Mum sentenced over children's shocking school attendance

A single mother from Cardiff has been sentenced in court over her children's shocking school attendance. Karen Jones, 32, could not get her son to school because he was gaming late into the night and struggled to get up in the morning, Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard this week.

Jones, of Willows Avenue, has been handed £384 in costs and fines and a community order for not sending her son and his older sister to school. The court heard in mitigation that the single mother found it hard to deal with her children and was struggling to cope.

Pleading guilty to two charges of failing to send her son and daughter to school, Jones said her daughter was now past legal school age to attend but her son was now attending. 

At a hearing on Tuesday, January 6 the court heard that between September 2022 and October 2022 Jones' daughter, legally school age at the time, only attended four times.

Between April 17, 2023 and July 10, 2023 her son only attended 10 out of 108 possible school sessions. This caused "significant education loss for both pupils", said Sarah Cole, prosecuting.

Education officers and the school had worked with the family but Ms Jones did not reply to phone calls or give reasons for her children not attending.

The hearing was told that her son was gaming through the night and then struggled to get up in the morning. He refused to go to school, his mother could not manage him and when an education officer went to the house he said he didn't go to school because "I don't want to".

Ellis Worsley, defending Jones at Tuesday's hearing, said that at a meeting at the school she had expressed regret. The single mum had not had help from her son's father in getting him to school and also struggled with coping and alcohol problems, the court was told.

Jones said her son was now attending school and that he was aware that his failure to attend school was the reason she was in court. He hoped to go to college and do a bricklaying course, the court was told.

Magistrates made Jones subject to a 12-month community order. She was also fined £120 and was required to undertake a nine-month alcohol treatment programme and a 15-day rehabilitation activity. She must also pay a £114 government surcharge and £150 council fine, totalling £384.

Urging Jones to take all the available help offered, chair of the bench Nigel Buckland warned her that she could be jailed for failing to send a child to school and that if she failed to comply with the community order she would be brought back to court and could also be jailed.

The case isn't as unusual as you might think.