Attendance
Attendance Matters
As part of the Crofty Education Trust, our school is committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all children. A key element of this is ensuring a child’s attendance at school. Good attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances. We believe that attendance should not be considered in isolation. It is part of the bigger picture and is intertwined with the whole ethos and culture of the school. Improving attendance is linked to curriculum, behaviour, special educational needs support, pastoral and mental health and wellbeing. At the heart of what we do is helping children to feel that they belong in school, through helping them to feel safe, welcome, celebrated and championed. In each school we want to provide an inclusive, calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils are keen and ready to learn.
Regular attendance is important because it affects learning. Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Pupils’ absence disrupts teaching routines and will inevitably cause gaps in learning and limit progress.
The Trust’s attendance targets are for all children to achieve above 96% with attendance over 97% seen as excellent attendance. A level of attendance under 95% is not considered to be regular attendance with any child who has attendance under 90% classified as a “persistent absentee” (PA).
Daily Routines
- Children should arrive at school between 8:35 and 8:45. The school day starts at 8:45 and all children are expected to be present in their classroom for registration. Any pupil arriving after this time will be marked as late.
- Parents and carers must notify the school of any unplanned absence before 8:50. We ask that parents/carers leave a message on the absence line, including details of the illness. Please leave more details than ‘they are ill’ or ‘they are unwell’. Telephone 01209 842360 and press 1 to report an absence.
- If you do not leave a message and we are unable to contact, you this will result in a home visit.
- The school day ends at 3:15.
- Please only collect your child early if they have an appointment that could not be taken outside of the school day.
- If your child is going home with someone else, please make sure that you let us know.
Legal sanctions
There is a National Framework for issuing penalty notices that reflects changes to the law introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024.
Where a child is absent from school without authorisation, the parent(s)will be committing an offence under the Education Act 1996. Schools must consider on a case-by-case basis whether to ask the local authority to issue a penalty notice to a parent when their child’s absence is recorded as unauthorised after 10 school sessions within any 10-school week period. This will typically equate to 5 days of unauthorised absence from school. A school week is a week in which the school meets at least once.
Penalty Notices are issued per liable parent, per child and each carry a fine of £80 if paid within 21 days or £160 if paid after this but within 28 days. Failure to pay the Penalty Notice may result in legal action.
Within the law there is an escalation process for repeat cases where any second attendance related penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the first is charged at a flat rate of £160. A third penalty notice cannot be issued within 3 years of the first, and prosecution or other attendance intervention should be considered instead.
Absence not authorised by the school may result in a prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court under Section 444(1) or Section 444(1A) of the Education act 1996, leading to a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a custodial sentence. Cornwall Council may also apply for the costs incurred in taking the matter to Court. Schools will collaborate with the Education Welfare Officer who will oversee this process on behalf of school
Leave of Absence in term time
All schools can grant a leave of absence when a pupil needs to be absent from school with permission. All schools are expected to restrict leaves of absence to the specific circumstances set out in regulation 11 of the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024.
These circumstances are:
• Taking part in a regulated performance or employment abroad: in line with a licence issued by a local authority or Justice of the Peace or a body of persons approval (BOPA). (For full details please see code C1)
• Attending an interview: for entry into another educational institution or for future employment where requested in advance by a parent the pupil normally lives with.
• A temporary, time-limited part-time timetable: where the pupil is of compulsory school age, both the parent who the pupil normally lives with and school agree the pupil should temporarily be educated on a part-time basis for exceptional reasons and have agreed the times and dates when the pupil will be expected to attend school as part of that timetable.
Exceptional circumstances
All schools can grant a leave of absence for other exceptional circumstances at their discretion. All applications should be made in writing to the Head of School at least 20 school days prior to the requested leave date. Schools are then expected to consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request. If a leave of absence is granted, it is for the school to determine the length of the time the pupil can be away from school.
The DfE does not allow leave of absence to be granted for a pupil to take part in protest activity during school hours.
The DfE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. Taking holidays in term time will affect a child’s schooling as much as any other absence and parents are expected to help schools by not taking children away in term time. Any savings parents think they may make by taking a holiday in school time are offset by the cost to a child’s education. The headteachers in Crofty work together and seek advice to ensure consistency and fair implementation of the policy across the Trust. Where the decision is made not to authorise leave in term time, school will inform parent/carers in writing.
On any occasion that school refuses a request for leave in term time, should a parent/carer proceed with the leave it will be recorded as code (G) (family holiday not agreed or in excess of agreement), on the school’s register. Where a leave of absence has been unauthorised, penalty notices will be considered in line with Cornwall Council’s Code of Conduct for issuing Penalty Notices in respect of unauthorised absence or children present in a public place whilst excluded from school. In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160. 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.
Data and Monitoring
We use data to closely monitor the attendance of all children on a regular basis. Where attendance is not inline with our school’s minimum attendance of 97%, we will liaise with parents/carers to explore how we can support improved attendance. This will be in a supportive, proactive way, putting the needs of the child first and ensuring they are in school.
Please find below links to attendance related policies:
Crofty Attendance Policy Sept 2024