Why is my child's attendance so important?  

• Regular attendance at school means that your child can make the most of their education, improving their opportunities later in life. 
• School can also help your child to develop their social skills such as making and maintaining friendships. 
• If your child regularly misses school it will affect their confidence.  
• A regular and punctual attendance pattern will help your child when they enter the world of work. 
• When your child misses school, it disrupts their routines and makes them feel vulnerable on their return to school. 
• If your child is persistently absent without a valid reason, it may lead to you, as the parent/carer, facing legal consequences which could lead to a fine. 

For children to gain the greatest benefit from school they need to be in school, on time, every day unless there is an exceptional reason for the absence which is unavoidable. 

Taking a day here and there can disrupt several weeks of learning over time. If a child has an attendance rate of 90% this equates to 4 weeks of education missed in one year, if this continued over the 12 years of a child’s education it would amount to a whole year of missed learning.   

 

What does the law say? 

Parents/carers of children of compulsory school age are required by law to ensure that their child regularly attends school. The law also requires all schools to record the attendance of each pupil at the start of both the morning and afternoon sessions. School are required to: 

• • Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence 
  • Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled 
  • Act early to address patterns of absence 

In line with Government legislation, we will not authorise requests for leave of absence unless the circumstances are exceptional. 

 

How do we monitor attendance? 

The persistent absence threshold set by Government is 10%. This means that if a child’s attendance falls below 90% at any point throughout the academic year, they will be classified as persistently absent. Any child who is absent from school for 56 sessions (28 days) is classified as persistently absent. 

Attendance is monitored very closely and any child whose attendance falls below our tracking threshold of 95% is flagged so action can be taken to help prevent their attendance falling below 90% and being classed as persistently absent. On occasion, parents/carers may be requested to attend a meeting with school staff to discuss their child’s absence and ways to improve attendance.  

You may also be asked to follow the ‘EBSA Pathway’ (Emotionally Based School Avoidance) with us if persistent attendance does not improve with school based support. 

 

Avoiding Absence 

You can do a lot to teach your child good attendance habits, which will help them throughout their life. 

 

Illness 

Unless your child is seriously unwell or suffering sickness and diarrhoea we suggest you send them in to school and notify their class teacher or the school office of any concerns. Your child's wellbeing is our highest priority and if they are struggling we will always call you to come and collect them. The NHS has very helpful guidance to help you decide if your child is well enough for school, the guidance can be found at Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

 

Holidays 

Please think carefully about the hours of learning lost before booking holidays during term time. We will not authorise family holidays during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. 

 

Medical Appointments 

Please make every effort to schedule routine medical or dental appointments out of school hours or during the holidays. If you cannot avoid an appointment in school time, please make sure you let us know about it in advance. 

 

Concerns about attendance 

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance please speak to your child's class teacher or come and see us in the school office. We will help to make an appointment to speak with the appropriate members of staff.  

 

 

	Leave of absence request form - Pupil	[pdf 174KB]
	Holiday Absence Warning Nov 2024	[pdf 153KB]