THE number of parents in Bracknell who have been prosecuted for taking their children out of school in term-time has hit a record high for the borough, as the government continues to crack down on truancy.

Figures released through an FOI request to Bracknell Forest Council by the Bracknell News, reveal the total number of parents who have been prosecuted for allowing their child to skip school has soared from just 11 in 2013 to 46 in 2014 and a whopping 57 this year.

A staggering 502 penalty notices were issued last year, a huge jump from the 194 in 2013, with 479 handed out this year to date.

The statistics are a far cry from the academic years of 2011 and 2012, when only 11 and 7 prosecutions took place respectively.

Though fixed penalty issues were not in use by the council in 2011, by 2012, 94 had been given out.

Local Councils and schools can use various legal powers if a child is missing school without good reason, including issuing a parenting order, an education supervision order, a school attendance order, a penalty notice or parents can risk being prosecuted.

Penalty notices are £60 and can rise to £120 if not paid within 21 days but within 28 days.

If parents don’t pay, they could get a fine of up to £2,500, a community order, or a jail sentence of up to three months and the court also slaps them with a parenting order.

Warfield parent Richard Claypole was recently fined £240 for taking his two children out of Whitegrove Primary School for seven days after winning an online contest to watch Liverpool FC play in Brisbane.

Speaking to the News, he said: “The system is there for a reason and this has always been my view but it has gone from one extreme to the other. Before the system was abused a little but now it has swung the other way.

“Fundamentally it’s there to catch school kids who are regularly truants and have poor attendance records and I agree with that but I think there may be opportunities for children to have experiences out of school that might be more beneficial to them.

“At the end of the day, It is down to the kid’s development. Education is about life experience as well, not just clattering around a classroom with your head in a book and there may be a risk that other people will be put in the same place as myself.

“It is a revenue generator and putting revenue ahead of the children’s development isn’t right. The head teacher should have the authority to look at the child’s development and make a decision.”

Bracknell News:

The Claypole family, pictured here at the Australia Zoo, say life experience is just as important as school

Cllr Gareth Barnard, Bracknell Forest Council’s executive member for children, young people and learning, said: “Regular attendance at school is important for every child and is required by law. Neither the school nor local authority is at liberty to provide discretion in such matters.

“The current system is not only there to discourage parents from taking their child out of school during term time, but also as a robust measure to safeguard their child’s education.

“Parents are informed of the scheme from the outset of their child starting in reception and we have information on our website, so no parent should ever be caught unawares should they decide to remove their child from school during term time.”