[guide.chat] benefits fine
- From: vanessa <qwerty1234567a@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "GUIDE CHAT" <guide.chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:48:32 +0100
Truants' parents face benefits fine
NUT: Parents need to be part of the solution to truanting and not be further
alienated from the education of their children
Commenting on the Behaviour Tsar Charlie Taylor?s proposals to take unpaid
truancy fines directly from child benefit payments, Christine Blower, General
Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers? union said:
NASUWT: 30% of teachers falsely accused
30% of teachers have had a false allegation made against them by a pupil, a
shocking new survey conducted by the NASUWT, the largest teachers? union and
the Tonight programme has revealed.
Teachers' union blames the parents
Increasing teachers' sanctions will not help improve bad behaviour among school
pupils, the UK's largest teachers' union has said.
Michael Gove will announce plans to let headmasters launch criminal proceedings
against pupils today, in a radical overhaul of the power structure in schools.
Parents of truanting children are to be fined from their child benefit under
new measures to increase school attendance announced today.
Charlie Taylor, the coalition's expert adviser on behaviour, proposes hiking
the fine from £50 to £60 - and then doubling it to £120 if payment is not
received within 28 days - to improve the current system.
There are currently 54 million school days lost every year, with over 400,000
pupils missing the equivalent of at least a month off school.
New Labour ministers introduced fines for truanting parents in 2004, but
officials say the way they operate is muddled.
The penalty notice is currently withdrawn after 42 days and local authorities
are then required to prosecute parents. Around one-third of those prosecuted
and found guilty did not receive a fine or sanction, according to the
Department for Education (DfE).
"We know that some parents simply allow their children to miss lessons and then
refuse to pay the fine," Mr Taylor said.
"It means the penalty has no effect, and children continue to lose vital days
of education they can never recover.
"Recouping the fines through child benefit, along with other changes to the
overall system, will strengthen and simplify the system. It would give
headteachers the backing they need in getting parents to play their part."
Parents who do not receive child benefit would have the money recovered through
the county courts, it is proposed.
Headteachers are responsible for deciding when a fine should be imposed. Mr
Taylor backs giving them discretion over how much term-time holiday is
acceptable, but believes regulations should be strengthened to ensure schools
only give permission in 'exceptional circumstances'.
The Taylor review also recommends calling on Ofsted to set specific timed
targets for schools with especially low levels of attendance.
He wants more steps to be taken to address the problem in primary school, as
this is where truancy habits develop.
"The earlier schools address poor attendance patterns, the less likely it is
that they will become a long term issue," he added.
"The best primary schools realise this and take a rigorous approach to poor
attendance from the very start of school life."
Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg said it remained the right thing to
fine the parents of persistent truants - but that ensuring truancy is tackled
early is even more important.
"Schools need to be places children want to attend with engaging teaching and a
relevant curriculum," he commented.
"The government is also cutting back on education welfare officers who can
identify truancy early.
"We need to look at the schools who have addressed this such as Barlow Hall
Primary in Manchester and secondaries like the City Academy Norwich and see how
we can learn from their success."
Only three per cent of pupils who miss over half of school get five or more
A*-C grades at GCSE. That compares to 73% of those who miss less than five per
cent of school, the DfE said.
The coalition's commitment to giving headteachers more freedom was reflected in
new rules published on Friday.
Excluded pupils had been able to return to school against the wishes of their
headteacher. Now heads can insist on the permanent exclusion of a pupil where
that decision is 'legal, reasonable and fair'.
from
Vanessa The Google Girl.
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