📚 What Does the Official Framework for Improving School Attendance Require of Parents? | 改进学校出勤的官方框架对家长提出了哪些要求
School attendance in England is not simply a matter of good manners or school preference. It is a legal duty placed on parents, backed by statutory guidance, local authority casework, penalty notices and, in the last resort, prosecution in the magistrates' court. Since the statutory guidance "Working together to improve school attendance" took effect on 19 August 2024, the expectations placed on parents have become clearer, more standardised and more closely monitored than ever before.
在英格兰，学校出勤不只是礼貌问题或学校偏好，而是法律赋予家长的义务，并由法定指南、地方教育局的案件处理、罚款通知，乃至最终的地方法院起诉作为支撑。自法定指南《携手改进学校出勤》（Working together to improve school attendance）于 2024 年 8 月 19 日生效以来，对家长的要求比以往任何时候都更清晰、更统一、也更受监督。
1. The Legal Backdrop: Who Counts as a Parent | 法律背景：谁算作"家长"
The framework begins with a definition that many families overlook. Under section 576 of the Education Act 1996, a "parent" for attendance purposes includes the child's biological parents, anyone with parental responsibility, and any person who has day-to-day care of the child, such as a grandparent, step-parent or kinship carer. This means duties and potential sanctions can fall on more than one adult at the same time.
这个框架的起点是一个许多家庭忽略的定义。根据《1996 年教育法》第 576 条，在出勤事务上，"家长"包括孩子的亲生父母、任何拥有亲权责任的人，以及任何日常照料孩子的人，例如祖父母、继父母或亲属照料者。这意味着义务与可能的处罚可以同时落在不止一位成年人身上。
Two further provisions matter. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 requires every parent to cause their child of compulsory school age to receive efficient full-time education, whether by regular attendance at school or otherwise. Section 444 creates the criminal offence of failing to secure the child's regular attendance at a school where they are registered.
还有两项条款同样重要。《1996 年教育法》第 7 条要求每位家长确保处于义务教育年龄的子女接受有效的全日制教育，方式可以是定期到校，也可以是其他方式。第 444 条则规定，若未确保已注册入学的孩子定期出勤，即构成刑事犯罪。
The statutory guidance does not create new criminal law. What it does is set out the operational expectations that schools, academy trusts and local authorities must follow, and the corresponding behaviours they expect from parents.
该法定指南并未创设新的刑法。它做的是规定学校、学院信托机构和地方教育局必须遵循的操作性期望，以及他们期待家长作出的相应行为。
2. The 2024 Statutory Guidance in Outline | 2024 年法定指南概览
"Working together to improve school attendance" applies from 19 August 2024 to maintained schools, academies, free schools, independent schools with pupils of compulsory school age, pupil referral units and local authorities. It is built around four elements: expectations, data, systems and tools, and support.
《携手改进学校出勤》自 2024 年 8 月 19 日起适用于公立学校、学院学校、自由学校、招收义务教育年龄学生的独立学校、学生转介单位以及地方教育局。它围绕四大要素构建：期望、数据、制度与工具、支持。
- Expectations: every school must publish an attendance policy, name a senior leader responsible for attendance, and communicate the policy clearly to parents.
期望：每所学校必须公布出勤政策，指定一名负责出勤的高级领导，并向家长清楚传达该政策。 - Data: schools share daily attendance data with the Department for Education and work with the local authority on children who are persistently or severely absent.
数据：学校向教育部共享每日出勤数据，并与地方教育局合作处理持续缺勤或严重缺勤的学生。 - Systems and tools: clear trigger points for action, formal attendance meetings, attendance contracts and, where necessary, legal intervention.
制度与工具：明确的行动触发点、正式出勤会议、出勤合约，以及必要时的法律干预。 - Support: the principle of "support first" - help should be offered and, in most cases, exhausted before a penalty notice is issued.
支持："先支持后处罚"原则——在发出罚款通知之前，通常应先提供帮助并穷尽帮助手段。
For parents, the practical consequence is that attendance is no longer a conversation held only when things go badly wrong. It is an ongoing relationship involving registers, letters, meetings and shared data.
对家长而言，实际结果是：出勤不再是只在情况严重恶化时才进行的对话，而是一种涉及点名册、通知信、会议与共享数据的持续关系。
3. Duty One: Cause Your Child to Attend Regularly | 义务一：让孩子定期出勤
The core parental duty is positive, not passive. Parents must actively "cause" attendance, which the courts have interpreted as taking reasonable steps within their power. That includes getting the child up, dressed, fed and to the school gate on time, every day the school is open.
