Seven Staffordshire parents face court action for failing to ensure their children attended school regularly
Seven Staffordshire parents have faced court action for failing to ensure their children attended school regularly – but none of them turned up for their hearings.
Magistrates found the six cases brought by Staffordshire County Council to North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Monday (October 6) proven in the parents’ absence however.
Five cases have been adjourned for sentencing at a later date, but a sixth case involving two parents was dealt with by way of a fine. The pair, whose son failed to attend his South Staffordshire school on any day between November 29 2024 and January 10 this year, were fined £180 and ordered to pay a £72 surcharge and £125 prosecution costs.
The court heard that the parents attended a meeting to discuss the teenager’s absence. They said their boy was struggling to get out of the house and was nervous when they went out as a family because he was scared of crowds
A mum in the Stone area faced court action after her daughter was absent from school 104 times between January 28 and June 17 this year. Magistrates heard that the mum suspected the girl had ADHD, and she was described as being “difficult at home but this was not seen in school”.
The court was told adjustments had been offered at the school to help improve her attendance, such as taking an earlier lunchbreak and not being required to do PE. The girl had said she wouldn’t leave the house because of anxiety, but then she was seen in town, a prosecutor told magistrates.
A Stafford teenager missed school on 19 occasions between December 9 2024 and June 5 this year. Magistrates heard his mum had three previous convictions relating to her children’s’ school attendance during the past two years.
A teenage girl attended her South Staffordshire school just seven times between November 13 and January 10, clocking up 36 unauthorised absences, the court heard. Her mother said she had refused to attend school and the parent didn’t know what to do.
Magistrates were also told that a teenage boy had only attended his Rugeley school eight times between November 12 and December 13 2024, meaning his mother faced court action. Another mother, whose teenager failed to attend a Burntwood school at all between December 18 2024 and May 8 this year, had said she “couldn’t get him to go to school without physical force”, the court heard.
