Attendance

The Government and Department for Education are focusing heavily on school attendance and require all schools to increase/review their attendance procedures to ensure that all children are in school. This is a key priority for them and are expecting schools to take extra measures to improve attendance.

This means that as a school we have increased the way we communicate and challenge absences in school. Please understand that we are duty bound to do this, no matter the circumstances surrounding your child’s attendance.

You will receive regular updates on your child’s attendance and increased attendance rewards will happen in school. You are likely to receive a formal attendance letters more regularly if your child’s attendance falls below 95%.

A GREEN letter will be sent termly/half termly to recognise children who have attendance over 95%, which is good attendance. 

An AMBER letter will be sent termly/half termly to inform families that their child's attendance is below 95% which makes them a 'concern'.

A RED letter will be sent termly/half termly to inform families that their child's attendance is below 90%, which falls into the category of Persistent Absence. 

We understand that some children have additional or medical needs which means they aren’t always in school or can’t always arrive on time. We are very aware of these needs and work closely with the families to find the best solutions to ensuring good attendance. However, we still have to keep everyone informed of their child’s attendance, no matter the circumstances and ask that all parents/carers continue to support their child attending school and reach out to school for support if needed.

If your child is ill when at school or we have concerns about them not being in a fit state to be in school, we will give you a ring. This type of absence will be authorised and noted that the child was in school when they became ill. The rule still applies that if your child has had sickness or diarrhoea, they must not attend school for the day of the sickness and one day after the sickness has stopped to avoid spreading any bugs.

We want to work with families to ensure the best attendance possible and don’t want you to feel you have to force your child into school if they really are unwell. As a school we are duty bound to enforce good attendance for all pupils and work with those children who struggle to attend school, in order to enable all children to access their full learning each year.

Please read the attendance information below.

Thank you for your understanding and support with this.

Percentage Attendance Information

School attendance and the Law

The Education Act 1996 states that parents must ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive appropriate full-time education according to their age, ability and aptitude. Ordinarily this involves ensuring children attend school regularly and punctually. "Regularly" means "in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school" i.e. every day the school is open (Isle of Wight Council -v- Platt 06 April 2017).

Under the Section 576 of the Education Act, any person who has care of a child – whether or not they are the parent – or who has parental responsibility, is deemed to be 'a parent' and is therefore responsible for ensuring regular school attendance.

A parent is guilty of an offence if their child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school, fails to attend regularly – Section 444(1) Education Act 1996. In such a situation if the parent knows that their child is not attending, they may be prosecuted for a more serious offence – Section 444 (1) (a) Education Act 1996. Failure to ensure school attendance can result in prosecution.

Attendance – Impact on Progress

Did you know?

Missing five days of every term every year is the same as missing one whole school year. This is the same for every year group, Foundation through to year six.

A child with a good school attendance record is setting themselves up for a better future once they leave school.

We expect our children to attend school for 100% of the sessions in a year, but in case of absence please contact school on the first day. Wherever possible, please make medical and dental appointments outside of the school day.

There are two types of absence:

The Government’s definition of a persistent absentee is someone who misses 10% of school time. This means that if a child attends school for 90% or less of the total possible sessions, they will be classed as a ‘persistent absentee’.  In addition to this, Sir John Sherbrooke Governors set our attendance rate at 96%. You will receive a letter if your child’s absence drops below 95%.

Parents will be informed of their child’s attendance on a regular basis. We hope you will find this information helpful. If you have any queries or would like to talk to someone about your child’s attendance, please contact your child’s class teacher or myself. It is the legal responsibility of the parent to ensure their child attends school regularly and on time.

How much unauthorised absence can a pupil have before their parents are fined?

In Nottinghamshire parents can be issued with fines if they allow their children to be absent from school without authorisation for 5 days or 10 sessions over a six week period. If there is evidence that the absence was for family holiday in term time, then they can be fined after 3 days or 6 sessions of unauthorised absence over a 6 week period.

Our commitment to promoting excellent attendance

Our aim is that every week, attendance is totalled and the best class are presented with the attendance trophy and a reward. If a class has a child with very significantly poor attendance, that child is excluded from the weekly totals so as not to discourage the rest of the class from competing for the attendance trophy.

Further weekly and termly rewards may be used to encourage good attendance.

All the above rewards should not penalise children with regular medical appointments with the paediatrician or through the hospital. Letters outlining such appointments should be presented to the office staff who will ensure that these are not counted against a child earning an attendance reward.

Reporting Absence

It is a parent’s responsibility to inform school of a child’s absence.

• Parents are asked to make contact on the first day of absence, where possible – by note, personal contact, telephone call or text – informing the school of the reason for the absence and/or nature of any illness.  They are also asked to inform the school if there is a likely return date.
• If no contact has been received by 9:30am on the first day of absence, then wherever possible, the school will telephone or text the parents.
• Any absence that may be considered Unauthorised Absence should only be recorded after discussion with the Head Teacher. 

Lateness

We recognise that persistent lateness is:

• detrimental to a child’s education
• a poor preparation for future schooling and adult life.
• disruptive to a whole class and time consuming for admin staff

• Morning registration starts at 8.50 am and the registers are closed at 9.00 am.
• Pupils arriving after 9.00 am sign in late at the office and receive a mark which denotes ‘Late after the register is closed’.
• Afternoon registration starts at 1:00pm and the registers are closed at 1.15 pm.
• Pupils arriving after 1.15 pm sign in late at the office and receive a mark which denotes ‘Late after the register is closed’.

Reminder that holidays during term time will not be authorised, unless for exceptional circumstances, and may result in a fine. If you do decide to take your child out of school for a holiday, a holiday form must be filled out, otherwise you child will be classes as missing from school. Telling school your child is ill when actually they are on holiday will not be tolerated.

The link between attendance and attainment is clear:

• In 2018/19, just 40% of persistently absent (PA) children in KS2 achieved expected KS2 standards, compared with 84% of pupils who were regular attenders.

• And 36% of PA children in KS4 got 9 to 4 in their English and maths GCSEs, also compared with 84% of regular attenders.

It’s never too late to benefit from good attendance:

•More than half (54%) of pupils who were PA in Year 10 and then rarely absent in Year 11, passed at least 5 GCSEs, compared to 36% of pupils who were persistently absent in both years.2

But attendance is important for more than just attainment:

• Regular school attendance can facilitate positive peer relationships, which is a protective factor for mental health and wellbeing.