en-us Tue, 21 May 2013 13:04:35 +0000 forum@oxle.com 60 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/ Tredegar Forum http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/../ http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/images/tredegar1.gif 298 68 darole@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11985 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Tue, 21 May 2013 11:15:34 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11985
Truant children: Up to £120 fine for parents in Wales

The new measures to tackle school absence rates come into force in September
Truancy prosecutions rise by 700%
Parents face £120 truancy fines
Pupils missing 'a year of school'

Parents of children who are regular school truants are to be fined up to £120, says the Welsh government.

The new measures to tackle school absence rates come into force in September.

Parents who fail to stop their child missing lessons will be issued a fixed penalty notice of £60, which will double if they fail to pay within 28 days.

Those who ignore the new regulations could end up in court.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews said there was a "general agreement" with his proposals following a public consultation.

Ministers previously resisted bringing in fixed penalties despite them being used in some parts of England since 2004.

The penalty notice system is an additional option that can be used as part of local authority intervention strategies for less entrenched attendance issues” Leighton Andrews Education Minister

But Mr Andrews has put tackling truancy high on a list of actions to improve educational attainment and announced last year his plan to start fining parents of persistent truants.

"The penalty notice system is an additional option that can be used as part of local authority intervention strategies for less entrenched attendance issues," he said.

According to official figures, the average truancy rate for secondary schools in Wales in 2011/12 was 1.4%. Nine local education authorities (LEA) had higher rates, with the worst being Cardiff at 2.7%.

Although overall absence rates have been slowly decreasing each year since 2005/06, ministers say more needs to be done.

A Welsh government spokesman said although the regulations were coming into force in September, ministers did not expect the first wave of fines to be rolled out for a number of months.

"Local authorities will have to draw up their own code of conduct as well as put them out to consultation first," he added.

"This could take some time and willvary between each local
authority."

But the National Union of Teachers (NUT) in Wales said it was disappointed the Welsh government had chosen to introduce fines for persistent truancy, adding that it could undermine some of the good work that was already happening.

NUT Cymru policy officer Owen Hatchway said: "We know that persistent truancy is a problem for schools.

There is a real danger that these fines will hit the most vulnerable hardest and ignore the real reasons behind truancy”

Angela Burns Conservative shadow education minister

"However, this is an issue where substantial progress is being made. The latest figures show record levels of attendance in the primary sector and significant improvements in attendance in secondary schools.

"Whilst no one should rest on their laurels, the union is concerned that the introduction of truancy fines could have a counterproductive impact and undermine the good work being undertaken."

Conservative education spokesperson Angela Burns AM said she feared fines would stack up while behavior remained largely unchanged.

"This is a lazy Labour government piling all its eggs into a basket of punishment at the expense of support and liaison," she said.

"There is a real danger that these fines will hit the most vulnerable hardest and ignore the real reasons behind truancy."
'Poorer backgrounds'

Welsh Liberal Democrat education spokesman Aled Roberts described the Welsh government's decision as counter-productive.

"Evidence shows that children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to play truant and achieve poorer educational outcomes.

"I am concerned that fining parents of truant pupils will cause them even more economic hardship and will do nothing to address the problems of their child missing vital school hours."

Simon Thomas for Plaid Cymru said he backed policies to support pupils and families to tackle truancy, rather than introduce fines.

"Introducing fixed penalty notices are a retrograde step," he added.

"They have not worked when they were introduced in England. The education minister needs to state where any money raised will go."]]> MKerchey05@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11977&REPLY_ID=58589 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Mon, 20 May 2013 08:07:16 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11977 Quote:
Thick, stupid and ignorant comes to mind!]]> milkman@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11927&REPLY_ID=58585 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Sun, 19 May 2013 21:39:43 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11927 Quote:
The price of a cup of coffee puzzles me.
I was in Italy a while ago and had two cappucinos at the airport.
The cost was £1.25 per cup and it was really excellent coffee served by really, really smart girls. At Heathrow you would be lucky to get it ubder £3 a cup. (and even luckier to get it served by someone smiling)]]> milkman@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11974&REPLY_ID=58584 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Sun, 19 May 2013 21:34:28 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11974 Quote:
Some good stuff there Bryan particularly that about the teacher hugging the boy who cried.
Did you read last week that a 5 year old said his friends red shoes were "great".
The head teacher called in Stonewall to give a talk (to FIVE YEAR olds about) sex bias etc and the little boy was warned never to use such language again.
You wonder if being without any common sense is a prerequisite for being promoted to a headteacher these days.]]> fredd@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11972&REPLY_ID=58544 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Sat, 18 May 2013 17:07:01 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11972 Quote:
http://beartales.me/2013/01/14/the-latest-crop-of-walmartians/?s=WALMARTIAN# [B)]]]> MKerchey05@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11971&REPLY_ID=58540 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Sat, 18 May 2013 14:16:13 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11971 Quote:
The trouble with this sort of thing is no one in authority cares! On the way to Nevil hall the other day we were passed by a man driving a large car (not being a driver I don't know what make it was). He'd been blaring his horn at a woman with children in the car directly behind us, making her look around an swerve. When he passed us my daughter, (the driver), said that all he wanted was to pass and his nonsense was that we were going too slow! He was on the phone passing and a police car came from Abergavenny way the police didn't attempt to do anything!!]]> pierre@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11970&REPLY_ID=58537 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Sat, 18 May 2013 08:22:39 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11970 Quote:
Hi,

What a great collection! Would love a picture of the plates for the site :-)

_________________________________________
News & Information on Tredegar since 1991.
Visit the Tredegar Timeline Project at : www.TredegarTimeline.co.uk
Search on this website is your friend!]]> pierre@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11966&REPLY_ID=58536 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Fri, 17 May 2013 21:55:51 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11966 Quote:
Now that, is something else :o)

_________________________________________
News & Information on Tredegar since 1991.
Visit the Tredegar Timeline Project at : www.TredegarTimeline.co.uk
Search on this website is your friend!]]> cupcake@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11965&REPLY_ID=58529 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Fri, 17 May 2013 18:19:43 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11965 Quote:
Looks as if she could do with a good meal lol [:0]

[img]http://www.freewebs.com/diarco/Fairy_2.gif[/img]]]> darole@oxle.com http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=-1&TOPIC_ID=11943&REPLY_ID=58525 General Discussion and MAD HOUSE Fri, 17 May 2013 18:01:15 +0000 http://www.tredegar.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11943 Quote:
indarkistplumstead I thought that we already had micky and his friends on the local]]>