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. 

Parents/Carers must: 

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 a letter 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 8.45am.  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 9.00am, to enquire about the reason for absence, if the parent/carer has not informed the school that morning. 

Failure to make contact with the parent/carer to establish a reason for an absence could result in an Unexplained Absence Form being sent home for the parent/carer to complete. Any unexplained absences will be recorded as unauthorised if there is no response to an enquiry. 

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: 

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:

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 :