I will have to deal with a criminal record and loss of job because I eventually took my child out of school
A mother fears she will lose her job due to a criminal record for taking her daughter on vacation during the school term.
Natalie Saunders headed to Bodrum in Turkey with her daughter Ava Martin-Saunders, eight, on May 13 for a week in the sun.
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The 44-year-old knew before she went abroad that her child missing six days of school would be classed as an unauthorized absence, which could result in a £60 fine.
But after returning from their £900 trip, Natalie claims she never received a fine notice in the post and assumed she had dodged it this time.
The mother-of-one, who works in risk and compliance, says she never challenged her daughter’s charges with the school or local authority, claiming she was told it was ‘not guaranteed’ to be there to get one.
However, Natalie says she was ‘devastated’ when she received a letter from West Sussex County Council on August 24 saying she had not paid the fine for her child and could now be taken to court.
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She has now received a single notice of legal proceedings stating that she is being charged under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996.
As a result, Natalie says she now faces a possible criminal conviction and a £1,000 fine, despite claiming she never received a letter about the fine in the first place.
Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 provides that if a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil in a school does not attend school regularly, his parent is guilty of an offence.
A person accused of the offense must prove that they had ‘reasonable justification’ for their child not regularly attending the school.
Since receiving the initial inquiry letter, Natalie says she has been in constant contact with West Sussex County Council, but claims they are continuing the legal process.
She slammed the “madness” of the law, as she has reportedly been told it is up to her to “prove she did not receive the letter,” and not the council to prove they sent it.
Even if she claims to have paid the fine late, the amounts have been returned to her account and she has now been given 21 days from November 5 to plead guilty or not to the charges.
Natalie, from Crawley, West Sussex, said: “We went on holiday from May 13 to 20, which meant she missed six days of school.
“When I picked her up from school the guidance was just over five days that you were probably going to get a fine, so I knew I was probably going to get a fine.
“I weighed everything up and was happy to pay the £60 fine. It was a lot cheaper [to take her in term time]. She was eight years old and had no important exams or tests.
“Her attendance record was good and her capabilities are exactly where she should be. I thought it was only six days.
“I never challenged the fine because friends and family said you don’t always get a fine. The fine wasn’t guaranteed, it was just that you could get one.
“Because I hadn’t received one, I didn’t think I would get a fine, so I didn’t pursue it.
“The first letter I received, which would have been the second letter they sent [West Sussex County Council]was dated July 18th, but I didn’t receive it until August 24th.
‘This letter stated that because I did not accept the offer of the fixed penalty notice, it stated that it was now up to the local authorities to prepare court documents for the offence.
“It’s not that Nice to receive these types of letters. It is now the intention of the local authorities to prepare court papers and it says I could face a fine of up to £1,000 and a criminal record.
“The idea of getting a criminal record is devastating. I’m a good person. If I wasn’t, I would have just given my daughter six days of ‘sickness’. Even if the truth is bad, it’s better than lying .
“It’s a criminal record. I don’t want this to be in my name. I have a good job working in the risk and compliance sector and I’m studying for a degree to progress my career and this could be holding me back. It’s a criminal record.” could screw this up.”
What school fines can parents receive?
THE main issue that can lead to parents being fined is not going to school.
Currently, it is the decision of the municipal council whether or not to impose a fine on parents if their child does not go to school.
However, from August this year the school will have to consider the penalty for absences – when a child has missed 10 or more sessions for unauthorized reasons.
And the fine is £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. This fine is issued to EACH parent.
It is the first time since 2012 that the fine has been increased and is in line with inflation.
If a parent receives a second fine for the same child within three years, it will automatically be charged at the higher rate of £160.
The fines are capped at two fines within a three-year period.
Once this limit has been reached, prosecution or a parenting order may be considered.
According to the official government website, there are only five reasons why your child should be absent from school when school is open.
These are as follows:
- Your child is too sick to attend that day
- You have requested permission from the school in advance for your child to be absent on that day due to special circumstances
- Your child cannot go to school that day because it is a day on which you participate in the religious celebration
- Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and this is not available on that day or has not yet been arranged
- You are a Gypsy/Traveler family with no fixed abode and you have to travel for work that day, which means your child cannot go to the usual school
Natalie said this was the first time she had taken her daughter on holiday during school hours and says she did this because trips were significantly cheaper.
She claims that she was never given a ‘fair’ opportunity to pay the fine and claims that the municipality had her email address all along, so could have contacted her electronically about the fine, but never did.
And despite raising ‘mitigating factors’ with West Sussex County Council, including the alleged ‘poor’ postal service in her area, she says they still plan to take her to court.
After all this, I would never pick my daughter up from school during the school year.
Natalie said: “West Sussex County Council has said it is up to me to prove I never received the lovely letter and in a legal round it is up to the recipient to prove I did not receive the letter. not to prove that they didn’t send it, which is madness.
‘I haven’t seen any evidence of them [the council] that they posted the letter.
‘There are a lot of extenuating circumstances that they take into account. West Sussex County Council uses the Royal Mail, which simply does not deliver.
‘In Crawley my MP told me that there is a staff shortage at Royal Mail and that Crawley is in the top five worst performing cities in Britain.
“There are also issues with postal workers entering the development where I live, and package and mail thefts are a daily occurrence in my development.”
After receiving her first court letter, Natalie claims she asked for a copy of the lump sum fine letter which was ‘lost in the post’ and says she was still able to pay the fine online late.
But after successfully making a payment of £60 and then the increased fine of £120 to West Sussex County Council, she claims these sums were returned directly to her account.
Natalie said, “After all this, I would never take my daughter out of school during the school year again. next years, but we’re not going to do that anymore.
‘I have now been told that I am better off if I plead guilty because the fact is that I took my daughter out of school. It’s a mess.
‘They said that if I plead not guilty, I would have to have a trial and be found guilty anyway, despite all the mitigating factors I mentioned.
“I am guilty of taking my daughter out of school, but I would have paid the fine if I had gotten one, but I never did.”
STRONG STANDING
West Sussex County Council said school governors are directing them to take a strong stance against parents taking their children on holiday during school hours.
A spokesperson for West Sussex County Council said: “The DfE is clear in its position that every moment at school counts and has told headteachers to take a strong stance on unauthorized holidays during school hours.
“We follow the DfE’s national guidance on the use and issuing of fixed penalty notices in such cases, ensuring a consistent approach and practice.
“Unpaid fines are referred to the court, where parents can provide relief if they wish.
“In all cases, the Fixed Penalty Notice and Legal Services teams follow the established legal process and published code of conduct to ensure consistency and fairness in all cases.”
Peter Lamb, Natalie’s Labor MP for Crawley, with whom she has corresponded on the issue, said failure to pay the fine would endanger her child’s welfare.
School rules and laws in Great Britain
Mr Lamb said: ‘We can all appreciate the importance of avoiding unauthorized absences, but the county council’s decision to prosecute Ms Saunders after she indicated she would pay a fine, putting her job at risk, amounts to on endangering the future well-being of a child, while at the same time wasting tax dollars.”
After Natalie claimed the fine was never delivered, she says she also contacted the Royal Mail to track this down, but claims they were unable to help.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We take the delivery of mail very seriously and do our best to ensure all items are delivered on time. We have taken steps to improve our service in Crawley and nationally.
“If a customer has any concerns about deliveries on their route, we encourage them to contact us directly so we can investigate.”
