ATTENDANCE MATTERS! EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS!

Highfields Primary School’s Attendance Statement

Highfields Primary School is committed to achieving excellent levels of attendance for individual children. Underpinning the commitment is the belief that if children attend school regularly and punctually they will be able to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them and achieve their full potential. Parents are responsible in law, for ensuring that their children of compulsory school age receive an efficient education suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs that they may have.

Most parents fulfil this responsibility by registering their children at school. Parents whose children are registered at a school are responsible for ensuring that their children attend and stay at school.

Parents should:

• Ensure that their children arrive at school on time and ready to learn.
• Instil in their children an appreciation of the importance of attending school regularly.
• Take an active interest in their children’s school to resolve issues which may lead to non-attendance.
• Work in partnership with Highfields Primary School to resolve issues which may lead to non-attendance.
• Notify the school is your child/children are absent. This should be done by 8:40am on the first day of absence. An explanation of the absence and in some circumstances evidence of the illness/issue/doctors visit when the child returns to school.
• Ensure that if a child has vomited and/or has diarrhoea they need to be absent from school for 48 hours from the last episode.
• Not arrange medical/dental appointments in school time.
• Not book holidays during term time.

The target for our school is 96% attendance. If your child’s attendance falls below this, the following steps will apply:

• you will recieve a telephone call from our Attendance Officer
• we will send you a friendly letter/email
• arrange a meeting with the Head Teacher to organise an improving attendance plan.
• If attendance does not improve with the support and involvement of the school you may referred to the Local Authority which may lead in you being taken to court or made to pay a fixed fine penalty.

The Governors and Headteacher are unable to authorise any holiday during term time unless there are exceptional reasons, as it is very disruptive both academically and socially. Taking annual holiday in term time, in addition to any time lost through illness, has a huge impact to your child’s learning. If an absence is not agreed this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. For further information regarding attendance or term time holidays please follow the link below to our policies where you will find the Attendance policy.

Highfields Primary School is committed to ensuring that your children receive the best possible education to prepare them for the next stage of their lives. Children should have an attendance of 96% and above. For some parents, 90% may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, but the reality is that 90% attendance means your child will miss half a school day each week or 19 days of school during the year – that’s nearly 4 school weeks!

Give your child the best start in life – every school day counts

BEING ON TIME

Arriving at school on time is as important as attendance. The school gates open at 08:20am and close at 08:30am. Children should be in school by this time as registers are taken between 8:20am - 08:30am. Children who are late miss out on the important initial learning activities of the day.

Children who are regularly late, fall behind in their learning. Their day is disrupted. as is the learning of the rest of the class, whose attention is disrupted by the arrival of latecomers

If you are 10 minutes late every day, your child will lose almost 7 days of learning a year!

Therefore, we expect that all pupils will:

• attend school every day and strive for 100% school attendance.
• attend school punctually
• attend appropriately prepared for the day
• tell their class teacher or the school office about any problems that may affect their school attendance.

It is therefore important that parents and carers support our drive for high attendance by:

• ensure regular school attendance.
• ensure that their child arrives at school punctually and prepared for the school day.
• ensure that they contact the school daily about absence, whenever their child is unable to
• attend school. If possible, (e.g. if you child has a hospital appointment), please let us know in advance.
• contact school promptly whenever any problem occurs that may keep their child away from school.
• notify the school of any home circumstances that might affect the behaviour and learning of their child.
• notify school immediately of any changes to contact details.

ABSENCE PROCEDURE

If your child is unwell and requires time off school please telephone the school office by 9am or leave a message on the absence line on every day of the absence. If your child has a bout of sickness or diarrhoea they must not return to school until 48 hours after the last episode.

Please see the useful NHS links below for more advice.

PARENTS ABSENCE & ATTENDANCE INFORMATION

EXTENDED ABSENCE

No holiday leave is granted as authorised.

Changes in the law regarding children taking leave of absence during term time means we will not authorise leave of absence (holidays). This ruling is for any child in any year group, even if the child has good attendance, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Families will be expected to use the 13 weeks school holiday closure during the year for the purposes of family holidays, family weddings, visits to relatives and travelling abroad for medical treatment. These will not be considered as exceptional circumstances.

Absences that are not authorised will result in a fine for each parent, for each child who take their children on unauthorised leave.

Penalty notices are issued by the Local Authority not the school therefore the school has no power to change a penalty notice once it is issued.

By law, all Penalty Notice payments go to the local authority and not to schools.

With the introduction of the new National Framework for Penalty Notices, the following changes will come into force for Penalty Notice fines issued that occurs after 19 August 2024. These penalty notices will be as follows:

Per Parent, Per Child

Penalty Notice fines will be issued toeach parent, for each child who was absent.

For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave will result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines.

5 Consecutive Days of Term Time Leave

Penalty Notice fines will be issued for term time leave of 5 or more consecutive days, and for fewer days where this has happened before.

10 Sessions of Unauthorised Absence in a 10-week period

Penalty Notice fines will be considered when there have been 10 sessions of absence in a 10-week period.

First Offence

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or irregular attendance the amount will be:

• £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days of receipt of the notice
• Reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days.

Second Offence (within 3 years)

The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time Leave or irregular attendance the amount will be:

• £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days of receipt of the notice (No option to pay at £80 level)

Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years)

The third time an offence is committed for Term Time Leave or irregular attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued.

The case will proceed to the Magistrates’ court. Magistrate’s fines can be up to £2,500 per parent, per child.

Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on the parent’s future DBS certificate and may impact on job applications and travel abroad.

Court prosecutions: Penalty Notices will not automatically be issued. Parents are advised that where the LA considers that a Penalty Notice is not appropriate due to the level of concern about a child’s absence, prosecution action may be taken.

Click below to view and download an Extended Absence form