Welldon Park Primary School High achievement takes place in the framework of high expectations Attendance Policy and Guidelines Principles We believe that good attendance and punctuality are important life skills and that poor punctuality and attendance can create barriers to learning and attainment. School will encourage good attendance and punctuality for all pupils, by offering an environment in which pupils feel valued and part of the school community. Everyone will be expected to play a part in encouraging good attendance and punctuality staff, parents, pupils and governors. We will work towards a goal of 100% attendance for all children. The Government expects schools and local authorities to: 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. The Government expects parents to: Perform their legal duty to by ensuring their children of compulsory school age, who are registered at school, attend early; and Be punctual to their lessons and attend school regularly. Aims We will: Promote a culture across the school which identifies the importance of regular and punctual attendance. Make attendance and punctuality a priority for all those associated with the school including pupils, parents, teachers and governors. Maintain the positive and consistent communication between home and school Set targets to improve attendance levels. Identify individuals and groups of pupils for whom attendance and punctuality issues create a barrier to learning. Support pupils and their families in improving attendance and punctuality. Welldon Park Primary School Page 1
Roles and Responsibilities We will develop a procedural framework which defines agreed roles and responsibilities for parents and carers, pupils, school staff and governors to complement this policy, and identify how we will deliver our aims in respect of regular and punctual attendance. This procedural framework will include guidance on; Registration. What constitutes unauthorised absence. Consistent use of symbols for authorised absence. Holidays in term time / Extended leave. Systems for monitoring attendance and punctuality for individual pupils. Systems for dealing with absence. Systems for promoting good attendance and punctuality. Criteria and systems for referral to and working with the Education Welfare Service. Systems for reintegrating pupils who have been absent. Systems for monitoring whole school attendance and Action Planning. Appropriate alternative curricular arrangements. Legal Enforcement by Harrow Local Authority As part of promoting good attendance and punctuality Harrow Local Authority will use its legal powers to enforce school attendance where this becomes problematic, including powers to prosecute parents who fail to comply with a school attendance order (Section 443 of the Education Act 1996) or failure to ensure their child s regular attendance at school (Section 444 of the Education Act 1996). In addition, the Local Authority will impose Penalty Notices as an alternative to prosecution on parents for unauthorised absence and may also be issued where parents allow their children to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification. The Education (Penalty Notices) Regulations 2007 sets out the details of how the penalty notice scheme must operate. Harrow Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices will be made available for schools, parents / carers and other interested parties. Harrow Council will also be conducting Pre-Court Panel meetings in accordance with the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE) Act 1984. The Harrow Attendance Guidance and Resources (pack) provides a clear outline of the process for escalating cases for legal action which is called Attendance Intervention Model (AIM). Amendments have been made to the 2007 Regulations in the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, will come into force on 1 September 2013. The 2007 regulations set out the procedures for issuing penalty notices (fines) to each parent who fails to ensure their children s regular attendance at school or fails to ensure that their excluded child is not in a public place during the first five days of exclusion. Parents must pay 60 if they pay within 28 days; or 120 if they pay within 42 days. Amendments to 2007 regulations will reduce the times allowable for paying a penalty notice. Parents must, from 1 September 2013, pay 60 within 21 days or 120 within 28 days. Welldon Park Primary School Page 2
This brings attendance penalty notices into line with other types of penalty notices and allows local authorities to act faster on prosecutions. A Penalty Notice can be issued if there is: At least 20 sessions (10 school days) of unauthorised absence within a 12 week period. At least 10 unauthorised late marks within a 12 week period. A leave of absence of at least 10 consecutive sessions (5 school days) not approved by the Head teacher as exceptional. The LA may take legal action against any parents or guardians who fail to accept their responsibility for sending their children to school on a regular basis and the governors agree to provide any evidence required to support this process. The school will use opportunities as they arise to remind parents / carers that it is their responsibility to ensure that their children receive their education. Parents Request for Leave The amendments make it clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence in term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. In order to ensure we meet our legal responsibilities, we must make every effort to make it clear to parents and carers that children must attend school on a regular basis. Any time away from school can have an impact on educational attainment. We must be able to evidence that we have done all we can to ensure the law is upheld. In law, parents and carers are committing an offence if they fail to ensure regular and punctual attendance at school. Therefore any unauthorised absence, such as taking holiday in term time, can result in a Fixed Term Penalty Notice. Fixed Penalty Notices will operate following Harrow Council s guidance. The Penalty Notice will require the payment of a fine of 60.00 within 28 days rising to 120.00 that must be paid within 42 days. Failure to pay a Fixed Term Penalty Notice may result in a criminal conviction and a fine in the Magistrates Court for up to 1000. Amendments have been made to the 2007 Regulations in the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, will come into force on 1 September 2013. The 2007 regulations set out the procedures for issuing penalty notices (fines) to each parent who fails to ensure their children s regular attendance at school or fails to ensure that their excluded child is not in a public place during the first five days of exclusion. Parents must pay 60 if they pay within 28 days; or 120 if they pay within 42 days. Amendments to 2007 regulations will reduce the timescales for paying a penalty notice. Parents must, from 1 September 2013, pay 60 within 21 days or 120 within 28 days. This brings attendance penalty notices into line with other types of penalty notices and allows local authorities to act faster on prosecutions. Welldon Park Primary School Page 3
