Parents of teenager with only 10% attendance and who missed GCSE exams at Telford school in court
The parents of a teenager have been hauled before the courts – because his attendance at school was only 10% over a five-month period.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, missed 157 out of 174 sessions at a Telford school between January and May this year.
He was also absent on four days when he should have been sitting GCSE exams, Telford magistrates heard. The parents, who cannot be named because it would identify the child, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to ensure the attendance of a child at school.
Emma Cooper, defending the couple, said it was one of the worst cases of lack of attendance she had come across in 18 years of being a solicitor. But she said the child had "found it difficult to settle in" at a new school.
Magistrates imposed a conditional discharge on the couple for two years and ordered them to pay a total of £530.
