Attendance

Have You Got Star Attendance?

Days off school add up to lost learning:

100% attendance	0 weeks of learning missed	Best chance of success well done
95% attendance	1 week and 4 days of learning missed
90% attendance	3 weeks and 4 days of learning missed	Poor attendanceI’m worried
85% attendance	5 weeks and 4 days of learning missed
80% attendance	7 weeks and 4 days of learning missed	Very poor attendanceI’m seriously concerned
75% attendance	9 weeks and 4 days of learning missed

The attendance service requires schools to refer any pupil with at least 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absences in a term. If these absences are due to unauthorised or declined holiday each parent can be issued with a Penalty Notice for £120 which has to be paid within 42 days. If this is paid within 28 days the amount is reduced to £60. (‘Guidance on the Education (Pupil registration) (England) Regulations 2006).

A Guide To Attendance

Do I need to keep my child off school – Quick Guide

Do I need to keep my child off school_Polish

Do I need to keep my child off school_Kurdish (Sorani)

Do I need to keep my child off school_Romanian

What action should you take if your child is absent?

• Please phone (01303 255516) on the first day of absence leaving your child’s name, class, reason for absence and expected date of return.
• If your child is still unable to return to school on the expected date of return please contact the school again

‘Send to school or stay at home’ leaflet

What action will the school take if your child is absent?

• Text or phone you to find out the reason why your child is absent
• Send out a letter if no reply to the text or phone has been received
• If attendance falls below 90% send a further letter to let you know what action is to be taken
• Your child will be given ‘Rising Stars’ booklet where they will gain stars and rewards for improved attendance
• If there is no improvement our Family Liaison Officer will contact you
• If there is no response, the school will refer you to the Education Welfare Officer

Why is good attendance important?

Attending school on a regular basis is the key to children doing well at school, and sets them up with good habits for later life and the working world. It also gives children the opportunity to:

• Make lots of friends and feel included
• Learn new things and develop their skills
• Increase their confidence and self-esteem
• Improve their social skills
• Be part of a school team or club
• Improve their career prospects
• Achieve their potential and fulfil their aspirations

A few small changes can make a difference

Parents are advised to:

• Show their child that they think school is very important
• Praise their child’s achievements
• Not keep their child off school if they are worried or have a problem
• Talk about it with their Class Teacher, Family Liaison Officer, Headteachers  or the Educational Welfare Officer
• Recognise that if children get into bad patterns from an early age, these are hard to break later in life

How good is your child’s attendance?

All pupils are expected to reach attendance levels of 97% and above to be able to access and achieve their full potential at school.

What can I do as a parent to increase my child’s attendance?

• Only grant days at home for genuine illness (you will know!)
• Avoid taking holidays in school time

Basically, Parents and Carers have to make sure that children aged 5 to 16 years receive full-time education and that these children attend school regularly. If a child is missing school without good reason, schools and local authorities have a number of legal powers that they can use

A child registered at a school can legally miss school only in very limited circumstances…

• When the child is too ill to attend
• When the school has authorised the absence beforehand

Authorised Absences include:

• Genuine illness resulting in unavoidable absence
• Religious observances
• Family bereavement

Unauthorised absences include:

• Holidays
• Shopping
• Having a birthday
• Oversleeping – Registration is between 8.30-8.40 am, 8.40 am to 9.00 am will be recorded as late and after 9.00 am will be marked as an unauthorised absence