Government research shows that when children do not have good attendance, this does have a huge impact on them. Not only do they run the risk of falling behind their friends and classmates when they miss school, there are other social impacts on them as well, such as building life skills, making life-long friendships and preparing them for future success within the world of work. Therefore, we want the amount of missed education to be reduced as much as possible.
Our school attendance over the last few years has been over 96% :-
Whole School attendance for the Academic Year 2022-2023 was 96.7%
Whole School attendance for the Academic Year 2023-2024 was 96.3%
All of which are above national figures.
Government guidelines
The DfE has published a new version of working together to improve school attendance. Which became statutory guidance on 19 August 2024.
This brings guidance and updates to reflect changes in the law, and school is obligated to follow this.
As a school we aim to:
- Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 95%
- Maintain parents’ and pupils’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance.
Good attendance is important because:
- Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and poor attendance
- Regular attendees make better progress, both socially and academically
- Regular attendees find school routines and school work easier to cope with
- Regular attendees find learning more satisfying
- Regular attendees have an easier transfer to secondary school
As a parent you can help us by:
- Ringing on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return
- Arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks
- Sending in a note explaining the reason for absence on your child’s return to school after an illness
- Keeping us updated by telephone or letter if your child has an extended period of absence due to illness
We shall:
- Follow up unexplained absences by phone calls and letters as soon as possible
- Remind parents of the importance of regular attendance and punctuality in newsletters, the school brochure and the Home-School agreement
- Publish our attendance rate in the school brochure and the School Information Profile
- Acknowledge and reward good attendance
- Publish your child’s attendance rate on her/his annual school report
- Let you know if we have concerns regarding your child’s attendance
- If we continue to have concerns we will make a referral to the School Attendance Officer, who will visit the school to review the situation and advise on the action to be taken.
Reporting an absence
If your child is absent from school on the first morning of their absence please inform the school office 01254 884534 before 8:30am. Please leave your child’s details and an explanation of their absence in this message. We will continue to operate a first day response, where we will contact parents/carers by telephone on the first day of absence if you don’t contact school. If your child is absent for more than one day, please can you continue to update the school to let us know how your child is progressing. Failure to inform the school of absences will result in an ‘Unauthorised’ absence being recorded. We monitor attendance on a daily basis and contact parents when we feel there is a concern.
Persistent Absence
As a school we continually track the attendance of our children, as do the Local Authority and Department of Education. Where children’s absence is 90% or below, it is considered as ‘Persistent Absence’ which under the new guidance, leads to improvements being needed immediately. Failing to improve attendance or attendance worsening can lead to parents/carers receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) from the Local Authority, which as a school we want to help families avoid at all costs. We have added information about FPN’s to our website and all details are available in the policy. As a school we will make you aware if your child is in danger of becoming persistently absent and offer support through school measures or Early Help.
Punctuality
The law also requires pupils to attend school regularly and this includes arriving on time each day and as a parent or carer it is your responsibility to ensure that your child arrives promptly for registration. We are grateful that poor punctuality only applies to a minority of our children but it is noted on a daily basis. Children who arrive late disrupt the class and miss very important introductions to the lesson. Please make every effort to ensure that your children arrive on time. Missing just 10 minutes of the school a day (either in the morning or afternoon) is the same as missing two weeks over the year. Our school gates open at 8:40 every morning and children should be in class by 8:50am
Requesting a leave of absence
Under the new guidance there is no provision in law for Headteachers to allow any holidays in term time. If you believe that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the need to take your child out of school during term time, requests must be made, in writing, to the Headteacher, at least ten school days before the proposed absence. A form is available from the school office. A letter will be sent to parent/carers in response to the application for leave, to confirm the school’s decision. If leave is taken after permission has been withheld then this will be recorded as unauthorised absence. If parents do not request leave of absence, then it will automatically be classed as unauthorised. You can receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) for taking your child on holiday during term time and you may be called to attend a formal PACE (Police and Criminal Evidence) interview at the Town Hall.
Mis-reporting ‘Sick Leave’
Where strong evidence exists that the reporting of ‘sick leave’ is not genuine, parents will be contacted. Evidence could include: social media, non-contact with school, school are unable to contact parents/carers, children reporting a holiday or other circumstances and children reporting non-illness.
Medical Appointments
All medical appointments (wherever possible) should not be made during school time. If your child is attending a medical appointment you must produce an appointment card/letter or similar paperwork prior to the appointment to the office to inform them. On the day of the appointment, if on the rare occasion it happened to be during the school day, your child must still attend school around the appointment. If children need to leave school at any time for an appointment, they must be signed out at the school office.
