Guidance on Education-Related Parenting Contracts for Truancy under Section 19 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003

It has been agreed that, if a pupil fails to attend school regularly, Essex schools may draw up parenting contracts with parents, in consultation with the Education Welfare Officer, in accordance with the DfES Guidance on Education-Related Parenting Contracts, Parenting Orders and Penalty Notices.

Overview

If a pupil fails to attend school regularly, the governing body of the school may consider whether it would be appropriate to offer a parenting contract to the parent. Parenting contracts can be a useful tool in identifying and focusing on the issues behind the non-school attendance and in developing a productive relationship with parents to address these issues.

Entry into a parenting contract is voluntary. The parent cannot be compelled to enter into a parenting contract if they do not wish to do so. Equally, there is no obligation on the school governing body to offer a parenting contract in cases of non-attendance.

A parenting contract is a formal written agreement between a parent and the governing body of the school and should contain:

  • a statement by the parent that they agree to comply for a specified period with whatever requirements are specified in the contract and;
  • a statement by the governing body agreeing to provide support to the parent for the purpose of complying with the contract.

The type of support should be according to the needs of the parent. This could include provision of a parenting programme, family group conference, advice on drugs or alcohol or simply regular meetings with a member of school staff.

Failure to comply with a parenting contract cannot lead to action for breach of contract or civil damages. There is no direct sanction for a parent’s failure to comply with, or refusal to sign, a parenting contract. However, if the pupil’s irregular attendance continues or escalates to such a level where prosecution is deemed appropriate, this should be presented as evidence in the case.

A parenting contract can be used in conjunction with a Pastoral Support Plan. Attendance should be assessed over a period of not less than 4 weeks during term-time before a parenting contract is arranged.

Liaison between the head teacher, governing body, LEA and other agencies involved

If an Essex school decides to use parenting contracts they will notify the Education Welfare Officer using the pro forma (Appendix A).

Information should be shared about the pupil and family and any other agencies working with the family identified before entering into a contract. If other agencies are involved, consultation should take place to discuss any underlying issues and to consider the types of requirements and support that might usefully be included in the contract.

Drawing up the contract

The governing body should write to the parent before the meeting outlining what a parenting contract is and making it clear that it is not a punitive or compulsory measure, but intended to support the parent and improve the pupil’s school attendance.

Once the requirements and support elements of the contract have been agreed, the governing body and the parent should write up the contract together and sign it. The contract should be written in language that the parent can easily understand (including a translation where necessary). A copy is given to all parties.

If the parent fails to attend the meeting without good reason or notification, further attempts should be made to contact them and arrange an alternative date. A letter would be appropriate in these circumstances. All such attempts should be recorded.

Where there is separate work being carried out with the pupil (for example, through a Pastoral Support Plan) it may be desirable for the contract to support this or include work involving the parent and pupil together.

A further requirement will normally be that the parent attends some form of guidance or counselling programme based on an assessment of the parent’s needs. This might typically consist of a parenting support or parenting education programme but could be any form of support that might help the parent improve their child’s attendance at school. The party entering into the parenting contract with the parent (i.e. the school governing body) is responsible for bearing the costs of any support provided under the contract.

The governing body’s side of the contract is a statement that it agrees to provide the parent with support for the purpose of complying with the requirements and should specify the types of support that will be provided under the contract.

A suggested format for a contract is attached (Appendix B)

Duration of contracts

There is no specified time limit for contracts in the Anti-Social Behaviour Act so this is a question of what is reasonable and effective.

Delivering the contract

Responsibility for delivering the contract and for helping to manage its overall outcome must be allocated to a member of the school’s governing body. The governing body may choose to delegate the responsibility to the head teacher who may delegate to a senior member of staff.

Delivering the contract will involve contact with other interested agencies such as the provider of a parenting programme.

Dealing with breaches

The governing body (or head teacher on behalf of the governing body) should be working with the parent to gain their co-operation and compliance with the contract but will have to judge whether any breaches are reasonable and whether the contract remains useful and should continue.

There is no liability in tort or contract for breaching a parenting contract.

Failure to comply with a contract, coupled with continuing poor school attendance, may lead the LEA to consider prosecuting the parent for failing to ensure their child attends school regularly, in which case evidence that the parent failed to comply with the contract could be presented to the court.

It is, therefore, important that any breach of the contract is recorded so that it can be presented to the court if necessary.

Upon learning of a breach the member of the governing body or delegated member of school staff responsible for overseeing the contract should contact the parent to seek an explanation of the breach. If the explanation is reasonable and the contract is still proving useful, then this should all be recorded and the contract should continue as normal. If the explanation shows that the contract is proving difficult to comply with through no fault of the parent, then a meeting should be arranged with the parent to review the contract and amend it, if appropriate.

If no explanation is given or the member of the governing body or delegated member of school staff responsible for overseeing the contract is not satisfied with the explanation, they should serve the parent with a warning letter (Appendix C) and send a copy of this to the Education Welfare Officer. If there are further breaches, the member of the governing body or delegated member of school staff responsible for overseeing the contract should arrange a meeting with the parent to review the contract and how it can be made to work. The parent should be reminded that if a contract fails the LEA may seek to prosecute the parent under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 if the parent continues to fail in their duty to ensure their child attends school regularly.

Parents who refuse to enter into a parenting contract or with whom it is impossible to agree a contract

If a parent refuses to enter into a contract then the member of the governing body or delegated member of school staff responsible for overseeing the contract should seek constructively to meet all legitimate concerns and ensure that a written record is kept of all efforts to negotiate a contract. This would include whether the parent was at least willing to meet to discuss the possibility and, if so, what was said.

If a parent refuses to enter into a contract or fails to agree to an appropriate contract, and their child’s poor attendance continues, the school should refer the matter formally to the Education Welfare Officer for consideration of legal proceedings.

Further information on parenting contracts is available on

R:\Legal Intervention Team\Legal Intervention Team\Parenting Contracts\Parenting Contracts for Truancy under Section 19 of the Anti.doc

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