You’d have to have had your head in the sand if you didn’t know about the High Court ruling given on Friday that found Isle of Wight dad, Jon Platt, had no case to answer to the Isle of Wight council for unpaid school absence fines.
The news was everywhere. On TV, online and radio programmes across the country on Friday and into Saturday, not to mention all the national newspapers.
Many saw the outcome as a triumph, but what became clear in the hours following the case, is that the ruling wasn’t particularly clear for the purpose of local authorities setting their school absence policy.
DfE: “Disappointed with the High Court judgment”
Leader of Isle of Wight Council, Cllr Jonathan Bacon, wasn’t alone in his disappointment over the ruling. A spokesperson for the Department for Education also said,
“We are disappointed with the High Court judgment.
“The evidence is clear that every extra day of school missed can affect a pupil’s chance of gaining good GCSEs, which has a lasting effect on their life chances.
“We are confident our policy to reduce school absence is clear and correct.”
DfE: “Will now look to change the legislation”
They DfE went on to confirm they would be looking to get the law changed.
A spokesperson said,
“We will examine the judgement in detail but are clear that children’s attendance at school is non-negotiable so we will now look to change the legislation.
“We also plan to strengthen statutory guidance to schools and local authorities.”
We’re sure we’ll be hearing more on this over the coming weeks.
Image: zachoneniner under CC BY 2.0
