Why attend well?

· 5 minutes late each day means three whole days lost each year

· 17 days missed from school each year equates to a whole GCSE grade

· Attendance affects learning

· Attendance affects future outcomes

· Attendance affects wellbeing and a sense of belonging

· Attendance affects your child’s self-belief and self-confidence due to the loss of learning

Legal responsibilities and exceptional circumstances

As parents, you have a legal duty to ensure that your children attend school on a regular basis. The Education Act 1996 makes it a criminal offence for a parent to, “fail to secure their child’s regular attendance at the school”. The amendments to the 2006 Regulations remove any reference to ‘family holidays, extended leave and the statutory threshold of ten school days’. The amendments also make it very clear that Principals may not grant any leave of absence (holiday) during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The amendments give parents no entitlement to take their child out of school for a holiday in term time and require the Principal and Governing Board to determine what the exceptional circumstances are. The decision will be made by the Principal, and/or Governors. We will use our discretion to consider each request individually.

If you feel there are exceptional circumstances:

· You must clearly state in your correspondence to the Principal what you feel the exceptional circumstance is that requires the leave of absence being taken in term time.

· On receipt of the request, you will be sent a response indicating whether the school is able to authorise the leave of absence or not.

· Your child’s current attendance percentage will be used in consideration.

If parents, contrary to what the school has said, still decide to take their child out of school for a leave of absence then the absence will be coded as unauthorised. This will lead to the school referring the matter to the Local Authority requesting a Fixed Penalty Notice to be issued.

When else can a fixed penalty notice be issued?

A Fixed Penalty Notice can also be issued when a pupil has had 10 or more unauthorised sessions

from school within a term or two consecutive half terms.

Penalties for unauthorised absence

Timeline and penalty

One Child:

Paid within 21 days:  £60 per parent

After 21 days and before 28 days: £120 per parent 

After 28 days: you will receive a summons to appear before the Magistrates' Court on the grounds you have failed to secure your child's regular attendance.

Two children:

Paid within 21 days: £120 per parent

After 21 days and before 28 days: £240 per parent 

After 28 days: you will receive a summons to appear before the Magistrates' Court on the grounds you have failed to secure your child's regular attendance.

Changes to our attendance policy

We have made the following changes to our Attendance Policy ready for the new academic year:

· If your child’s attendance drops below 95%, you will receive Letter 1 from the Attendance Officer.

· Your child’s attendance will be closely monitored over the next 4 weeks.

· If your child’s attendance drops further, you will receive an appointment letter to meet with the Attendance Officer. The meeting will be to establish a robust plan to support your child’s attendance and plan to break down the barriers.

· Attendance letters will be sent to all adults who have parental responsibility for that child.

- If your child's attendance drops below 90% both parents, with parental responsibility, will be immediately informed. The Attendance Officer will monitor closely for one month. If there is no improvement, letter 2 will be sent and a formal meeting will be held with the Attendance Officer and Principal to come up with a robust attendance action plan. 

· School will consider Fixed Penalty Notices for persistent absences and will work with the Local Authority to put formal support in place.

· If your child is absent without notifying the school office, school will attempt to make contact. If contact cannot be made, the Attendance Officer will visit the home of the child to establish the reason for the absence.

· Your child’s current attendance percentage will be shared with parents/carers at every parents evening.

· If your child arrives after the register closes, they will receive a U mark. This will affect their attendance percentage. Prompt arrival at school is vital to help your child settle, socialise and feel a sense of belonging to a class.

Incentives

Next year we have many attendance incentives to support and promote excellent attendance. The School Ambassadors have gathered pupil voice and have played a vital role in creating the following plan:

· Each week the class/classes that have secured 95% attendance and above will get to play Attendance-o poly, where the class have a chance of winning a fun filled reward.

· Each half term, every pupil with 95% attendance and over will receive a certificate, sticker and an extra playtime.

· At the end of each term, all children with 95% attendance and over will go into a prize draw and could win a family day pass to either Chester Zoo, Peak Wildlife Park or the Cheshire Ice Cream Parlor.

· All children that achieve 100% attendance at the end of the academic year, will win a family prize and a pin badge.

What can you do to support?

· Talk to your child about how important it is to attend school every day.

· Show an interest in what your child has done at school each day.

· If you think your child is trying to avoid school, can you find out why? Ask them, ask their friends, ask their teachers.

· Help your child to keep to routines, going to bed and getting up at set times, completing homework on the night it is set etc.

· Unless unavoidable, please do not arrange medical or dental appointments during school hours.

· Encourage after school and extra-curricular activities.

· Talk to your child's teachers if you notice sudden changes in behaviour.

· Remember that habits are formed early. It is much more difficult to get your child to school regularly if you have let them stay at home, "Just this once.” It is better to say, " No, school is important," in the first place.

· Speak with the Attendance Officer if you are concerned your child is not wanting to attend school.

· Inform your child that you have a legal obligation to ensure your child attends school.

I know that some parents/carers will find these measures severe but we believe that regular and high attendance is in every pupil’s best interests and helps to maximise their achievements and enjoyment of school.

This information reflects accurately the current legislation and as a school, we have a duty to point this out to parents/carers.

Mrs C Caldwell

Principal