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The Statutory Attendance and Participation team

What are parents' responsibilities? 

All parents of compulsory school-age children between the ages of 5 – 16, who are registered pupils at a school, have a legal duty to make sure that their child attends regularly and on time. 

What is 'compulsory school-age'?

A child reaches compulsory school age on or after their 5th birthday.

  • If they turn 5 between 1 January and 31 March, then they are of compulsory school age on 31 March;
  • If they turn 5 between 1 April and 31 August, then they are of compulsory school age on 31 August.
  • If they turn 5 between 1 September and 31 December, then they are of compulsory school age on 31 December.

A child continues to be of compulsory school age until the last Friday of June in the school year that they reach 16.  

If you need support with your child's attendance

If you are concerned about your child’s absence, contact your child’s school. They should work with you to try and resolve any issues or concerns first. If the school are unable to resolve the issues, they may seek advice, guidance and support from us. This may include a referral to our team.

When do we get involved?


We may get involved if:

  • The majority of absences are unauthorised.
  • School can demonstrate to us that clear support has recently been offered to the family and they have tried to address absences before referring to us.

We may also provide advice, guidance, and interventions in situations where a child has had a lot of absence from school, even when this absence has been authorised. 

Schools should authorise absences where a child is genuinely ill or has a medical condition. If the school has a concern as to whether an illness may be genuine, they can ask for medical evidence of the illness from you. This evidence could be a prescription, appointment card or a doctor’s note.

If the school is not satisfied that the illness is genuine, they can record the absence as unauthorised, and they will advise you that they are doing this.

How to refer

In most cases, the school will make the referral when they have concerns, but parents and carers can contact us too, via the Customer Service Centre - 0300 123 4043.

Parents’ consent is not required for a referral to our team.

West Area - Watford, Three Rivers and Hertsmere;  Dacorum and St Albans

East Area - North Herts and Stevenage; East Herts, Broxbourne, Welwyn and Hatfield

What happens after the referral is submitted?

All referrals to our team are assessed to ensure they meet the criteria and are then allocated to a Local Authority Attendance Office (LAAO) by our Service Manager.   

Local Authority Attendance Officers (LAAOs)

Local Authority Attendance Officers work as part of our Children’s Services. They have a responsibility to make sure parents are fulfilling their legal duty to ensure their child attends school regularly and punctually.

The LAAO will invite you to a meeting at the school or at a local Hertfordshire County Council office, or they may visit you at home. 

Local Authority Attendance Officers (LAAO’s) will always try to work with parents to resolve any difficulties that are preventing a child’s regular attendance at school. Their involvement is a process of assessment and planned targeted interventions to address issues and improve attendance. 

There may be good reasons for an attendance difficulty, such as illness.  However, if it becomes clear that this is not the case, and if despite every best effort to work out a solution, the child’s attendance does not improve, the LAAO may suggest a legal intervention.  This could mean a letter reminding parents of their duty, a fine (a fixed penalty notice), or in some cases, legal proceedings against the parents on behalf of the County Council.

Page was last updated on: 07/05/2024 16:54:56

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