Education Welfare Services (EWS)

Truancy Sweeps

Section 16 of the Crime and Disorder Act gives the Police the authority to stop children they believe may be truanting to establish why they are not in school. In fact this Act requires the Police to carry out so called Truancy Patrols on a regular basis.

In common with the majority of Police Authorities nationally Bexley Police discharge this responsibility in conjunction with Bexley Education Welfare Service (EWS). Regular patrols are carried out across the Borough both on foot and in a Police vehicle.

What can your child expect to happen?

A Police Officer in uniform accompanied by an Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will stop all children who appear to be of school age whether they are accompanied by an adult or not.

Why stop children accompanied by an adult?

Until the patrol speaks with the child and adult they cannot be aware of the reason for the child's absence during the school day and although there may be genuine reasons of the child being out of school this could be a case of condoned truancy or the adult may not be the child's parent or carer.

The EWS is aware that in many cases pupils are out of school without good reason and in some cases the parents have condoned these absences.

What form will the questioning take?

The EWO will have a monitoring form to complete in all cases. Whether the reason for absence is genuine or not. Bexley Council would ask all children and adults to support the truancy initiatives by giving the details required. Only by having the information required is the EWS able to evaluate the process.

The details requested are:

Child's Name
Child's Address and telephone number
Name of person accompanying (if child is accompanied)
Name of parent
Child's date of birth
School attended (if the child is a registered pupil)
Reason why child is out of school
Child's ethnicity

The EWO will also record:

Location where the child was stopped
Details of Police Officer and EWO carrying out the patrol

What will happen next?

The child will be given a contact letter to explain the reason why he/she has been stopped
If the pupil is out of school without good reason they will be returned to the school premises and handed over to a member of the school staff
If the child is considered to be "at risk" they may be accompanied to their home or in extreme cases to a "place designated by the Police as a safe place for the duration of the patrol". Contact will then be made with the child's parent or carer.
Within the next few days the parents/carers of all pupils stopped will receive a letter from the EWS Senior Education Welfare Officer. This letter will go to all parent/carers regardless of whether the absence is considered to be authorised or not.
A copy of this letter will be sent to your child's school who will be aware of the pupil's normal pattern of attendance and the reason for the absence. The schools normal attendance procedures will follow.

Should I be concerned about the legal implications?

If you are satisfied that the reason your child has been out of school is genuine and that the school will also consider the absence authorised there is no reason to be concerned. No further action will be taken. However, if you are not satisfied with the absence e.g. if you child was truanting without your knowledge you will wish to discuss the matter with your child's school in order that you can jointly establish the cause of the truancy and work to prevent a reoccurrence.

If you have condoned an unjustified absence you should consider the legal information contained within the letter and hopefully avoid repeating the action.

What if my child is not a registered pupil at a school?

The EWO will still take the information shown above for monitoring purposes.

The patrol is aware of the number of pupils on elective home education and will record that on the form. If you are educating your child at home it is as well to advise them of the existence of the patrols in order that they are not concerned. They have a legal right to be out of school and should not be worried that they have been stopped.
If you have not been able to secure a school place for your child, for instance if you are new to Bexley, the patrol will pass the child's details to the Admissions team in order to assist you.