Attendance and Absence

Attendance- The reality

We want all young people at this school to be confident both academically and socially. This will ensure that they succeed in the next stage of their learning. Success at school allows young people to make more choices about their lives, have ambitions about the future, enjoy a wide range of experiences and make lifelong friends.

School isn’t always easy. Most young people have days when they don’t want to go. However, if they aren’t in school they will feel behind in their learning when they return. That can have a big effect on their confidence. They also miss out on shared experiences with friends, which can make them feel left out. This can make school feel even harder and lead to more regular absence.

 This policy represents our commitment to regular attendance in school. Most young people attend school at least 97% of the time, and this is what we aim for. The policy sets out the principles, procedures and practice we undertake to encourage attendance and to address absence.

Principles

• Receiving a full-time, suitable education is a child’s legal entitlement.
• Parents and carers have a legal responsibility to ensure this happens.
• Attending school regularly aids intellectual, social and emotional development and is essential if children are to benefit fully from their school life.
• Children whose attendance is low are likely to have poor outcomes, so will be treated as vulnerable.

These principles are enshrined in British law, within the Education Act 1996, the Children Act 1989, and other associated pieces of legislation.

Procedures

• Pupils must arrive at school by 8.50am on each school day.
• The register for the first session will be taken at 9am and will be kept open until 9.30am. The register for the second session will be taken as soon as the pupils return to class after lunch.
• Children who arrive late after the doors close at 8.50am must be signed in by their parent/carer or appropriate adult at the school office. We will ask the reason for the lateness. If a child arrives late, but unaccompanied, we will contact you and seek a reason for the poor punctuality

We expect families to...

• Encourage school attendance and the value of attending school regularly.
• Provide up to date contact numbers and changes of address.
• Provide details of at least two contacts for emergency use.
• Notify the school via admin@chillingham.newcastle.sch.uk ,school gateway app or telephone 0191 2655940 when your child is unable to attend, with a reason, on the first day of the absence.
• Telephone the school after the first day of absence if the absence is continuing.
• Keep the school well informed, especially about circumstances that might mean your child is absent for several days.
• Provide medical evidence, if possible, indicating attendance at the dentist, doctor, or optician before the arranged appointment unless an emergency situation arises. This might include an appointment note or an NHS App message. Whenever possible all appointments should be made outside of school hours.
• Ensure that your child arrives at school on time each day.
• Let the school know if their child is going to be late, e.g., if a car breaks down, if an urgent appointment has been made.
• Book family holidays during school holiday time.

Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is a parent/carer’s legal responsibility (Section 444 of the 1996 Education Act) and permitting absence from school that is not authorised by the Head Teacher creates an offence in law.

We expect our children to...

• Attend every day unless they are ill or have an authorised absence.
• Arrive in school on time.
• Go to all their registrations and lessons on time.

 Unathorised absence

 An absence is classified as unauthorised when a child is away from school without the permission of the school.

 Examples of types of absence that are not considered reasonable, and which will not be authorised under any circumstances are:

• Going shopping with parents, birthdays.
• Sibling unwell.
• Staying at home because other members in the family are unwell.
• Day trips and holidays in term time.
• Arriving at school too late to get a present mark (after the close of registration).
• Truancy.

In some cases, we may change an authorised absence to an unauthorised absence and vice versa if new information is presented. An example of this would be where a parent states a child is unwell but there is subsequent evidence they have been on holiday. We will communicate any such change to parents/carers.

 Illness

 If your child has repeated periods of illness, we may ask you to provide medical evidence for each future period of illness related absence. This evidence could be a doctor’s note, appointment card/letter or copy of a prescription. We may seek written permission from you to make our own enquiries.

 We are here to support ALL families even those with medical conditions.  We also work closely with medical staff to help parents access the right support to help their child. 

