Attendance

Aims

At Kyson, we aim to ensure that our high expectations lead to maximum achievement by all. Central to the fulfilment of this aim is the need for a consistently good level of attendance and punctuality by all our pupils. We work in partnership with staff, parents & carers, pupils, the local community and the Education Welfare Service in ensuring the regular and punctual attendance of pupils. The school monitors attendance and ensures quick and early intervention if a problem is identified. The attendance policy is based on the premise of equal opportunities for all.

Purpose

Our attendance policy:

Establishes clear and effective procedures for administration which are understood by staff, pupils and parents
Ensures that we comply with the necessary legal requirements
Enables other appropriate agencies to access the information that they need
Ensures that any pupils presenting poor levels of attendance and punctuality are noted, monitored, and appropriate action taken to support families.

Broad Guidelines

The school day begins at 8.50 am and finishes at 3.20 pm.

Registration period:
Morning:

Main class registration between 8.50 –9am. Registers closed at 9am
Registers to be taken to school office in the morning as soon as possible after 9am.

Afternoon:

Main class registration at 1.10pm for EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Registers closed as soon as possible after 1.15pm and taken to school office as soon as possible.

If it is appropriate, in recognition of local circumstances (such as bad weather or occasional transport difficulties) the school will keep its registers open for a longer period.

The class teacher or supply teacher may take the class register.

The Marking Code can be found on the SIMs register function or from the DfE School Attendance Guidance for maintained schools.

Any school educational visits, half terms, holidays and other school closures such as INSET days will be noted in register.

After registration the administration staff will be responsible for checking the registers to ensure that all children who are marked as absent can be accounted for. If a child is absent and we have had no explanation, office staff will telephone parents to find out the reason for absence. If any problems are identified then the school administrator will advise the headteacher, or if unavailable a member of the senior leadership team, who will ensure that the appropriate safeguarding action is taken where necessary.

Lateness

Arrivals

Pupils are expected to be at school on time each day. Punctuality is encouraged as an act of courtesy and provides children with a clear start to their day with their peers and teachers. Punctuality also ensures that teaching time is not wasted.

After 9am or 1.15pm, any child arriving late will be asked for the reasons for lateness. The office staff will ascertain whether the child is having a hot meal or a packed lunch and the dinner register will be completed. The kitchen staff will be advised of changes to hot meals.

Morning registers close at 9am. Any pupil arriving at school after 9am must come in via the school office and will be registered as late (L code). Any pupil arriving after 9.10am and the parent fails to provide a satisfactory explanation will be registered as unauthorised (U code).

If a pupil arrives late three times or more but before the registers are closed, then the teacher will speak to the parent to identify and address any underlying issues.

If a pupil arrives late after closure of register, the office staff will try to ask for the reason for this. If no reason is given or the concern persists then the headteacher, deputy, Family Support Worker or SENDCo will raise the concern with parents to try to understand the underlying issue and address this.

Collections

Pupils are expected to be collected on time each day and teachers should endeavour to ensure pupils leave on time.

Parents and carerss must be available from 3.20pm for collection. If a parent/carer would like another adult to collect their child they should give advance notice to the class teacher or pass a message via the office. The school will not release children to other adults without prior notice.

Parents and carers should inform the school of any known delays and the school will keep the children at school in the school office until the parent arrives. Staff will call parents and carers if no-one has arrived to collect a child by 3.30pm.

If a child is collected late on a regular basis, the headteacher or SENCo will raise this issue with the parents and carers to try to understand the problem and identify a solution.

Children in Year 5 and 6

The school understands the importance of building independence in children. This may involve walking home from school with friends unaccompanied by adults. If parents of children in year 5 and 6 wish for their child to walk home unaccompanied they must notify the school by completing appendix 2 or the form on ParentMail. All other children are expected to be collected by a responsible adult.

Procedure for Noting Absence

On every day of absence the parent or carer must contact the school office advising the school of their child’s absence.

