Attendance
It is important that your child attends school regularly. We encourage all our learners to have high attendance so that they can learn well and achieve their best.
Absence Procedure
If your child is absent for any reason, please notify the school on the first morning of absence by either:
Completing the absence form online
or
Telephoning the school 01702 475689 (option 1)
Please provide your child's name, class and reason for absence. Please keep the office updated if the absence continues into the following day.
Holidays in School Time
Holidays in term time are not permitted.
In exceptional circumstances, the headteacher is able to authorise time out of school. If your circumstances require you to make an application for time out of school, please contact the office for an absence request form or download below.
New National Framework for Penalty Notices
You will know that schools are expected to monitor the attendance of children at school. You will also know that it is the law that children should attend school. In some circumstances the headteacher can authorise an absence from school for an illness or an exceptional circumstance. It has always been the case that holidays in school time should not be authorised as there is sufficient time to holiday within the school breaks.
The government have now introduced a new National Framework for Penalty Notices that came into effect on the 19th August 2024. Our school has adopted the new guidelines for penalty fines. The new changes are substantial and costly and so we advise you to take note of the fines and penalties that will come into operation. Schools are being asked to actively monitor attendance so that reasons for absence are accurate and children return to school as quickly as possible after an illness. Schools will be made accountable for their role in promoting attendance through the Ofsted Inspection process.
We hope that you will support us in this process that is driven by government requirements in response to poorer school attendance nationwide following the pandemic. Our updated attendance policy, which reflects these changes, will be available on the school website in time for the new academic year.
Please find the new arrangements for your information below.
Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance
National Threshold
There will be a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period.
These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence.
The 10-school week period can span different terms or school years.
Who may be fined?
Penalty Notice Fines are issued to each parent who allows their child to be absent from school.
For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave, would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines.
First Offence
The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised absence the amount will be:
£160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.
Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
Second Offence
(Within 3 years)
The Second time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised absence the amount will be:
£160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.
Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years)
The third time an offence is committed a Penalty Notice will not be issued and there will be a need to consider other available measures to address the absence concerns. This may mean that the case will be presented to the Magistrate’s Court. Prosecution can result in criminal records and fines of up to £2,500.
Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on the parent’s future DBS certificate due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’.