家长的核心义务是积极的，而非被动的。家长必须主动"促成"出勤，法院将其解释为在其能力范围内采取合理步骤。这包括让孩子起床、穿衣、吃饭，并在学校开学的每一天准时送到校门口。
"Regularly" does not mean "often". Case law and the guidance treat regular attendance as attendance at all times the school requires, subject only to authorised absence. A child whose attendance sits at 85% is not attending regularly in the legal sense, even if the absences were for understandable reasons that were never formally authorised.
"定期"并不意味着"经常"。判例法与指南将定期出勤视为在学校要求的所有时间都到校，仅以经批准的缺勤为限。出勤率为 85% 的学生在法律意义上并不属于定期出勤，即使缺勤理由可以理解，只要从未获得正式批准。
Punctuality is part of the duty. Registers close shortly after the morning session begins. A pupil marked with code U - late after the register has closed - is recorded as unauthorised absent for that whole session, not merely late.
守时也是该义务的一部分。点名册在上午课程开始后不久即关闭。若学生被标记为 U 码（点名册关闭后迟到），则整个半天会被记录为未经批准的缺勤，而不只是迟到。
4. Duty Two: Tell the School on Day One | 义务二：缺勤第一天就通知学校
Parents are expected to contact the school on the first morning of any absence, not afterwards. Schools must operate a first-day calling system, and parents should use the channel the school specifies - phone line, app, email or portal - before the register closes.
家长应在缺勤的第一个早晨就联系学校，而不是事后。学校必须运行"首日电话"制度，家长应在点名册关闭前，使用学校指定的渠道——电话线、应用程序、电子邮件或门户网站——进行告知。
If the school receives no explanation, staff will attempt contact and may conduct a home visit. Persistent unexplained absence can trigger a safeguarding referral, because unexplained absence is treated as a potential welfare concern rather than a purely administrative matter.
如果学校未收到任何说明，教职员会尝试联系并可能进行家访。持续无法解释的缺勤可能触发安全保护转介，因为无法解释的缺勤被视为潜在福利隐患，而非纯粹的行政事务。
Parents are also expected to keep contact details and emergency contacts up to date. Schools rely on accurate numbers when checking on a missing child, and delays caused by outdated details are treated seriously.
家长还应保持联系方式与紧急联络人信息的最新状态。学校在核实缺勤学生情况时依赖准确的电话号码，而因信息过时造成延误会被严肃对待。
5. Duty Three: Provide Evidence and Engage with Support | 义务三：提供证据并配合支持
Where absence is due to illness, parents are expected to give a clear explanation and, where the absence is prolonged, to work with the school on a plan for returning. Crucially, the guidance states that schools should not routinely demand medical evidence for every short illness. Demanding a GP note for a two-day cold is disproportionate and is discouraged.
若缺勤由疾病造成，家长应给出清楚说明；若缺勤时间较长，应与学校共同制定返校计划。关键在于，指南指出学校不应例行要求为每一次短期病假提供医疗证明。为两天感冒索要全科医生证明属于过度要求，是被劝阻的。
Where absence is frequent, however, schools may reasonably ask for evidence or consent to share information with health professionals. Parents are expected to attend attendance meetings, contribute to attendance plans, and give consent for referrals to services such as mental health support, educational welfare or family support.
但如果缺勤频繁，学校可以合理要求提供证明，或要求同意与医疗专业人员共享信息。家长应出席出勤会议、参与出勤计划，并同意转介至心理健康支持、教育福利或家庭支持等服务。
Refusing to engage is itself treated as evidence. Where support has been offered and refused, or offered and not taken up, the "support first" protection weakens, and escalation towards a penalty notice becomes more likely.
拒绝配合本身就会被视为一种证据。若支持已被提供却遭拒绝，或提供后未被接受，"先支持"这一保护便会减弱，向罚款通知升级的可能性随之上升。
6. Duty Four: Request Leave in Advance, Not Afterwards | 义务四：提前申请请假，而非事后补救
Under the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, leave of absence may only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and the decision rests with the headteacher. Parents must apply in advance; a headteacher cannot authorise leave retrospectively for something that has already happened.
根据《2006 年教育（学生注册）（英格兰）条例》，只有在例外情况下才可批准缺勤请假，且决定权属于校长。家长必须提前申请；对于已经发生的事，校长无法追溯批准。
Term-time holidays are the single most contested area. The legal position is that a family holiday is not, in itself, an exceptional circumstance. Cost, work rota or cheaper flights will rarely persuade a headteacher, and applying anyway can result in a mark of unauthorised absence for every day away.
