A MUM has admitted that her two children have missed school because she cannot get up in time to get them there. On one occasion a school attendance officer visited the family at 8.30am on a school day to find that the woman and her school-aged daughter s

A MUM has admitted that her two children have missed school because she cannot get up in time to get them there.

On one occasion a school attendance officer visited the family at 8.30am on a school day to find that the woman and her school-aged daughter still in bed.

Her son was up -- and mum came downstairs just in time to see the eight year old lad go off to school on his bike.

"Your children deserve an education and it is up to their mother to make sure they get to school every day on time," Fenland magistrates' chairman Jane Melloy told the mother on Tuesday.

"You have got to get yourself moving in the morning."

The mother, who lives in Chatteris, suffers from depression and cannot be named to protect the identity of the children.

She admitted failing to secure the regular attendance of her son and daughter at a Chatteris primary school between June 19 and December 1 last year.

Her daughter had attended just 79 sessions out of a possible 164, and her son had attended 115 sessions over the same period.

Prosecuting for Cambridgeshire County Council, Simon Reeve said the mother told a school attendance officer she had difficulty with waking up in the morning. She attended various meetings with the education authority but the children's school attendance and punctuality did not improve.

She is now attending parenting classes and receiving counseling.

Giving the woman a 12-month conditional discharge, Mrs Melloy told her: "It is up to you to make sure they get to school every day on time. Tell your children you have been to court today because they have not been getting up and going to school.

"If their attendance record slips you will be back in court.