Attendance Information

For a child to reach their full educational achievement, a high level of school attendance is essential.

We want every child to:

• Attend regularly
• Attend punctually
• Attend ready and prepared to learn including wearing the right uniform and bringing the correct equipment

We are committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all our pupils and endeavour to provide an environment where all pupils feel valued and welcome. Parents and pupils play a part in making our school successful. Every child has a right to access the education to which he/she is entitled. Parents and teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all.

It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Every opportunity will be used to convey to pupils and their parents or carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance.

For our pupils to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered it is vital that they are in school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. The routines children develop around attendance and punctuality at the school are the same as the expectations of any future employer in the world of work. High attainment, confidence with peers and staff, and future aspirations depend on good attendance.

Good attendance is important because:

Good attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances. The pupils with the highest attainment at the  end of key stage 2 and key stage 4 have higher rates of attendance over the key stage compared to  those with the lowest attainment. At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard. Moreover, the overall absence rate of pupils not meeting the expected standard was higher than among those meeting the higher standard (4.7% compared to 2.7%). At KS4, pupils not achieving Grade 9 to 4 in GCSE English and Maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 5.2% among those achieving Grade 4. The overall absence rate of pupils not achieving Grade 9 to 4 was over twice as high as those achieving Grade 9 to 5 (8.8% compared to 3.7%).

For the most vulnerable pupils, regular attendance is also an important protective factor and the best opportunity for needs to be identified and support provided. Research has shown associations between regular absence from school and a number of extra-familial harms. This includes crime (90% of young offenders had been persistently absent) and serious violence (83% of knife possession offenders had been persistently absent in at least 1 of the 5 years of study).

Good attendance is extremely important in ensuring the best possible progress for your child. Please ensure that your child arrives punctually for the start of each school day. Late arrivals do cause additional work and disrupt the learning of the class. Good attendance at school is vitally important and this is defined currently as at least 96% attendance with no unauthorised absences.

Our attendance registers are checked regularly and all pupils whose attendance falls below 96%, for whatever reason, are highlighted. Regular lateness is also identified. Parents of children who are identified in this way, may be referred to our Attendance Officer for additional support.

Government legislation has set the persistent absence threshold at 10%. This means that any pupil will be persistently absent when they have missed 38 sessions (half days) at any point during the academic year, which can be as little as 5 or 7 sessions (half days) each term. Pupils who are in danger of reaching this threshold will automatically be referred to the Attendance Officer for additional support.

The school and its staff regard the regular attendance of children at school as being vital to each child’s education and development. It is for this reason that non-attendances (however short or infrequent) are treated seriously. It remains the policy of the school to only sanction non-attendance during term time in exceptional circumstances.

If your child has unauthorised leave of absence you may either be issued with a Penalty Notice of £160 per parent per child (discounted to £80 if paid within 21 days), or your case could be referred by the Local Authority directly to the Magistrates’ Court for the purposes of criminal prosecution.

I hope that you will support the school in this matter, as we are all concerned to see children fulfil their full potential at school. I am sure you will agree that this can best be achieved by avoiding unnecessary absence. 

Taking your child on a family holiday during term time

Headteachers are no longer able to grant any leave of absence for family holidays, unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’ which support the request being made.
Where a family chooses to take a holiday during term time, the absences will be coded as unauthorised, and as such Headteachers may request that the Local Authority issues a Penalty Notice.

Authorised non-attendance at school

• Schools must use the National Attendance Codes to ensure consistency in the treatment and recording of attendance and absence.
• In most cases, illness will be the reason for absence. However, schools can also authorise absence for ‘other exceptional circumstances’ .  
• Such decisions will take place at the Headteacher’s discretion. An example would be ‘bereavement’, whereas unacceptable reasons might include a shopping trip or birthday.

Attendance policy 24-25