In a novel approach to reducing truancy, a school has opted to substitute the usual £160 fines with educational courses aimed at enlightening parents about the importance of regular attendance.

Netley Primary School, situated in Camden, North London, is inviting parents who might otherwise face a fixed penalty to participate in a series of four sessions. These courses are designed to highlight the consequences of chronic absenteeism.

Gareth Morris, the headteacher, explained that his innovative strategy draws inspiration from the model of speed awareness courses offered to drivers as an alternative to monetary penalties.

The initiative has garnered praise from Camden Council, with the school reporting a significant enhancement in attendance. Specifically, 75 percent of students whose parents attended the sessions have shown marked improvement.

Despite the positive feedback, the education charity Impetus cautions schools to proceed carefully. They warn that if not executed thoughtfully, such programs could potentially strain the relationship between parents and educational institutions.

Mr. Morris noted that the parents at his urban school, which received a ‘good’ rating in its latest Ofsted evaluation, are both highly aspirational and notably protective of their children.

He told Schools Week: ‘If there’s a slight cold or it’s a little bit wet outside, the parents are a little bit nervous about their children, so can be a little bit overcautious.

‘We realised that actually, rather than going straight to the fixed penalty notices, we need some more support to understand the issues.’

Gareth Morris, headteacher Netley Primary School in Camden, North London, with its family and children’s champion Simone Sarosh-Cambridge

Netley Primary School in Camden, North London, is asking parents at risk of getting a fixed penalty notice to attend four sessions about the risks of persistent absence

Mr Morris added that a ‘shift in culture’ and the price of air travel since the pandemic had led to surge in parents taking children on holiday during term time.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: ‘If we take out holidays during term time, then our persistent absence has reduced significantly.

‘However, a fixed penalty notice is not enough to deter these holidays as the fine of £120 is significantly cheaper than the thousands of pounds a family can save by going in term time.

‘A wider discussion about radically changing the approach of how school terms work is needed.’

Mr Morris and the school’s family support worker, Simone Sarosh-Cambridge, have been offering the four-hour sessions which take place weekly after drop-off.

Parents learn about what persistent absence can mean for their child in future, from their chances of getting into university to their future salary.

They are shown a sequence of a train, with all children starting in the first carriage – before those who miss a day of school move back a carriage, until they are much further behind their classmates.

Parents also do a jigsaw puzzle before realising some pieces are missing, which is intended to show them the anxiety children feel when they cannot succeed because they have missed learning.

Mr Morris said 12 parents were offered awareness courses and eight took part – who have seen their child’s attendance increase from below 90 per cent to above 95 per cent. The other four families received fines.

Schools in Camden are said to have the highest sickness absence rates in inner London, with one in five pupils across the borough persistently absent – missing 10 per cent of sessions a year.

The Centre for Social Justice has urged the Government to introduce mandatory attendance awareness courses across the country at the beginning of the legal intervention process for unauthorised absence.

The think tank believes parents should be referred to a course before being issued a fine, adding that a UK rollout would see over one million fewer days lost to absence over a parliamentary period.

But Dr Carlie Goldsmith, senior policy advisor at Impetus, said: ‘While a course that supports parents and builds relationships could be very effective, a badly implemented or coercive approach to attendance awareness courses risks further damaging the already fractured relationship between parents and schools.

‘As initiatives like this become more common, robust evaluation will be particularly important.’