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<p>All children of compulsory school age, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled
to a full-time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any
special educational needs they may have. All parents have a legal duty to ensure that
if their child is of compulsory school age that they receive a full time education,
either by attendance at school or otherwise.</p><p>Schools should continually monitor
pupils’ absence. If a child’s absence reaches a level of concern, the school should
raise this with the parents and the local authority in the best interest of the child’s
education. School and local authorities should consider the individual circumstances
of each case and take the appropriate course of action to ensure the child receives
consistent education. This can include the use a range of parental responsibility
measures to provide support or sanctions to parents when their child’s attendance
at school becomes a problem.</p><p>Schools also receive pupil premium funding to support
pupils who have been registered for free school meals at any point in the last six
years, and have the flexibility to use it to improve attendance if this is deemed
a priority.</p><p> </p><p>The Department wants all children and young people, regardless
of special educational need or disability, to receive the right support to succeed
in their education. and as they move into adult life. In 2014, the Department introduced
significant reforms to enable schools to put the right support in place for those
pupils so that they can attend school.</p><p>The Department has established a new
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) stakeholder group, chaired by the noble Baroness Whitaker.
This group aims to ensure that any efforts to improve the school system take into
account GRT pupils’ needs.</p>
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