PARENTS in Swindon have been fined hundreds of pounds for letting their children miss several days of school.

Three families received penalties from the courts earlier this month after some pupils did not attend their compulsory education and did not have a reasonable excuse for missing so many lessons.

For legal reasons, nothing that potentially identifies the children, such as details about their parents or school, can be printed as the under-18s have a right to anonymity.

But the Adver can reveal that both parents of an eight-year-old boy who should have attended one school for four days in June each received a £440 fine and must individually pay £202 in court costs plus £44 to victim services.

Separately, the parent of a five-year-old girl who missed eight days of class last July and the parent of a 13-year-old girl who did not attend many of her lessons at the same school between May 12 and 28 2021 received similar fines, court costs and victim services surcharges.

The reasons for the absences are not known. The cases were heard at Portsmouth Magistrates Court last week and proven through single justice procedure.

In these cases, either the parent has pleaded guilty or not responded to letters sent to them by the court, and the defendant does not have to attend these hearings in person.

If the parent or guardian pleads not guilty to the charge, or there are other complex factors affecting the case, it will be heard in Swindon's courts instead.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman told the Adver: "It is important to reiterate that the council issues penalty notices for unauthorised absence on behalf of schools and only does so after giving careful consideration to the facts of each individual case.

“The Department for Education is very clear in its guidance to schools and local authorities, in that it expects them to promote good attendance and reduce absence.

"Children with poor attendance tend to under achieve in both primary and secondary school.”

Coronavirus has been the cause of many school absences within the last two years, though these absences would not result in fines.

Department for Education data shows up to 11.4 per cent of children were absent from school for reasons linked to Covid-19 on July 15.

Around 10.5 per cent of children were self-isolating due to possible contact with a Covid-19 case, while the rest had a confirmed or suspected case of coronavirus, or were off as a result of Covid-related school closures.