Attendance

The Legal Position on Attendance

There are only two lawful reasons for a child to miss school, both of which require authorisation by the headteacher. Lawful reasons for absence are when the child is too ill to attend or if the parent has had advance consent from the headteacher rendering their absence as "authorised" due to exceptional circumstances.

From the beginning of the academic year 2015-2016 the government reduced the persistent absence threshold from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. Therefore, a pupil is considered to have persistent absence if their attendance falls below 90%, which is 19 days absence over the year or roughly three days absence over a six-week half term.

At Netherseal St Peter's

We expect every child to attend school every day and on time unless their absence is authorised in line with the legal position as detailed above. We know that attendance and attainment go hand in hand; our records consistently show that children who have a poor attendance record make far less progress than their peers. This is because if children are not in school then they are missing the actual teaching that takes place in every year group, in every classroom, throughout every single day. Children who regularly have days off school miss out on this teaching, find it very difficult to keep up with the rest of the class and quickly begin to fall behind. In our school, persistent absence is rare but in cases where attendance nears this threshold, a referral will be made to the local authority.

In addition, we request that families support us in the following ways:

• Make sure children come to school on time. School opens at 8.40 am each day. Children are expected to be in class by 8:50am and lessons start straight away. Children who arrive even a few minutes late are missing out on learning opportunities. Please also be aware that if children arrive after the register has closed then they will be marked as absent without authorisation.
• If a child is ill, please telephone the school office on each morning of the absence.
• Make children's general medical check-up appointments for the school holidays.
• Whenever possible, make appointments at doctors’ surgeries after school, as many are now open until quite late.
• Return children to school immediately after a medical appointment, if the child is well, rather than give them the whole day off.

Leave of Absence, Including Holidays, During Term Time

The Department for Education (DfE) have introduced some new guidance for schools and Local Authorities (LAs) for managing school attendance. They have also introduced a new national framework for penalty notice and amended the law. These changes came into effect from the 19^th  August 2024 and all schools and LAs across the country will be expected to follow the new statutory guidance.

Education Penalty Notices are issued to parents of statutory school age children. They can be issued to each parent or carer who is deemed liable for the child’s absence from school. The new costs and process is outlined below:

First Offence - The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance 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 Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance 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 for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court.

Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

Term time holidays Schools are required to consider requests for leave of absence in term time and should only approve the leave if there are *exceptional circumstances. If a request for leave is denied and the pupil is absent for 5 days or more then the school is expected to refer the case to the LA. The LA will issue a penalty notice with no requirement for a formal warning to be issued. Penalty notices can also be issued where a pupil is absent for repeated incidents of unauthorised leave in term time that fall below the 5-day threshold. In every case, the request for the Penalty Notice comes in from the school to the LA for the process to be completed.

·    Exceptional circumstances: Family holidays; ‘trips of a lifetime’; visits to family abroad; weddings abroad; and parent/carers fixed holidays are not considered exceptional circumstances so cannot be authorised. Exceptional circumstances are one off events which are unavoidable. Examples may include the death of a close relative, attendance at a funeral, respite care of a looked after child, a housing crisis which prevents attendance.

Any requests should be on an official school leave of absence request form and handed into the school office for consideration by the Headteacher prior to any leave arrangements being made. Each request is taken on its own merits and based on the information supplied by the parent. Where a request is refused and the child is kept away from school anyway, this would be treated as unauthorised absence.

Where a child is kept away from school for a family holiday or other reason without authorisation being sought, this would be treated as unauthorised absence. regardless of the child’s wider school attendance.

Attendance does matter; we thank parents for helping us to ensure every one of our children comes to school regularly and gains optimum benefit from the high standards of teaching and learning we provide.

CHILDREN MISSING FROM EDUCATION

We are concerned about any child missing education not only in the way that it impacts on the pupil’s potential achievement but also in relation to their safety and welfare.

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure all their children of compulsory school age are receiving a suitable education (Section 7 of the Education Act 1996).

Any child that is missing from school and their whereabouts is not known, their destination school is not known or are missing out on education are referred to as 'children missing from education (CME)' and school is required to report to the local authority.

Derbyshire has a full time worker who co-ordinates the tracking, identification and liaisons of Children Missing from Education (CME)

Please click here to view our Attendance & Punctuality policy in full.

