Attendance
Please find attached our Attendance Policy
Good school attendance habits are best started early. Children learn from those around them and you as parents/carers set the standards and expectations for your child. Showing your child the importance of attending school every day not only helps your child to settle quickly when starting school but helps them to keep and maintain friendships and enjoy the school environment.
Be organised, have a plan, be consistent and involve your child.
You should:
create good routines for mornings at home so that your child can arrive punctually and they are properly equipped; this will also mean your mornings can start calmly too
make time to encourage and show interest. Chat to them about the things they have learnt, what friends they have made and even what they had for lunch! Remember children can be tired when coming out of school, so a short chat over a snack or later that evening may produce a better result than a long list of questions
read all school communications. A home/school diary can help with communication only when all parties use it as intended
attend school open evenings and functions
check your child understands the homework and that it has been completed. Support them in completing homework by creating a calm space for them to work in and set specific times during the week when homework should be done
avoid absence from school wherever possible – try to make doctors and dental appointments out of school hours. Absence means your child will miss out on the academic studies and will also learn that education is not the main priority within the family. This can have a lifelong effect
There tend to be good reasons why children become reluctant to attend school. Take the time to listen to your child, share any concerns you or your child may have with the appropriate member of school staff and seek support at the very earliest opportunity.
- Your responsibilities as a parent
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By law, all children of compulsory school age (normally five to 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. As a parent, you have a legal responsibility to make sure this happens – once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend regularly.
- Recording your child’s attendance
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Schools must take an attendance register twice a day, which is a legal document that is kept for five years. Any absences will be recorded with a specific code depending on the type of absence. Absences fall into two main categories:
- authorised – those which schools can give you permission for
- unauthorised – those which they will not
Examples of absences which the school is unlikely to authorise can include:
- sickness of a parent, or other family member
- inadequate clothing for school
- child being used as a carer
- problems with transport
- non-urgent medical treatment
- school refusal or truancy
- days off for birthdays, shopping trips
- family holiday since new regulations came in September 2013
If your child needs a leave of absence you must ask for permission in advance. The headteacher can only approve the absence if he/she views them to be exceptional reasons. The headteacher also decides on the number of days to authorise or unauthorise. You can request a leave of absence form from your school.
- Longer absence through illness, injury or medical condition
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If absence is long-term or repeated, schools may request proof that your child is genuinely unwell and unable to attend school as this is a key part of their safeguarding duties. Keep copies of any appointment letters or medical reports. The school may want to draw up a support plan with you, and consider whether to refer your child to our specialist services.
- Why is high attendance important to my child's education?
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As a parent/carer you want the best for your children. Having a good education is an important factor in opening up more opportunities in adult life. Did you know that:
- a child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
- 90% of young people with absence rates below 85% fail to achieve five or more good grades of GCSE and around one third achieve no GCSEs at all
- poor examination results limit young people’s options and poor attendance suggests to colleges and employers that these students are unreliable
- poor school attendance is also closely associated with crime a quarter of school age offenders have truanted repeatedly
- at least 1 million children take at least one half day off a year without permission
- 7.5 million school days are missed each year through unauthorised absence
GCSEs may seem a long way off for you and your child but all absence at any stage leads to gaps in your child’s learning. This in turn can:
- mean that they fall behind in work
- affect their motivation
- affect their enjoyment of learning
- lead to poor behaviour
- affect their desire to attend school regularly affect their confidence in school
- mean they miss out on the social life of school and extra curricular opportunities and experiences
- affect their ability to have or keep friendships
- Family holidays and school holidays
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Children have 13 weeks annual holiday from school and school holiday dates are published well in advance online. As such, all parents/carers are expected wherever possible to plan and take their family holidays at this time so as not to disrupt their children’s education. Education law states that parents do not have a right to take their child out of school for a holiday during term time. Only in exceptional circumstances may a headteacher grant permission for leave; and it is the headteachers decision on whether the absence is exceptional and how many days to approve.
Parents/carers who take their child out of school without the absence being agreed and authorised by written permission from the school can be issued with a penalty fine.Absence Request Form hereAppointments Request Form here
Lateness
It is a parent’s responsibility to ensure their children arrive at school on time. Lateness can disrupt the learning of others and can result in a pupil feeling greater stress and achieving poorer outcomes. Being late adds up to a loss of learning. All time out of school affects learning and achievement for both pupils. Please make sure your child arrives at school on time.
If a pupil arrives after registration has closed the absence will be recorded as unauthorised for that session. If this persists legal action, in the form of a penalty notice or prosecution under Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 may follow.
Minutes late per day | Equivalent of missing |
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5 Minutes | 3.4 school days a year |
10 Minutes | 6.9 school days a year |
15 Minutes | 10.3 school days a year |
20 Minutes | 13.8 school days a year |
30 Minutes | 20.7 school days a year |
Family Holidays and Extended Leave During term-time
Amendments to the registration regulations, which came into force in September 2013, remove references to family holidays and extended leave as well as the threshold of ten school days.
The amendments make it clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Should a school not agree to grant leave and parents take their child on holiday regardless, this will be counted as unauthorised absence (truancy).
The school and our county attendance officer may consider issuing a penalty fine of £60.
Contacting the school about illness
Inform the school before 9.30am on every day your child is absent from school due to illness. You can do this by leaving a message on the absence line (option 1 when calling the main school phone number). You must leave your child's full name, class and the reason for absence.
It is important to keep the school informed if your child is going to be absent as soon as possible at the start of the day.
If your child is frequently absent due to illness the school may request permission to contact your GP for confirmation that they are too ill to attend school. The school may need to set up a plan in consultation with medical professions to help support your child if an illness is making full time school difficult to manage.
If your child attends school and feels unwell during the school day we will contact you to arrange collection. You must ensure that we have up-to-date contact details for at least two emergency contacts for your child.