By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must get a suitable, full-time education.
Responsibilities
As a parent/carer, you are responsible for making sure this happens, either by registering your child at a school or by making other arrangements which provide a suitable education.
Once your child is registered at a school you are responsible for making sure he or she attends regularly.
The council is responsible for making sure that parents fulfil their responsibilities.
The Education Welfare Service
The Education Welfare Service is here to help parents and the council meet the obligations and duties placed upon them by successive Education Acts and Child Care legislation.
Every school in Shropshire has an Education Welfare Officer allocated to their school. Education Welfare Officers work on an area patch basis and have responsibility for a number of schools where they assess and advise in the managing of whole school attendance.
Education Welfare Officers will monitor whole school attendance on a regular basis and request information on all children with less than 87% attendance.
Help and Intervention
Early intervention is proven to ensure that attendance remains a high priority by school staff and parents and helps to identify and resolve issues before they become entrenched.
Education Welfare Officers work closely with:
- parents/carers
- pupils
- school staff
- education support staff
- psychologists
- social workers
- police
- health personnel
- other voluntary and statutory agencies
Children missing education (CME)
Information on CME including roles and responsibilities
Taking holidays in term time
Information and guidance about taking holidays in term time
Transition between schools
Information on the transition between primary and secondary school