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Original poster

£60 fine for illness- unauthorised - advice please

133 replies

Luckz66 · 08/04/2019 12:21

Hi all, desperately seeking advice please!
On 18/3/19 I kept my son off school for the week as he had a terrible sore throat and cough.
I called in the school everyday and gave them updates on him.
However, today I received a letter from the education authority stating I am being fined £60 for that week as the absences are unauthorised.
The letter didn’t even go to the correct address as the school somehow has my address wrong on the system and the guy from down the road has brought it up to myself.
Also, I have had one for my sons dad (we are not together) sent to the wrong address also.
I know that if he gets fined too will cause issues as he’s going to go mad at me for keeping him off school for what looks unauthorised but I only did it because he was ill.
Totally confused on what to do now!
Help please!

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

flapjackfairy · 10/04/2019 08:58

Point out that your letter and the dad's were both sent to the wrong addresses which is a data breach that you intend to report to the education authority and make a formal complaint about. It could have lead to safeguarding issue etc etc
You should also report and complain to chair of governors which will be fun as you are one. But as you know they will have to investigate it which will drag the educ auth in to the process. If you lose you can then appeal it through the governors again. No way would I pay this .
Honestly the world is mad ! Do they expect everyone to send their sick kids in to infect everyone these days.

hazeyjane · 10/04/2019 08:58

They aren't allowed to mark it as unauthorised when they were sick. They have to prove he wasn't sick. You can easily prove he was.

Exactly...and surely if they thought he wasn't sick this should be done at the time, not in retrospect.

CornishMaid1 · 10/04/2019 08:58

Did you do anything in that week or did he just stay home in bed? I am wondering whether he felt a bit better, you took him out for a bit and he went back and told all his friends he went to X which is why they are saying unauthorised.

You can always get a letter from the GP, but easier than that you say the GP gave you a prescription, so just give the school evidence of the prescription. That would prove he was under the care of a GP and the GP thought there was enough of an issue to give a prescription.

endofthelinefinally · 10/04/2019 09:03

I am so glad my dc are adults now.
One of mine was off school for 3 months following an injury at school.
I never heard a peep about attendance. They wouldn't have dared.
OP I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.

prh47bridge · 10/04/2019 09:07

@ThreeAnkleBiters and @CripsSandwiches

The OP certainly has some evidence. Without seeing it I don't know whether the evidence she has should persuade the school. However, I was responding to posters who appeared to be arguing that parents don't have to prove their child was ill if challenged.

LetsDialDownTheIanPaisley · 10/04/2019 09:11

I'm shocked that schools can issue fines. What happens if you don't pay?

Hollowvictory · 10/04/2019 09:12

You get a bigger fine if you don't pay

Seeline · 10/04/2019 09:21

I thought it was the LEA that issued the fines- nothing to do with the school at all?

CripsSandwiches · 10/04/2019 09:28

@prh47bridge

So how do you suggest a parent proves their child is ill after the fact? It would literally be impossible.

What you are saying is that the school can decide to randomly fine a parent because their child was off school, they can set impossible standards of proof (you are suggesting that a GP appointment and prescription isn't sufficient, and many legitimate illnesses don't even require a GP appointment and if the school wait until after the illness it would be impossible to get proof in retrospect) and your breezy tone suggests that we should all just accept this as the way things are.

For many families this bill would be more than they have lying around. It would be terrifying. Lots of people are suggesting OP should "just pay" £120 when she has done absolutely nothing wrong. Does it not occur to you that this is absolutely outrageous. Or should we all just accept that we might have to randomly pay the school one hundred odd quid every time our child is sick?

HolesinTheSoles · 10/04/2019 09:31

@prh47bridge
So what in your opinion is sufficient proof that a child is ill? Should we be making sick kids sicker by bringing them into school (and infecting the rest of the class)? Should we make a GP appointment for every absence? And even this according to you might not be sufficient?

It is 100% clear OP should not pay a fine when she has done nothing wrong.

BlackCatSleeping · 10/04/2019 09:33

Lots of people are suggesting OP should "just pay" £120 when she has done absolutely nothing wrong. Does it not occur to you that this is absolutely outrageous.

It is outrageous and it is disgusting, but what is the alternative? It's easy to say take it to court, but can the OP take time off for that? Pay legal fees? Organise childcare? For a lot of women, 120 pounds is worth it not to have to deal with an abusive Ex.

HolesinTheSoles · 10/04/2019 09:40

@BlackCatSleeping

This is insane and I can't believe people just happily accept it. I would suggest that anyone who can afford to take it to court does so to make a stand against the terrible behaviour of the school. If you can't you should make a formal complaint as PP suggested. Also I like the suggestion of doing an article shaming the school in the local press. They shouldn't get away with this.