学期内休假是最具争议的领域。法律立场是：家庭度假本身并不构成例外情况。费用、排班或更便宜的机票很少能说服校长，而径自出行可能导致每一天都被记为未经批准的缺勤。
There is no automatic entitlement to a set number of days off, and no right to have a request approved. What parents do have is the right to a decision, communicated in writing, and the right to understand the school's criteria in advance through its published attendance policy.
家长没有自动获得固定天数休假的权利，也没有要求申请必获批准的权利。家长真正拥有的是获得书面决定的权利，以及通过学校公布的出勤政策提前了解其审批标准的权利。
7. The National Penalty Notice Threshold Explained | 全国罚款通知门槛解析
From 19 August 2024, a single national threshold replaced the patchwork of local rules. A penalty notice may be considered where there have been 10 or more sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.
自 2024 年 8 月 19 日起，统一的全国门槛取代了各地零散规则。若在滚动 10 个学期周内出现 10 个或以上半天的未经批准缺勤，即可考虑发出罚款通知。
10 sessions = 5 school days of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school-week window
Two sessions make one school day, because registers are taken twice daily. Ten sessions is therefore five full days - roughly 2% of the school year. The window is not a fixed term but a rolling one, so the counting follows the pupil rather than the calendar.
每天进行两次点名，因此两个半天构成一个上课日。十个半天即五天，约占学年的 2%。该窗口不是固定学期而是滚动的，因此计数跟随学生本人，而非日历。
Reaching the threshold does not automatically mean a fine. It means the case enters a decision stage where the school or local authority must consider whether support has been provided, whether the absence was avoidable, and whether a penalty notice is a proportionate response.
达到门槛并不自动意味着罚款。它意味着案件进入决策阶段，学校或地方教育局必须考虑是否已提供支持、缺勤是否本可避免，以及罚款通知是否为相称的回应。
8. Penalty Notices: Amounts and Escalation | 罚款通知：金额与升级
The 2024 framework also standardised the money. A first penalty notice in a rolling three-year period is £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. A second notice within three years is £160 with no reduced rate, payable within 28 days and issued to each parent separately.
2024 年框架还统一了金额。在滚动三年内的第一份罚款通知为 160 英镑，若在 21 天内缴纳则减至 80 英镑。三年内的第二份通知为 160 英镑且无减免，须在 28 天内缴纳，并分别发给每一位家长。
| Notice | Amount | Payment window | 中文说明 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First in 3 years | £160, or £80 if paid within 21 days | 28 days | 三年内首份：160 英镑，21 天内缴付减至 80 英镑 |
| Second in 3 years | £160, no reduction | 28 days | 三年内第二份：160 英镑，无减免 |
| Third in 3 years | No penalty notice; alternative action | - | 三年内第三次：不发罚款通知，改采其他行动 |
A separate notice must be issued to each parent for each child, so a two-parent household with two absent children can receive four notices for the same underlying absence. Fines are paid to the local authority, not the school.
每名子女、每位家长都须单独发出一份通知。因此，双亲家庭若有两位子女缺勤，就可能因同一缺勤事实收到四份通知。罚款缴纳给地方教育局，而非学校。
If a penalty notice is not paid within 28 days, the local authority may prosecute under section 444 of the Education Act 1996. A conviction under section 444(1) carries a fine of up to £1,000; the aggravated offence under section 444(1A), where the parent knew of the absence and failed to act, carries a fine of up to £2,500 and/or up to three months' imprisonment.
若罚款通知未在 28 天内缴纳，地方教育局可依《1996 年教育法》第 444 条提起诉讼。依第 444(1) 条定罪，最高罚款 1,000 英镑；若属第 444(1A) 条的加重情形，即家长明知缺勤却未采取行动，最高可罚 2,500 英镑并／或监禁三个月。
9. When Absence Becomes Persistent or Severe | 持续缺勤与严重缺勤
Two thresholds govern how intensively a school and local authority will intervene. Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of possible sessions, which equates to attendance below 90%. Severe absence means missing 50% or more, equating to attendance of 50% or below.
有两个门槛决定学校与地方教育局介入的强度。持续缺勤指缺勤达到可能半天数的 10% 或以上，相当于出勤率低于 90%。严重缺勤指缺勤达到 50% 或以上，相当于出勤率为 50% 或以下。
Persistent absence: attendance < 90% | Severe absence: attendance ≤ 50%
At the persistent absence stage, parents should expect a formal attendance meeting, a written attendance plan and named staff to contact. At the severe absence stage, the case is likely to be escalated to the local authority's attendance team, with consideration of an Education Supervision Order or a multi-agency plan.
在持续缺勤阶段，家长应预期会有正式出勤会议、书面出勤计划以及指定的联系人。在严重缺勤阶段，案件很可能
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