Parents 'fuel classroom sick note culture'

Parents who condone a "sick note" culture at home are being blamed for a rise in school absences, according to a new report.

Head teachers say they believe many parents are lying to get their children off school and have no qualms about telephoning in to support their offspring's faked illnesses. The rise coincides with a Government crackdown on termtime holidays, which has seen schools authorised to fine serial absentees.

Now truancy expert Ming Zhang has found sickness absences in 76 schools in England rose from 4.05 per cent to 5.37 per cent between 2002/3 and 2004/5.

Twenty per cent of the 92 teachers questioned said they thought the rise in sickness rates was down to lying parents, while a further 20 per cent said it was because children were being taken on term-time holidays.