Attendance

Whole School Attendance

Every school newsletter includes a section on attendance and last year our whole school attendance figure was 95.2%.  You will also have received a communication at the end of every term outlining your child’s attendance to date.

Obviously, good attendance is crucial to a child being able to access their learning and achieving the best possible outcomes, both academically and socially and research has shown that poor attendance directly impacts a child’s chances in their exams in secondary school and in later life.

We want to work with you to support your child to be in school as much as they possibly can.  We also understand that there are occasions when it is not possible, or appropriate for your child to be in school, but it is a legal requirement for children to be in school every day unless they are ill, or their absence has been authorised by school.

We are required to report on every child’s attendance by the Department for Education, Norfolk County Council and also Sapientia Education Trust.

Pupils are considered a persistent absentee when they miss 10% or more of their schooling across the year.  Pupils are considered a serious absentee when they miss 50% or more of their schooling.

Once a pupil’s attendance drops below 96% we will seek to explore with you the reasons for this and offer support to overcome any barriers that are preventing your child from attending school.  This support is non-judgemental and is absolutely supportive.  We are not here to criticise, but our aim is to ensure all pupils have the best possible start in life.  There are some instances when absence is unavoidable and we will be sensitive to this.

Where attendance becomes a concern with no sign of improvement we are duty bound to take action which can include parents being invited into school for a supportive meeting, involvement of Norfolk County Council’s Attendance and Entitlement Officer, referral to an attendance panel, Fixed Penalty Notices and ultimately court proceedings.

Any communication from us or offers of support to increase your child’s attendance is with your child’s best interests in mind and please do see it as such.

Fixed Penalty Notices will be issued in line with Norfolk County Council Guidance:

Regular school attendance and parent’s legal responsibilities This guidance is to remind all parents about the law that requires them to ensure that their child attends school regularly. The Government is clear that no child should miss school apart from in exceptional circumstances and schools must take steps to reduce absence to support children’s attainment.

The important legal information

The Government have introduced a single national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England. This threshold is 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 period of 10 school weeks can span different terms or school years. 

In line with national guidance, the Local Authority (LA) retains the discretion to issue a penalty notice before the threshold is met. This might apply for example, where parents have taken several term time holidays below the national threshold. The LA also retains the discretion to consider going straight to prosecution where appropriate. 

A maximum of 2 penalty notices per parent, per child can be issued within a rolling 3-year period. This period will start from the issue of the 1st penalty notice. The national framework also sets out the escalation process which applies to such penalty notices. If the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within 3 years, another tool should be used. In Norfolk, where a pupil’s attendance has met the national threshold for a third time within 3 years and the parent/s have already been issued with 2 penalty notices within that period, consideration will be given to prosecution under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, which can result in a criminal conviction and fine of up to £2,500. 

A parent includes any person who is not a natural parent but who has parental responsibility for the child or who has care of the child, as set out in section 576 of the Education Act 1996. Penalty notices will usually be issued to the parent/s with day-to-day responsibility for the child’s attendance or the parent/s who have allowed the absence (regardless of which parent has applied for a leave of absence). 

The first penalty notice issued to a parent for a child will be charged at £160 to be paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second penalty notice, the second penalty notice to the same parent for the same child within 3 years of the first offence, is charged at a flat rate of £160 and is payable within 28 days. There is no reduced sum available in this instance. Part payments or payment plans are not acceptable, and fines must be paid in full within 21 or 28 days, at the rate specified within the penalty notice. There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice.

There are 175 non-school days in the school year.  Please plan holidays, days out etc within these, to avoid unnecessary absences from school.  The Department for Education advises all schools that only leave of absence for exceptional circumstances should be authorised.  All applications for holiday in term time will be reviewed on a case by case basis, although the Government does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure or recreation to be an exceptional circumstance’ and therefore holiday is unlikely to be authorised.

Please make any requests for leave in advance.  Forms can be found on our school website or can be picked up from the school office.

Any concerns regarding your child’s attendance, please speak to your child’s teacher in the first instance or contact our Parent Support Adviser and Attendance Lead, Mrs Cowee-Smith - s.coweesmith@rosecroftprimary.org.