The Importance of Attendance
Attendance in school is extremely important.
The following information is provided to help parents understand what attendance figures mean, why we feel children’s attendance is so important and what we continually do in order to improve the attendance.
Consequences to the school of poor overall attendance figures
As a school the effect of poor attendance is primarily seen with children not making expected progress throughout a year and not reaching their full potential.
The school day begins promptly at 9.00am and finishes at 3.30pm.
Children may enter the school building from 8.50am, the bell will ring at 9.00am when we expect all children to be in school.
All children arriving at school after 9.00am should report to the school office.
Please telephone, or email, if for any reason your child is not coming to school. If you phone school regarding an absence please follow up the call with an email.
Why We Feel a Child's Attendance is so Important
Children's learning in school is based on a build up of skills and knowledge.
This build-up is continually planned by teachers on a day to day basis. Children that miss one session could miss out on a potentially important lesson and although every effort is made to catch children up when they return, this is usually not as effective and takes time away from the rest of the class.
If children miss out on a number of sessions this can significantly affect their overall progress.
Children that are away from school on a regular basis can miss out on opportunities to build strong friendships and can sometimes find it harder to build strong friendships within school.
Attendance Figures Explained
Attendance is based on a child being at school in time for the morning register as well as the afternoon register so being marked present for two sessions a day.
Both these sessions count towards their overall attendance figure which is simply a percentage of how many sessions your child has been present throughout the current academic year.
The only reasons a child will be marked as present when they are not in school are if they are being educated at a different location, or at a school event such as residential or sporting.
There are a variety of different reasons that a child may be absent from school and the school will assign an appropriate code on the register to make staff aware of the reason.
Authorised Absence
Absence from school can be authorised for the following reasons:
- Medical appointments
- Illness where the school has been notified by phone or in writing
- Religious observance
NOTE: An authorised absence is still recorded as the child not being in school and will have a negative effect on their attendance figure.
Absence from school will be unauthorised in all other circumstances unless deemed to be exceptional by the Headteacher.
Unauthorised Term Time Leave (includes Holiday)
Parents do not have the right or entitlement to take their child out of school for a term-time holiday. Recent government guidelines have removed the discretion for head teachers agreeing to term-time leave. Any requests for leave of absence need to be submitted before the leave is taken. Parents must complete a Term-Time Leave Request Form and provide any supporting evidence, if applicable, with their request. This also applies to parents requesting to take their child out of school during the school day. If the school suspect term-time leave has been taken but the parents/carers have not completed a Term-Time Leave Request Form, we will write to the parents/carers giving them an opportunity to clarify the reason for absence and provide supporting evidence. Failure to respond to or provide supporting evidence will result in a referral to the Local Authority for unauthorised leave from school. Exceptional circumstances (definition of exceptional: rare, unavoidable, short) will be considered on an individual basis.
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.
