A mum has been told to pay £163 because her daughter is "too anxious to attend school". Natasha Beauvois has been trying to get her 14-year-old daughter Maisie to school but she suffers from depression and anxiety and she has panic attacks at the idea of going.
Natasha told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "She hasn't been going to school properly since Covid. She doesn't want to go to school. What can I do? She just says she's sorry and she does not want to go to school. It's unfair that parents are being fined. I know you are responsible to get them to school but what do you do if they don't want to go? How far does the responsibility go?"
Natasha added: "She's a very clever girl and it's going to waste because she's not going into school."
Natasha has tried to take her daughter to the GP to see if there is anything she can do. She has also asked if her daughter can study on her own for a few hours each day but she claims Pimlico Academy said that would not be possible.
The mum has spoken to her daughter about going to another school and home-schooling. Another option is sending her daughter to a specialist unit but she does not want to do that. Natasha had to go to court after she did not pay a fine for absence issued by Pimlico Academy.
Natasha pleaded guilty at the City of London Magistrates Court on September 21. Sentencing Natasha, Magistrate Jan Carr said: "Good luck getting your child to school is all I can say."
She was ordered to pay £163 including the fine and court costs. It will be taken out of her Universal Credit Payments in £20 instalments. Pimlico Academy has been contacted for comment.
