The Children Missing from Education (CMFE) Team is responsible for ensuring that Northamptonshire County Council implements their statutory duty to have tracking and monitoring policies and procedures in place for locating children missing from education in Northamptonshire.
If a pupil is absent, all schools have a responsibility to contact the parent/carer on the 1st Day of absence and continue to make every effort to locate the pupil. If the pupil is still absent by the 10th consecutive school day, all schools should contact the relevant Education Welfare Service (EWS) to report the child as 'missing from education'.
If EWS are still unable to locate the pupil they will take the relevant action with the school and a formal referral will be made to the Children Missing from Education Team.
Children can become missing from education for a number of reasons.
For example they may:
- Fail to start appropriate provision and never enter the system
- Stop attending, due to illegal exclusion or withdrawal by parent/carers
- Fail to complete a transition between schools
- Children from refugee and asylum seeking families
- Children from families who are highly mobile, eg parents in the Armed Forces, Gypsy, Romany & Traveller families and Economic Migrants
- Children at risk of a forced marriage
- Children experiencing abuse and neglect
Referral Forms for Professionals
CMFE Leaflet and Poster
Contact Details
The CMFE Team can be contacted on the email addresses below: