Attendance

Parents/Carers have a legal responsibility to ensure that children of compulsory school age attend on a regular and full time basis. Permitting an absence from school without good reason is an offence. A pupil whose attendance drops to 90% each year will, over their time at primary school, have missed the equivalent of two whole terms of learning. 

We expect that all parents/carers will:

•  Ensure regular school attendance and be aware of their legal responsibilities.

• Ensure that their child arrives at school prepared for the school day, punctually and in time for registration. Lateness is monitored and may be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

• Inform school in advance of any medical appointments during school time. Parents may on occasion be asked to provide supporting information from the hospital, doctor or dentist, such as appointment details card/letter/text message in relation to the time requested. Where possible, medical appointments should be arranged outside of school hours.

• Ensure that they contact the school before 8:30am if their child is unable to attend school, citing the reason.

• Inform the school as soon as possible about any child’s reluctance to come to school so that any problem can be quickly identified and dealt with.

• Follow application procedures regarding a request for leave of absence during term time, which should only be taken if absolutely necessary. Leave is not automatically authorised unless considered an exceptional circumstance. Any leave taken during term time that has been unauthorised, could be subject to a penalty notice/fine.

• Notify school immediately of any changes to contact details, and ensure school has more than one name, address and telephone number as an emergency contact.

• Engage with early interventions designed to support the family and their child’s attendance at school.

• Discuss attendance where necessary face to face or on the telephone – conversations are preferable to messages or emails.

Any leave taken during term time that has been unauthorised could be subject to a Penalty Notice.

 Penalty Notices

If a pupil takes unauthorised term-time leave for 10 consecutive sessions or more (generally 5 days) they will be subject to a Penalty Notice. The fine for a penalty notice is £80 per child, per parent/carer, increasing to £160 if not paid after 21 days but within 28 days for pupils who are of statutory school age. If a penalty notice remains unpaid, parents may be the subject of court proceedings for failing to ensure the regular school attendance of their child and this could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to 3 months per parent.

For second offences of unauthorised term-time leave (10 consecutive sessions or more) within a three-year rolling period, the fine is a flat £160 per parent, per child. For the third offence in a three-year rolling period, the referral will be automatically considered for prosecution in relation to Section 444 Education Act 1996.

Registration: 

The school gates are open at 8.45am.

The classroom door is opened at 8:50am.

All classroom doors are locked at 9:00am.

Once the classroom door has been locked, entry to the school is only via the main entrance.

Registers are open at 8:50 am and close at 9.20 am. Pupils who arrive at school after the register has been taken, but before it is closed, will be recorded as ‘L’ - late on the register.

Pupils who arrive at school after registers close at 9.20 am, without an unavoidable reason, will have their lateness recorded as ‘U’ - unauthorised late which then impacts on their overall attendance level.

Lateness:

Where pupils show a persistent pattern of lateness, parents/carers will initially receive communication informing them of the school’s concerns. This will advise parents/carers to speak to a member of staff to help address the issue. Should the lateness continue despite the school’s attempts to address this, parents/carers will be invited into school for a meeting with the headteacher. Further lateness will result in a referral being made to the Local Authority Attendance Officer (LAAO). 

Registration at the beginning of the day is the start of the first lesson. This is also when the teacher supports children with any gaps in learning from the previous day, informs the class of their learning timetable, and prepares the pupils’ for their day ahead. Children who are persistently late to school, therefore, miss a significant part of their education. 

Reporting a Pupil Absent:

Parents/Carers must contact the school on the first and every subsequent day of absence by 8.30am.  This can be by phone or email. For any pupil not present at the close of registration, a member of the office will attempt to make contact with the parent/carer once the registers have closed at 9.20am, to enquire about the reason for absence, if the parent/carer has not informed the school that morning. 

Definitions of Leave 

Authorised leave: 

An absence is classified as authorised when a pupil has been away from school for a legitimate reason such as: 

•  Illness or a medical appointment. There is an expectation that the pupil will be in school for registration or return to school after the appointment, depending on where the appointment falls within the school day and the health of the pupil.

• Religious Observance - only day(s) exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents belong.

• The leave of absence has been authorised due to a short and exceptional, unavoidable circumstance.

Unauthorised leave: 

An absence is classified as unauthorised when a child is away from school without the permission of the school, even with the support of the parent/carer, such as:

• Shopping, hair appointments, visiting family, taking part in a protest or birthdays.

• There has been no reason provided by the parents/carers to support an absence.

• Failure to follow school procedures or inform the school when taking a pupil out of school during term time.

• A leave of absence that has not been authorised due to not being considered an exceptional circumstance.

Guidance for Parents: 

Parents do not have any right or entitlement to take their child out of school for a term time holiday. Recent government guidelines have removed the discretion on head teachers agreeing to term time leave. Any requests for a leave of absence need to be submitted before the leave is taken. Exceptional circumstances will be considered on an individual basis, but the following requests for a leave of absence for a family holiday that do not meet the criteria and therefore will be unauthorised and subject to a Penalty Notice are : 

• Cheaper holidays/flights in the UK or abroad.

• Holidays that overlap the beginning or the end of term.

• Trip of a lifetime.

• Visiting family or friends who have different half term holiday dates.

• Family weddings for more than 1 day or visits to see family abroad.

• Relatives coming to visit.

• Extension of leave if a pupil has not returned to school after an agreed absence if it does not meet grounds for an exceptional circumstance.

• Leave taken due to potential travel disruption.