No Escape: £1,000 fines for parents who allow their childen to go outdoors while suspended from school

Parents face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to keep children who have been excluded from school indoors.

Under measures from the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which come into force this week, the parents of excluded children found in a public place during school hours, without a good reason, will be fined between £50 and £100. Failure to pay could result in prosecution, which could lead to a £1,000 fine or a community sentence.

To back up the measures, the prime minister, Gordon Brown, told a press conference today that education would be a key area for the government over the coming months, with an emphasis on discipline, standards and improving school leadership.

Under the education act, parents will be expected to take greater responsibility for their child's behaviour, while schools will have more power to deal with unruly pupils.

Parents of excluded pupils will now be required to attend "reintegration interviews" with headteachers to work out ways to manage their child's future behaviour. And parenting contracts, previously only drawn up after a child has been excluded, can now be developed for pupils whose behaviour is causing concern.

Schools and local education authorities must now provide an alternative source of full-time education for excluded pupils after five days out of school, which is 10 days earlier than before the act came into force. Ministers believe this will help stop pupils falling behind in their studies.

Headteachers will also now be able to apply directly to the courts for parenting orders when parents do not take responsibility for their child's actions.

Today, the children, schools and families secretary, Ed Balls, said these new measures would help build "strong and supportive partnerships" between parents and teachers that will create a more "united front" against poor behaviour.

"I want heads to engage with parents, including using parenting contracts at an early stage, so that schools and parents are able to work together to prevent bad behaviour from escalating."

He said it was important that parents took a "central role" when a child is excluded, making sure they are at home working "rather than treating the exclusion as a holiday or an excuse to wander the streets".

However, the shadow children's secretary, Michael Gove, said the measures would do little to tackle bad behaviour. "Let's not kid ourselves that these measures, welcome as they are, do anything like enough to solve the behaviour problem in our schools.

"You can't have a proper discipline policy unless heads are free to exclude disruptive pupils without being second-guessed. And children who've been excluded shouldn't be left to sink or swim. They need a tough love regime to turn round their behaviour and get their lives back on track," he said.

The government also announced that secondary schools would begin to introduce the new social and emotional aspects of learning (Seal) programme, already implemented in almost two-thirds of primary schools.

The programme will teach pupils the skills to effectively resolve conflict, manage their anger and stand up for the rights of others. Ministers hope the programme will go some way to reduce exclusion rates in schools.

The number of fixed-term exclusions in secondary schools rose by 4% last year to 343,840, while the number of permanent exclusions in both primary and secondaries, including academies and special schools, fell by 2.5%, to 9,330.

Sourced over @ http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,,2162169,00.html

Someone tell me how this will improve childrens education ?
what a BIG fat JOKE! Fining the parents 1000 quid is taking the piss
The only reason children bunk off is because they dont like being brain washed!
If a child is suspended then thats because they are not happy at the school they are either being bullied by the teachers or by some misfit bully kid who is being abused at home. Why not make it worse for the child by taking every bit of freedom away from them huh ? and in the process give the parents a wopping fine! Like this is going to sort anything out!