Education Welfare Service
The Education Welfare Service is the part of the Local Authority
with statutory responsibility for promoting, encouraging and
enforcing regular school attendance of children of compulsory
school age who reside in the Royal Borough of Kensington and
Chelsea.
The Education Welfare Service also issues child employment
permits for children of school age to be engaged in part-time work,
and performance licences for children to take part in television,
radio, film or stage productions and modelling work. In addition,
the Education Welfare Service is responsible for issuing licences
for chaperones who accompany children and young people working in
entertainment.
The Role of the Education Welfare Service
Once a child of compulsory school age is registered at a school,
it is the parents’ legal duty to ensure that the child attends
school regularly and punctually. Education Welfare Officers work
closely with schools, children and their parents, and with other
statutory and voluntary agencies to achieve/support this. The
booklet below provides more detailed information about the role of
the Education Welfare Service.
Information and advice for parents
If you are a parent or carer and have any questions about school
attendance, please refer to the leaflets below. Should you require
any further information or wish to discuss a related matter not
covered here, please do not hesitate to contact the Education
Welfare Service.
Legal action and enforcement
If there is a lack of cooperation by the parents and the child
fails to return to regular attendance at school, the Education
Welfare Service may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice or take legal
action. Please refer to the documents below for further details, or
contact the Education Welfare Service should you have any
queries.
Guidance for schools
Schools may wish to refer to the documents below and links to
relevant websites for information about pupil attendance and
absence and keeping pupil registers. Royal Borough schools can
contact their link Education Welfare Officer with any queries or
for further information and clarification.
Please note that following recent changes we are in the process
of updating some of our publications.