Hollowvictory · 10/04/2019 09:41

The op is a governor at the school so going to the press is a strange proposal

HolesinTheSoles · 10/04/2019 09:43

The op is a governor at the school so going to the press is a strange proposal

I missed this. Honestly I would be willing to make a massive stand against this. Personally I could afford to just pay the fine and forget about it but this is such obviously terrible behaviour on the part of the school I'd feel a responsibility to make a stand to prevent it happening to other families. There is no sense in which this is going to help improve attendance.

prh47bridge · 10/04/2019 09:44

I am not saying a GP appointment and prescription is always inadequate. I am saying I haven't seen what the OP has provided the school so I cannot comment on whether or not it is adequate. The school appears to think it isn't.

And to say again, if the child's attendance is otherwise good it is unlikely that the school would ask for proof of illness or that the parents would be fined.

MoreSlidingDoors · 10/04/2019 09:45

Point out that your letter and the dad's were both sent to the wrong addresses which is a data breach that you intend to report to the education authority and make a formal complaint about.

Eh?

Bigearringsbigsmile · 10/04/2019 09:47

Also, if you phoned in every day did they offer to provide work for your child to do? They are supposed to do so.

No they are not. if your child is too sick to be in school, they are too sick to be doing work at home.

BlackCatSleeping · 10/04/2019 09:49

@HolesinTheSoles

I agree that it's a shitty system and I don't think it's a case of happily accepting it. Many people have taken it to court, some have won, some lost, but nothing has changed.

The school are obviously having huge problems with attendance. The Head is under pressure. It's crap for the OP. I agree.

Felicicat · 10/04/2019 10:01

As has been previously mentioned, if you don't pay then the Local Authority will either take you to court or drop the matter.

If I were you, I wouldn't pay and let them take you to court. You have a defence under section 444 of the Education Act 1996 in that your child was prevented from attending by reason of sickness.

As PP have mentioned, unlike in most criminal cases where the burden of proof is on the prosecution, this is what's known as a reverse burden, i.e. you have to prove your child was sick. However, the standard of proof is the balance of probabilities. You just have to convince the magistrates that it is more likely than not your child was sick. The evidence you have mentioned would seem to be enough.

Going to court is scary, no doubt. You might want to speak to a solicitor. Although I don't believe legal aid would be available as the maximum penalty is a fine (I could be wrong on this so you might want to check).

However, I suspect once a lawyer at the local authority actually has eyes on this a sensible view will be taken as I can't see how there would be a realistic prospect of conviction.

Good luck!

HolesinTheSoles · 10/04/2019 10:06

And to say again, if the child's attendance is otherwise good it is unlikely that the school would ask for proof of illness or that the parents would be fined.

Except this is exactly what is happening. My eldest had loads of absences in YR easily three weeks over the year - mostly the first two terms. The fact his attendance was not good does not magically give me the ability to magic up proof. My GP does call backs and if it was clearly a virus or tummy bug would refuse to see him so it would be impossible for me to provide proof.

prh47bridge · 10/04/2019 10:21

The fact his attendance was not good does not magically give me the ability to magic up proof

Nonetheless, it puts the school in a position where they will be expected to challenge your child's absence and seek some kind of proof if your child is off ill. I'm not saying it is easy for parents in this situation, but this is how the current system works. The underlying problem is that no-one has yet managed to design a system that reliably differentiates between those parents who only keep their child off school when they are genuinely ill and those who use illness as an excuse when there is nothing wrong with their child.

hazeyjane · 10/04/2019 10:32

prh47bridge

Do you not think a school should question the absence at the time, rather than marking it as unauthorised (without informing the op) and weeks later sending out a fine. The op has done what is required of her (phoning daily to inform of absence) and done more than is required of her (seen gp and kept prescription....this is not a requirement for an authorised absence). If it was marked as unauthorized why did the not tell her at the time.

SheldonSaysSo · 10/04/2019 10:35

The trouble is if you decide just to pay the fine this time as it isn't worth the hassle, what happens if your son is ill again. Sometimes kids go through the year with hardly an illness and other times they catch everything going. Posters telling you its a lot of time off obviously haven't had children who have caught several illnesses in a year and at least OP is preventing the spread of the tummy bug by obeying the guidelines.

Bingandflop2019 · 10/04/2019 10:44

Hang on, so if parents are married there's one fine but if separated then there's a fine each?! Wtaf?!?!

My Daughter's Dad is on the birth certificate so has Parental Responsibilities but wants nothing to do with our child! He hasn't seen her in years! So he would also get a fine?!

Hollowvictory · 10/04/2019 10:45

If parents are married there are still 2 fines. The fine is per parent.

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