DIDCOT’S secondary schools are to fine the parents of persistent truants.

St Birinus School and Didcot Girls’ School will use legal powers to levy £50 or £100 fines on parents who repeatedly fail to get their children to lessons.

It is part of a crackdown on a hardcore of persistent truants, whom teachers say face a life of unemployment if they skip their education.

The new penalty notice system will be introduced from tomorrow, with the schools imposing fines on parents or carers who are able, but unwilling, to improve their children’s attendance.

There are 12 pupils at St Birinus and 10 at Didcot Girls’ School who are classed as persistent truants.

St Birinus headmaster Chris Bryan said pupils staying away from lessons were more likely to cause antisocial behaviour and get in trouble with the police.

He said: “The situation is not getting any better for that small number of persistent absentees.

“If a person is away from school, then it’s going to have an impact on their life chances when they are older.

“We have a significant number of young people who, in the current economic climate, are going to have serious problems in finding employment when they leave because they lack basic skills.”

Didcot Girls’ School’s acting deputy head, Briony Bowers, added: “Every day missed of school is five lessons of learning missed. This is a way of making sure parents are aware of their legal responsibilities of making sure their children are in school.”

When a school becomes concerned about a pupil’s attendance, teachers will send a letter to their parents and call them in for a meeting to draw up a contract guaranteeing they will get their son or daughter to lessons.

If the child continues to play truant, the parents will be sent another warning letter. If there is no improvement, they will be fined £50, which increases to £100 if not paid within 14 days.

Schools will take the parents to court to make them pay up if necessary.

Mrs Bowers added: “The aim is that in each of these steps, there is an opportunity to put things right.

“The aim is to make attendance better, not really give out punishment.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Owen Morton said more than 100 schools had already introduced fixed penalty notices.

He said: “It’s not compulsory for schools to introduce penalty notices, but it is recommended as part of a wider range of interventions that can be applied for attendance related issues.”