Improving attendance is everyone’s business. 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, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils want to be and are keen and ready to learn. This is the environment we create for pupils that attend St Lawrence CE Primary School.
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.
At St Lawrence we believe that this must be a concerted effort across all teaching and nonteaching staff in school, our Federated governing body, Telford & Wrekin Local Authority, and other partners within our cluster of local schools.
Our school target for attendance is over 96.5% and we work closely with parents, pupils and our multi-agency partners to promote good attendance. Unless for very specific reasons, requests for leave in term time are not granted and can be subject to fines and/or legal action by the local authority.
We promote good attendance in our setting by recognition within our weekly celebration worships and communication through our weekly newsletters. Please see the documents below for further information:
Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance
Summary_table_of_responsibilities_for_school_attendance
This is a great guide from the NHS giving advice to parents around common illnesses:
Is-my-child-too-ill-for-school
And also more details on infection control from the Public Health Agency:
Guidance_on_infection_control_in-schools_poster
Ensuring punctuality
To prepare children to play a productive role in their future lives and careers, we also promote good punctuality within our setting and stress the importance of being on-time and ready for learning. Children are expected to arrive at school promptly by 8.45 latest to ensure that they are ready for their day’s learning. Parents are expected to play their role in facilitating this to happen. Our graduated approach to ensuring good punctuality is outlined below:
Graduated Approach to Lateness
IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING ATTENDANCE
From August 19th 2024 the Government have introduced a new ‘national framework for Penalty Notices’. (in Telford & Wrekin the changes apply from 1st September 2024).
There are significant changes that parents need to be aware of:
- If your child has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10 school week rolling period, you may be issued with a Penalty Notice. These 10 sessions may include any unauthorised absence, including leave in term time and do not have to be consecutive.
- Penalty Notices are increasing to £160 from September 2024. This can be reduced to £80 but only for the first Penalty Notice issued, if paid within 21 days – this reduction does not apply to any subsequent Penalty Notice.
- Any 2nd Penalty Notice, to the same parent for the same child, issued within three years of the date of the first Penalty Notice will be charged at a flat rate of £160
- A third Penalty Notice will not be issued within a three year rolling period, to the same parent for the unauthorised absence of the same child, – alternative action or legal measures will be utilised for subsequent offences.
- In some circumstances a ‘Notice to Improve’ may be issued – However, a Notice to Improve will only be used in cases where support is appropriate. They will not be issued in cases of unauthorised leave in term time for holidays, where information for parents is included on schools website or a simple warning by the school that a Penalty Notice could be issued if unauthorised leave in term time is taken will suffice.
Parents should always apply to the Headteacher for any request for leave in term time by completing a request form available from school. (DfE guidance states schools should not authorise leave retrospectively so any leave in term time taken without a request being submitted will be unauthorised absence).
In developing and publishing the new national framework, the Government has renewed appeals to parents not to take their children out of school during term time. The Governors and Headteacher of this school support this and students will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances. The DfE Guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance (Feb 2024) states that: Generally, the DfE does not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. (Paragraph 38.)
Each application for leave in term time will be considered and if it is agreed and authorised the Headteacher will determine the duration of any leave. However, if the application is not agreed and the absence occurs the dates will be unauthorised. Parents will be notified of any decision in writing. This notification may be hand delivered directly to the parent or posted to the parents’ home address.
If in an individual case the local authority believes a Penalty Notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. For example, when a parent purposefully tries to avoid a Penalty Notice by taking their child out of school when there is only four pupil days in school and the fifth day is for example a PD day or bank holiday attached to that week.
As a school we are asked to inform you that in line with Telford and Wrekin Council Policy, if your child is absent for 10 school sessions within a 10 week rolling period and that absence is unauthorised, you may be subject to a Penalty Notice fine, criteria is as detailed above.