
Once the Notice to improve letter has been sent school should monitor attendance by tracking the number of sessions attended out of the possible sessions available and percentage attendance of the child.
The recommended length of the improvement period should be between 3 and 6 weeks. School is responsible for determining whether sufficient improvement has been made, in line with the Notice to Improve. However, a final decision on this will be made by the local authority
If attendance has improved sufficiently specific to the individual circumstances, school should continue with a support plan.
If attendance does not sufficiently improve after the Notice to Improve has been issued (further unauthorised absence in the monitoring period) school should progress with the SAMP Pathway
The Local Authority will require supporting documentation and relevant information outlined in the School Attendance Matters Pathway Guidance including all correspondence with the parent including offers of support, to establish whether a Fixed Penalty Notice is appropriate.
