Attendance

Introduction                 

Regular and punctual school attendance is important. Pupils need to attend school regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law. Ambergate Primary School fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure pupils are in school and on time, therefore having access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours.

In September 2013 the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 came into force. These regulations make it clear that Headteachers should not grant approval for any leave of absence during term-time, including holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances. These regulations also state that holidays cannot be authorised retrospectively. 
Any requests should be on an official school absence request form and handed into the school office for consideration two weeks prior to any holiday/leave arrangements being made. You may be issued with a Penalty Notice should leave be taken which is not authorised. If unpaid this could lead to prosecution under section 444(1) of The Education Act 1996. 

Holiday Requests

Exceptional circumstances could include:

1. Service personnel returning from a tour of duty abroad where it is evidenced the individual will not be in receipt of any left in the near future that coincides with school holidays.
2. Where an absence from school is recommended by a health professional as part of a parent or child’s rehabilitation from a medical or emotional issue.
3. The death or terminal illness of a person close to the family.
4. To attend a wedding or funeral of a person close to the family.

Our policy applies to all children registered at this school and this policy is made available to all parents/carers of pupils who are registered at our school on our school website.

This policy has been written to adhere to the relevant Children Acts, Education Acts, Regulations and Guidance from the Department for Education in addition to guidance from the Local Authority.

Although parents/carers have the legal responsibility for ensuring their child’s good attendance, the Headteacher and Governors at our school work together with other professionals and agencies to ensure that all pupils are encouraged and supported to develop good attendance habits. Procedures in this policy are followed to ensure this happens.

Children who are persistently late or absent soon fall behind with their learning. Children who are absent from school frequently develop large gaps in their learning which will impact on their progress and their ability to meet age-related learning expectations. A child whose attendance drops to 90% each year will, over their time at primary school, have missed two whole terms of learning.

Definitions       

Authorised absence

• An absence is classified as authorised when a child has been away from school for a legitimate reason and the school has received notification from a parent or carer.  For example, if a child has been unwell and the parent telephones the school to explain the absence.
• Only the school can make an absence authorised.  Parents do not have this authority. Consequently, not all absences supported by parents will be classified as authorised. 

Unauthorised absence

• An absence is classified as unauthorised when a child is away from school without the permission of the school.
• Therefore the absence is unauthorised if a child is away from school without good reason, even with the support of a parent

Procedures                    

Our school will undertake to follow the following procedures to support good attendance:

• To maintain appropriate registration processes.
• To maintain appropriate attendance data.
• To communicate clearly the attendance procedures and expectations to all staff, governors, parents and pupils.
• To have consistent and systematic daily records which give detail of any absence and lateness.
• To follow up absences and persistent lateness if parents/carers have not communicated with the school.
• To inform parents/carers what constitutes an authorised and unauthorised absence.
• To strongly discourage unnecessary absence through holidays taken during term time.
• To work with parents to improve individual pupils attendance and punctuality
• To refer to the Educational Welfare Service any child whose attendance causes concern and where parents/carers have not responded to school initiatives to improve.
• To report attendance statistics to the LA and the DfE where requested.
• All staff should be aware that they must raise any attendance or punctuality concerns to the Headteacher who has responsibility for monitoring attendance.