Take a look at this advice from the NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

 

 Persistent and Severe Absence Procedures

•  If your child misses 10% or more of their schooling across a year for whatever reason, whether it is authorised or unauthorised, or a mixture of both, they become a ‘Persistent Absentee.’ Missing 50% or more of school is defined as severe absence.
• At this point your child would not be receiving a suitable education and their outcomes will be affected. We will inform you if your child is moving into the category of persistent absence, and your child’s attendance will be monitored.
• This is because young people can easily get into a habit of missing school. Without help it can rapidly get worse.
• It is essential that we avoid the kind of impact that poor attendance can have on your child. If you are facing circumstances which make it difficult to ensure your child’s attendance at school, you should tell us. We will meet with you and provide access to wider support services to help remove barriers to attendance.
• We monitor registers to identify pupils with a pattern of absences that may lead to Persistent Absence (PA). Initially we will try to resolve the problem with you. We will agree actions to improve attendance. However, if the pattern continues, we will make a referral to the Local Authority.

 School Refusal/ Emotionally Based School Non Attendance

 You should do everything possible to ensure your child attends school. However, if the reason for your child’s reluctance appears to be school based, such as difficulty with accessing the curriculum or bullying, you should discuss this with us at the earliest opportunity and we will do everything possible to resolve it. Remember that issues like this are rarely solved immediately and can only be solved if you work with us to get your child in to school. Supporting your child’s reluctance to attend is likely to make the matter worse.

Emotionally Based School Non Attendance, or EBSNA, is a type of absenteeism driven by emotional factors (e.g. stress, anxiety, low mood, low motivation), which is used by children/ young people as a strategy to avoid educational situations and/or seek something which better meets their needs outside of an educational context.

Legal action to enforce school attendance

You have a legal duty to ensure the regular and full-time attendance at school of registered pupils (Education Act 1996). We regard the use of legal sanctions as a last resort where attendance is low and has not improved despite our best efforts to work with families. However, our use of legal sanctions underlines the importance of attendance and our determination that all children at this school receive a suitable education. If your child’s attendance drops below 97% without a suitable reason, you will receive a letter telling you that we are concerned. If there are further absences including unauthorised absence you will be invited to an Attendance Contract meeting to develop a plan of support that improves attendance. Further unauthorised absence totalling 10 or more unauthorised sessions in previous ten weeks and attendance below 90% will result in a referral to the Local Authority for consideration of legal action.

 

Local authorities can use various legal powers if your child is missing school without a good reason. They can give you:

• a Parenting Order
• an Education Supervision Order
• a School Attendance Order
• a fine (sometimes known as a ‘penalty notice’)

Fixed Penalty Notice (fine)

The Local Authority may issue Notices to Improve and penalty notices, or refer to court for prosecution in line with the National Framework where absences were unauthorised and support has been provided but has not worked or been engaged with, or would not have been appropriate in the circumstances of the offence (e.g. an unauthorised holiday in term time).

A penalty notice is an out of court settlement which is intended to change behaviour without the need for criminal prosecution. The threshold is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence. This can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence, all taken within any 10 school week period which may span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the Summer Term and a further 8 within the Autumn Term).

From Autumn Term 2024, the Local Authority will only issue 2 penalty notices to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3 year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate:

• The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
• A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
• A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution.

appendix 12 parent information leaflet.pdf

 

 Holidays in term time

 Any request for leave of absence due to holidays in term time will not be authorised.

 

The DFE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreational circumstance, and therefore there is no entitlement in law to time off in term time. Children who are absent from school fall behind in their learning. They miss out on school events. Many find it difficult to catch up. In addition, school staff have to divert their attention away from other children in order to support those that have fallen behind due to a holiday related absence.

In the case of unauthorised leave of absences, incurring 10 or more unauthorised sessions (5 days) within 10 school weeks, consideration will be given if a referral should be made to the Local Authority for a fixed penalty notice to be issued or prosecution where repeated penalty notices have been issued. Where the threshold has not been met in the case of persistent avoidance, for example, repeated absence for birthdays or other family events, the school will have discretion to refer the case to the Local Authority. If in an individual case the Local Authority believes a penalty notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met

 

 

loa request form.pdf