Attendance & Punctuality

Our School Attendance Target is a minimum of 98%

Improving attendance is everyone’s responsibility. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the school gates, and are often specific to individual pupils and families. The foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils want to be and are keen and ready to learn.

Working together to improve school attendance

Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively with families.

Some pupils find it harder than others to attend school and therefore at all stages of improving attendance, schools and partners should work with pupils and parents to remove any barriers to attendance by building strong and trusting relationships and working together to put the right support in place. Securing good attendance cannot therefore be seen in isolation, and effective practices for improvement will involve close interaction with schools’ efforts on curriculum, behaviour, bullying, special educational needs support, pastoral and mental health and wellbeing, and effective use of resources, including pupil premium. It cannot solely be the preserve of a single member of staff, or organisation, it must be a concerted effort across all teaching and non-teaching staff in school, the trust or governing body, the local authority, and other local partners.

Raise the profile of attendance (examples of what your school does to raise the profile)

Schools can raise the profile of attendance with parents and the wider community through the use of home-school agreements, parents’ evenings, school newsletters, or other medium.

What should I do if my child is absence from school or I am worried about my child’s attendance? (School information to be inputted – cross reference attendance policy)

Schools should emphasise parents’ prime responsibility for ensuring attendance by asking parents to inform them as soon as possible if their child will not be attending school on a particular day. If a pupil is absent without explanation, school should contact the parents that same day, including in cases where the pupils truant lessons after registration. By contacting the parent, the school also ensures that the parent is aware that their child is not in school enabling the parent to take steps, where necessary, to establish that their child is safe.

Involving Parents (How does your school involve parents)

Evidence shows that early identification, conversations and relationships are key in tackling poor school attendance. Conversations with pupil and parents should take place to discuss attendance concerns, identify areas of support that are needed and put in place an effective written and reviewed plan.

Regular communication with parents is crucial in raising the profile of school attendance and punctuality. Some examples of engaging; notice boards, letters home, texts, emails, school website, phone calls home and face to face discussions and meetings.

How do we support attendance. e.g. Attendance Plan and/or offer of Early Help Assessment

We know that barriers to attendance can be wide and varied for many children. Taking time to understand the child’s point of view and work together with both parents, child and the school is essential to agreeing an effective written and reviewed plan of support.

A personal attendance plan or early help assessment can be used to support in identifying barriers to attendance and agreeing a plan of support with both the child and family

EXPECT

Aspire to high standards of attendance from all pupils and parents and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school.

LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND

When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

FACILITATE SUPPORT

Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

FORMALISE SUPPORT

Where absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through a parenting contract or education supervision order.

ENFORCE

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

Legal process and information for parents:

Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for pupils to maximise their educational opportunities.

Sanctions of any nature are for use only where parental co-operation in this process is either absent or deemed insufficient to resolve the presenting problem. They are never used as a punishment, only as a means of enforcing attendance where there is a reasonable expectation that their use will secure an improvement.

Penalty Notices

A penalty notice can be issued to parents or carers who don’t ensure that their child goes  to school on a regular basis. The penalty notice is £160 per parent per child. If paid within 21 days, this is reduced to £80 per parent per child for a first offence.

The issuing of a Penalty Notice is appropriate in the following circumstances:

•           following 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a term

•           parentally condoned absences

•           unauthorised leave of absence in term- time

•           late arrival at school after the register has closed

Links to

EPN Code if Conduct

EPN briefing note to parents

Escalation to enforcement via the attendance pathway

In some cases, school can request a case is escalated to the attendance enforcement team where school support has been offered but attendance has failed to improve. School will evidence the support offered and the Local Authority will make the decision if the criteria is met for enforcement action.

If you are prosecuted and found guilty of not securing your child’s attendance at school, the court can impose penalties, including a fine of up to £2,500, a community order or a jail sentence of up to 3 months.

Please find below the school’s Attendance Policy:

St Ambrose Barlow Attendance Policy

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