An online petition set up by Isle of Wight father, Jon Platt, calling on the Government ensure that Truancy Penalty Notices are only issued to address truancy, has attracted an astonishing number of signatures in just a few days.
On the Change.org petition, Mr Platt says the changes made in 2013 removing the discretion Head Teachers had to authorise term time holidays are responsible for the events that culminated in the decision of the Supreme Court in Isle of Wight Council -v- Platt.
The petition goes on,
For over 70 years, the courts had interpreted ‘regular attendance at school’ as something akin to ‘sufficiently frequently’. The Supreme Court has ruled that this interpretation was wrong, reversing at least five decades of High court precedent and ruled that it now means ‘in accordance with the school rules’. This has the effect of elevating ‘school rules’ to a pseudo statute, without Parliamentary scrutiny.
When Parliament passed the Anti Social Behaviour Act 2003 (introducing penalty notices in respect of truancy) they were specifically told that TRUANCY Penalty Notices would only be used as a quick and inexpensive means to address TRUANCY. Now they are being used for ANY unauthorised absence and the Supreme Court has now made it possible for ANY breach, however minor, to result in a penalty notice being issued.
National support
The petition has been widely shared on social media, with the likes of pro-wrestling celebrity sharing it with his 153,000 followers on Twitter.
UK parents: Read if you feel inclined. I feel this is more about money than education & decided to sign/share…https://t.co/Mt4SjLZOMc
— Nick Aldis (@RealNickAldis) July 4, 2017
At time of publishing the Change.org petition had gained 11,613 supporters.
Image: craftivist-collective under a CC BY 2.0 license