Our school will therefore no longer be able to authorise absence from learning (Leave Requests) during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Permission for leave from school must be requested using the Exceptional Leave Request Form available from the School Office. A copy of School Attendance and Education Penalty Notices leaflet will accompany this form. If applying for leave parents will be reminded of the effect that absence can have on a pupil s potential achievement. The Headteacher will consider the following before authorising any leave and each request needs will be judged on its individual merits and solely at the discretion of the Headteacher: 1. The child s previous attendance history. 2. The child s stage of education. 3. The nature of the leave (exceptional circumstances). Where the school and the parents fail to reach an agreement and the child is then absent from school, the absence will be marked as unauthorised. Where the parents keep a child away for longer than agreed, the extra time will also be marked as unauthorised. Leave of absence for more than two weeks must be seen as exceptional; parents must arrange to see the Headteacher prior to making their travel arrangements. Permission for such a visit will only be given once during their time at the school. Where approval is given for such leave, for instance for travel to their homeland for exceptional reasons, the class teacher will prepare a study pack or set assignments for the pupil to complete while he or she is away. Religious Observance Families whose religious beliefs require the observance of festivals which fall on days which would normally count as term time will have to apply to the Headteacher for religious leave, e.g. Easter etc. for Orthodox Christians; Eid for Muslims, Diwali for Hindus, Pesach, etc. for Jews. At the Headteacher s discretion these days may be granted for up to three days in the year. Partnership Working School will work with the Education Welfare Service, school nurse and other support agencies as appropriate to ensure regular attendance at school. The criteria for referral and areas of responsibility for staff will be set out in the procedural framework on attendance and the Service Level Agreement with the EWS. Monitoring, Analysis, Action Planning School will adopt systems for monitoring attendance at both individual pupil and whole school level, and will analyse patterns and trends of non-attendance to inform future Action Planning and target setting in respect of whole school attendance matters. Review of Whole School Attendance Policy Welldon Park Primary School will review its systems for improving attendance at regular intervals to ensure that it is achieving its set goals. Welldon Park Primary School Page 4
Role of Parents / carers Parents / carers will be expected to fulfil their statutory duties to ensure their child attends school unless unwell, or unless there is another authorised reason for absence. Parents / carers will inform school by phone, by letter or in person of the reason for absence on or prior to the first day. Parents / carers will arrange holidays out of term time and will endeavour to arrange appointments in school holiday time or after school hours. Parents will request a leave of absence if needed for emergencies / unavoidable circumstances using the Exceptional Leave Request Form provided by the school. Parents will ensure pupils are punctual and are collected promptly at the end of the school day (unless they have given permission for the child to go home unaccompanied). Parents responsibilities are outlined in the prospectus. If parents are given permission to take their child out of school before the end of the day, the child must be collected by an adult or nominated responsible older family member. Role of pupils Pupils will be expected to attend school unless too unwell to do so or if there is another authorised reason for absence. Pupils travelling to school independently are expected to arrive by 8. 50am and 9.00am respectively and to avoid causing others to be late. Pupils are expected to remain in school until the end of the day unless given permission to leave early. If a pupil is worried about coming to school they are expected to share their concern with an adult at home or at school. Role of School staff 1. Teachers Promote good attendance and punctuality through PSCHE lessons. Reward good attendance and punctuality. Support whole school procedures for rewarding attendance and punctuality. Share class targets with the children and reward attainment of those targets. Support and counsel pupils who have difficulties with attendance or punctuality. Refer to the Attendance Administrator or Headteacher any child who has difficulties with attendance or punctuality despite teacher support. Ensure that pupils feel happy and comfortable at school and enjoy learning. Ensure that pupils are familiar with the structure of the week, review the day and outline what will be happening the following day, encouraging the pupils to have something to look forward to. 2. Learning mentors Provide support for individuals who need help to improve attendance and punctuality. Welldon Park Primary School Page 5
3. Headteacher Monitor the attendance and punctuality of individuals and groups of pupils and address any issues arising. Set targets for groups of pupils and plan for improvement where needed. Meet with parents to support improvements. Liaise within and outside school to arrange support. Report to governors and outside agencies as required. Set whole school targets and plan for improvement. 4. Attendance Administrator Manage first day absence calling. Maintain and produce records of attendance for whole school, individuals and groups, reporting on these as required. Monitor the attendance and punctuality of individuals and groups of pupils and address any issues arising. Liaise within and outside school to arrange support. Report to governors and outside agencies as required. Instigate and manage reward systems. Liaise with families and EWO. Identify persistent absentees and manage school procedure for improving their attendance. 5. Inclusion Lead Meet with parents to support improvements in attendance. Liaise within and outside school to arrange support. Report to governors and outside agencies as required. 6. Governors To have an oversight of attendance and work with the Headteacher to raise attendance level. Welldon Park Primary School Page 6