Education Welfare Service

Our Education Welfare Service provides help, advice and support to schools and families experiencing school attendance related difficulties. We hold the statutory responsibility for the following areas of work:

• Elective Home Educated
• Children Missing Education
• Child employment and performance licences
• Chaperone licences
• Legal sanctions relating to school attendance, including Penalty Notices and Prosecutions, under section 4441 4441A of the Education Act 1996
• School Attendance Orders
• Education Supervision Orders
• Parenting Orders

• Working in partnership with schools to develop strategies to raise school attendance and reduce persistent absence.
• Providing advice and guidance on all aspects of school attendance issues.
• Completing register reviews
• Completing 12 weeks of fast-track interventions including the use of parenting contracts on school attendance referrals
• Developing mediation partnerships between home and school
• Facilitating case conferences
• Creating paperwork around school attendance for all schools to use.
• Providing training on Penalty Notices and other school related functions
• Using statistical analysis and data as a means of targeting resources and identifying specific school related issues
• Having a dedicated specialist Education Welfare Officer, working as part of the MASH team
• Having a dedicated specialist Education Welfare Officer working as part of the virtual school

• Conducting home visits to help parents/carers to remove the barriers creating school attendance issues
• Working directly with pupils to solve difficulties affecting their rights and responsibilities within the education law
• Supporting families when transferring schools
• Helping parents to understand their rights and responsibilities within the education law
• Acting as a link between home and school when communication has broken down
• Providing a link with other agencies on behalf of families
• Providing information on education otherwise than at school

However, persistent failure in ensuring your child attends school regularly can lead to prosecution.