Attendance Information

School Attendance

School attendance is vitality important for children to learn and reach their full potential. Being in school is important not only to your child’s academic achievements but also to their well-being and wider development.

The Department for Education, Education Hub Research has found that pupils who perform better both at the end of primary and secondary education missed fewer days than those who didn’t perform as well. Their data also shows that primary school children in Key Stage 2 who didn’t achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths missed on average four more days per school per school year than those whose performance exceeded the expected standard.

Every school day really matters.

Here is the parent section from the Trust’s Attendance and Punctuality Policy.

The full policy can be found in the policy section.

Parents/carers will:

• ensure their child attends school every day when the school is open;
• ensure their child arrives to school on time, ready and equipped to learn;
• be aware that it is an offence for their child to be absent from school without a valid reason;
• be aware that only the school can determine if an absence from school is ‘authorised’;
• notify the school as soon as possible and ideally before the start of the school day and on each subsequent day of absence if their child is unable to attend, including the reason for absence and the expected date of return;
• ensure that all appointments, wherever possible, are arranged out of school hours;
• ensure that where an appointment during school time is unavoidable, their child attends for as long as possible prior to and/or returns immediately after the appointment;
• ensure that their child returns to school as soon as possible after any period of illness;
• support their child’s attendance by avoiding requesting leave during term time except in exceptional circumstances;
• understand that the school is not in a position to authorise a holiday in term time; [1]
• ensure that all requests for leave during term time are made by completing the Leave of Absence during Term Time Request Form, where possible at least one month in advance;
• work with the school and other agencies when barriers to their child's attendance are identified;
• be aware that for unauthorised absences the School Standards Committee reserves the right to apply to the local authority to issue a fixed penalty notice (a fine);
• provide the school with a minimum of two emergency contact numbers and ensure they are kept up to date with any changes.

[1] From August 2023 schools are no longer permitted to authorise holidays in term time. As such, the H code for recording holiday absence has been removed..

There are two circumstances in which you child may be absent from school

• They are too unwell to attend
• You have obtained advanced permission from the headteacher.

Further information can be found in the NHS guidance regarding ‘Is my child too ill for school?’ following the link below.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Leave of absence

Education regulations and DfE guidance stipulate the following:

• Only exceptional circumstances warrant a leave of absence.
• Schools should consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request.
• If a leave of absence is granted, it is for the headteacher to determine the length of the time the pupil can be away from school.
• As headteachers should only grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances, it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.
• Leave of absence will not be granted for a pupil to take part in a protest activity during school hours.
• Applications for Leave of Absence must be made in advance by a parent who the pupil normally lives with[1] and by completing a Leave of Absence Request Form; failure to do so will result in the absence being unauthorised.
• Applications for Leave of Absence which are refused will result in the absence being unauthorised. This may result in legal action being taken against the parent.

Circumstances which could be authorised include significant family emergencies or funerals. However, parents will also be mindful that often in these difficult family times it can also be beneficial to the child for them to remain in school. In these circumstances a proportionate, minimal time away from school is encouraged.

Exceptional circumstances

 In considering whether any exceptional circumstances apply, the headteacher will consider if the reasons are rare, significant and unavoidable. The headteacher will also take into consideration the factors listed below:

• whether the event for which leave of absence is requested could reasonably take place during school holidays;
• levels of attendance and unauthorised absence over the last 12 months;
• any leave of absence taken previously;
• whether the leave is during the exam period or will result in a failure to meet assessment deadlines;
• the age and year group of the pupil concerned.

We have a shared responsibility to ensure that the law is upheld and that your child achieves his/her full potential.  We look forward to your co-operation.

Further Information regarding guidance from the Local Authority on School Attendance can be found by clicking on this link.