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Fast track

The Department for Education and Skills set up a Working Group to look at ways of securing a more effective prosecution process for school non-attendance.

All stakeholders in the group including LEA's, teachers, magistrates and justice clerks.

A Fast Track Framework was developed, which Bexley now has in place in many of its schools, both primary and secondary.

This framework concentrates on early interventions and aims to ensure a faster and more effective approach to the implementation of intervention strategies for tackling school non-attendance. In cases where it is identified to be appropriate, parents will have up to 12 weeks (one term) to ensure their child regularly attends school or will face prosecution.

The Fast-Track Framework is not about punishing parents - it is about focusing on strategies to address difficulties. The prosecution process itself will NOT change.

Bexley's Fast Track Framework

  • Early identification by school
  • Parents informed of poor attendance
  • Meeting in school to resolve perceived problems including support strategies
  • Referral to Education Welfare Service
  • Assessment of circumstances around attendance problems
  • Meeting to set and Action Plan with targets and support strategies
  • Follow up meeting to ensure targets and support met
  • Decision on appropriateness of court action

For further information about the Fast Track Framework, please contact Penny Grey; Senior Education Welfare Officer on 0203 045 4023.

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