Attendance

The Legal Position on Attendance

There are only two lawful reasons for a child to miss school, both of which require authorisation by the headteacher. Lawful reasons for absence are when the child is too ill to attend or if the parent has had advance consent from the headteacher rendering their absence as "authorised" due to exceptional circumstances.

From the beginning of the academic year 2015-2016 the government reduced the persistent absence threshold from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. Therefore, a pupil is considered to have persistent absence if their attendance falls below 90%, which is 19 days absence over the year or roughly three days absence over a six-week half term.

At Netherseal St Peter's

We expect every child to attend school every day and on time unless their absence is authorised in line with the legal position as detailed above. We know that attendance and attainment go hand in hand; our records consistently show that children who have a poor attendance record make far less progress than their peers. This is because if children are not in school then they are missing the actual teaching that takes place in every year group, in every classroom, throughout every single day. Children who regularly have days off school miss out on this teaching, find it very difficult to keep up with the rest of the class and quickly begin to fall behind. In our school, persistent absence is rare but in cases where attendance nears this threshold, a referral will be made to the local authority.

In addition, we request that families support us in the following ways:

• Make sure children come to school on time. School opens at 8.40 am each day. Children are expected to be in class by 8:50am and lessons start straight away. Children who arrive even a few minutes late are missing out on learning opportunities. Please also be aware that if children arrive after the register has closed then they will be marked as absent without authorisation.
• If a child is ill, please telephone the school office on each morning of the absence.
• Make children's general medical check-up appointments for the school holidays.
• Whenever possible, make appointments at doctors’ surgeries after school, as many are now open until quite late.
• Return children to school immediately after a medical appointment, if the child is well, rather than give them the whole day off.

Leave of Absence, Including Holidays, During Term Time

The Department for Education (DfE) have introduced some new guidance for schools and Local Authorities (LAs) for managing school attendance. They have also introduced a new national framework for penalty notice and amended the law. These changes came into effect from the 19^th  August 2024 and all schools and LAs across the country will be expected to follow the new statutory guidance.

Education Penalty Notices are issued to parents of statutory school age children. They can be issued to each parent or carer who is deemed liable for the child’s absence from school. The new costs and process is outlined below:

First Offence - The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance 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 Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance 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 for Term Time Leave or Irregular Attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court.

Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

Term time holidays Schools are required to consider requests for leave of absence in term time and should only approve the leave if there are *exceptional circumstances. If a request for leave is denied and the pupil is absent for 5 days or more then the school is expected to refer the case to the LA. The LA will issue a penalty notice with no requirement for a formal warning to be issued. Penalty notices can also be issued where a pupil is absent for repeated incidents of unauthorised leave in term time that fall below the 5-day threshold. In every case, the request for the Penalty Notice comes in from the school to the LA for the process to be completed.

·    Exceptional circumstances: Family holidays; ‘trips of a lifetime’; visits to family abroad; weddings abroad; and parent/carers fixed holidays are not considered exceptional circumstances so cannot be authorised. Exceptional circumstances are one off events which are unavoidable. Examples may include the death of a close relative, attendance at a funeral, respite care of a looked after child, a housing crisis which prevents attendance.

Any requests should be on an official school leave of absence request form and handed into the school office for consideration by the Headteacher prior to any leave arrangements being made. Each request is taken on its own merits and based on the information supplied by the parent. Where a request is refused and the child is kept away from school anyway, this would be treated as unauthorised absence.

Where a child is kept away from school for a family holiday or other reason without authorisation being sought, this would be treated as unauthorised absence. regardless of the child’s wider school attendance.

Attendance does matter; we thank parents for helping us to ensure every one of our children comes to school regularly and gains optimum benefit from the high standards of teaching and learning we provide.

CHILDREN MISSING FROM EDUCATION

We are concerned about any child missing education not only in the way that it impacts on the pupil’s potential achievement but also in relation to their safety and welfare.

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure all their children of compulsory school age are receiving a suitable education (Section 7 of the Education Act 1996).

Any child that is missing from school and their whereabouts is not known, their destination school is not known or are missing out on education are referred to as 'children missing from education (CME)' and school is required to report to the local authority.

Derbyshire has a full time worker who co-ordinates the tracking, identification and liaisons of Children Missing from Education (CME)

Please click here to view our Attendance & Punctuality policy in full.