Crawley Schools Attendance and Punctuality Policy

 

 

The Government expects:

Schools and Local Authorities to:

• promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence;
• ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; and,
• act early to address patterns of absence.

Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age, who are registered at school, attend regularly.

All pupils to be punctual to their lessons.

 

To enable children to achieve all they are capable of, it is essential that they attend regularly and punctually. 

 

All schools are expected to achieve an overall rate of 95% attendance. It is the responsibility of all school staff to be welcoming to children and their parents, creating an atmosphere where they both feel able to raise concerns and share any information that could affect the children’s attendance. Due regard will be given to the fact that a register is a legal document and, taking this into account, registers will be marked regularly and conscientiously at the beginning of both the morning and afternoon sessions. The times after which a child is marked late or absent are given in the individual school prospectuses. The Local Authority recommends that, unless there is prior agreement or good reason, should a pupil arrive more than half an hour late after the registration closes, this should be an unauthorised absence (U). It is important that all children arrive at school punctually. If a child is late, s/he should report to the school office to be marked in and ensure that in case of emergency the school has an accurate head count. It is most important that parents / carers discuss any problem with either the class teacher or the Headteacher so that appropriate help can be offered. Equally, if a child needs to leave school for a medical appointment during school hours s/he must be signed out, and in again on return, at the office. Parents / carers are asked to make every possible effort to make appointments out of school hours.

 

If a child is absent for the day, the school expects parents / carers to make contact as early as possible, giving the reason for the absence and the expected day of return. If no word is received from the parent / carer the school will contact the parent / carer on that day. The school follows up absences where no reasons are given. If the reasons for these absences remain unspecified they will be classed as unauthorised.  

 

It is the parents’ / carers’ legal responsibility to ensure their child’s good school attendance and punctuality. If attendance or punctuality is persistently unsatisfactory, initially the school will liaise with the parent verbally and/or by letter. If the situation does not improve, i.e. the child’s unauthorised absences build up to 10 days, the school will consider a referral to Pupil Entitlement: Investigation (PEI) of West Sussex County Council (WSCC). Should a child’s attendance and/or punctuality still not improve, PEI will consider whether legal action should be instigated against the parent / carer under the Education Act 1996. Alternatively, PEI may seek an Education Supervision Order in the family proceedings court. 

 

 

The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007 and Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006

 

Amendments to the 2006 regulations remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. If the leave is granted, they should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school.

 

A form obtained from the school office must be completed when withdrawal from learning is being requested (see Appendix A). 

 

Parents / carers should be aware that Crawley Schools will follow the WSCC guidelines on issuing FPN and unauthorised absence, i.e. issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) if a child accrues 10 or more unauthorised absences in a 10-week period (each half day counts as one absence),

• by non-attendance at school
• by arriving persistently late at school (after registration has closed)
• by parents / carers taking their child on an unauthorised holiday during the school term.

The FPN is an alternative to prosecution and gives parents / carers an opportunity to discharge their criminal liability by paying a fine of £120, which must be paid within 28 days. If paid within 21 days, the fine is reduced to £60. After 28 days, the Pupil Entitlement: Investigation (PEI) will consider prosecuting for the original non-attendance, not for the non-payment of the FPN. Further information on legal action can be found on GOV.UK.

 

In exceptional circumstances a pupil may be granted authorised leave. However, regardless of whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised, if after ten days the pupil fails to return and no contact can be made with the parents / carers, the school will make a referral to PEI which will make reasonable enquiries and consult with the Child Missing Education Team (CME). If the school can make contact with the parents / carers, it will warn them, if possible in writing, that it will consider taking the pupil off roll if s/he does not return by an agreed date. If the pupil does not return within 20 days and no reasonable explanation is given, the school will consult with CME and, in line with DfE guidance, consider taking the pupil off roll. If taken off roll, parents / carers would need to reapply for a place through West Sussex County Council Admissions (North) on their return. A place cannot be guaranteed at the current school.

 

Genuine illness will be authorised, although the school reserves the right to ask for medical clarification if a child’s medical absences are above the amount expected for a usually healthy child. If it has been necessary for a child to have extended absence due to illness, the school will work with the child, parents / carers and any other involved agencies to instigate a re-integration programme for that child.

 

Crawley Schools provide a broad, balanced curriculum but for children to access the many opportunities that are provided, it is necessary for them to attend school regularly and punctually. Good school attendance will be recognised; schools use reward systems e.g. children with 100% attendance at the end of the year may be awarded a special certificate in assembly.