School attendance

Attendance support is managed by the Education Inclusion Service (EIS).

School attendance is important for your child, both in terms of their education as well as for their well-being and life opportunities. Solihull EIS is committed to supporting children to attend school.

School attendance matters

You must provide your child’s school with a reason if they are not attending. Schools will always try to support children who find attending school challenging. If attendance becomes persistent (under 90%) or severe (under 50%) they may work with us to attempt to break barriers to attendance.

However, if your child misses school for an unacceptable reason you may receive a penalty fine or be prosecuted.

Leave during term time

A holiday or family event is not a good enough reason for your child to miss out on school.

If you take your child out of school and do not have the head teacher’s permission you could receive a fine.

It’s the law that your child attends school

Unauthorised absences may result in prosecution that can lead to:

A fine of up to £2,500 per parent per child
A Community Order or custodial sentence
A criminal record.

The trigger for a fixed penalty notice is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence.

If your child keeps missing out on school you will be sent a warning letter.

If your child’s attendance still does not improve you could receive a fine of:

£60 if paid within 21 days
£120 if paid between 22 and 28 days

Fines are issued to both parents for each child and must be paid in full, we will not accept part payment of the amount.

If you do not pay the fine this could lead to prosecution.

What should I do if I am having difficulties getting my child to school?

If you are having difficulty getting your child to school or think there may be a reason why your child does not want to go to school, you should always speak to the school. Schools will work with the EIS to support children and families to attend school.

Arriving late for school

Schools take a register twice a day, first thing in the morning and in the afternoon.

If your child is late and cannot provide an explanation then it may be marked as an unauthorised absence. If you child is late on multiple occasions this could result in legal action.