Schools are going to fine parents £60 if pupils are repeatedly late for registration. The fine will double if it is not paid within 21 days, and parents who refuse to pay could be charged and even jailed. One district has started late-gate officers to ask slow-moving parents why their children are arriving late.
But parents’ groups criticized the move yesterday, and said the fines would eventually punish the children, not their parents. Margaret Morrissey, from a campaign group said: “For some families, the money they will be fined will be very important to them and it will be the children who lose out.”
To follow the new rule, thousands of schools are targeting children who regularly miss registration. Nearly 500 primary and secondary schools in Hampshire have written to parents warning them that from September, parents will be fined if their children are late for school more than ten times in a term.
In Islington, North London, parents could be fined if their child misses registration 12 times in a six-week period. "Poor punctuality could ‘affect everyone’s learning’ and cause ‘social disruption’, "the council said. Government guidance allows school registers to stay open for 30 minutes after the start of the school day, but schools can close them immediately after they are over.
One parent who was questioned by a council officer when her child was late, said: “Mornings get busy. I could get up at 4:30 am but still be late because right before we leave one of the kids will need the toilet.”
Anne Jones, Southend’s councilor for children and learning, said: “We do not want to charge parents but we do want children to be in school and there comes a time when we have no further choices.”
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