School Detentions

As you will be aware, schools are able to place pupils under the age of 18 in detention without parental consent outside normal school hours.

Parental consent is not required for detentions and schools no longer have to give 24 hours’ notice.

At Heath Park, if a pupil is issued a detention of up to 60 minutes as a sanction (e.g. for lateness to school or poor behaviour), it is expected that this will take place on the same day as it is set. This means that the sanction is completed and reparation can be made quickly, without it being carried over onto the following days.

When setting a same-day detention the school will consider:

• any Special Educational Needs
• any religious requirements
• any particular personal circumstances (for example, the pupil has known caring responsibilities which mean that the detention is unreasonable)
• whether the parent can reasonably arrange for a child to get home from school after the detention, although it does not matter if making these arrangements is inconvenient for the parent.

It is very much hoped that detentions remain a ‘high-level’ sanction and that few pupils will be affected.