If a pupil returns to school and no reason for absence has been provided the procedure will be:

Liaise with parents either by phone or in person, probably at the end of the day
If still no reason provided a letter will be sent home explaining the issue.
At any of these stages the school can refer the case to the Education Welfare Officer.

Requests for Absence

Parents do not have a right to take their children out of school during school time. It is at the discretion of the headteacher if pupils are allowed to take absence of any kind during term time.

Permission may be granted for the following:

If a child is in an approved drama/dance performance or sporting activity for which a licence has been granted by the Local Authority
If a child is involved in an exceptional occasion - in authorising such an absence the circumstances of the case and the overall pattern of attendance may be considered
In exceptional circumstances permission may be given for a family holiday, exceptional circumstances being :

Service personnel and other employees prevented from taking holiday outside term time
When a family needs to spend time together after a crisis or other exceptional circumstance
Parents who are subject to a strict and non-negotiable holiday rota and evidence is provided to this effect

Parents are required to complete a leave of absence form (appendix 3) at least 4 weeks before the proposed dates of absence unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Absence Form is returned to the parent and a copy kept in the child’s blue file.

Parents are reminded regularly through the headteacher’s newsletter, that taking holidays during term time is not conducive to their child’s education. The details of requesting absence are included on the school’s website.

Legal Sanctions

Schools can fine parents for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age.

If issued with a penalty notice, each parent must pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority.

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice ultimately rests with the headteacher, following the local authority’s code of conduct for issuing penalty notices. This may take into account:

A number of unauthorised absences occurring within a rolling academic year
One-off instances of irregular attendance, such as holidays taken in term time without permission
Where an excluded pupil is found in a public place during school hours without a justifiable reason

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute the parent or withdraw the notice.

Reporting to Parents

Parents will be given a summary of their child’s attendance with their Summer Term report. Where attendance has caused a concern or is close to the threshold of persistent absence set by the government (10%) this will prompt a discussion with parents to find solutions to the underlying issues.

Strategies for Promoting Attendance

The headteacher, Family Support Worker and SENDCo take the lead with class teachers in identifying patterns of attendance that cause concerns. Attendance is monitored half-termly through whole school summary reports prepared by the school office. Parents will be invited in to discuss underlying causes and to develop an action plan for improvement.

The school uses a whole class reward system ‘Classopoly’ to promote positive attendance. Classes with attendance above 95% can earn rewards each week.

Monitoring Responsibility

Class Teachers

Complete accurate registers every session.
Be alert to early warning signs of poor attendance and investigate these with parents and children.
Raise concerns with senior leaders about patterns they have noticed.
Work with senior leaders, family support worker and families to help remove barriers to attendance and implement specific plans.
Share attendance data with parents at consultations.

Office Staff

Ensure that registers are completed using the correct symbols and all alterations are visible and explained.
Complete termly returns for census.
Report to senior leaders re patterns in absence and lateness (see appendix 1).

School Administrator

Act on reports of any patterns in absence or lateness and liaise with class teacher, headteacher and SENDCo if applicable.
To liaise with Education Welfare Officer.
To keep headteacher and SLT informed as to attendance levels.
To check registers termly.

Senior Leadership Team (including Family Support Worker and SENDCo)

To monitor from time to time arrival of pupils in playground .
To keep parents, pupils and governors informed of the policy and practice and ensure the statement included in the school prospectus is in line with the school policy and practices.
Will consider including attendance in the achievement system if poor attendance becomes an issue.
Will ensure that staff are reminded of the importance of registers. They may be required in a court of law e.g. a prosecutions case for non-attendance.
Develop strategies specific to individuals to help remove barriers and improve attendance.
Meet with parents to discuss attendance an identify ways to improve this.
Monitor attendance of key children and groups.

The Headteacher

The head teacher to report on attendance to governors through the head teacher’s termly report.
The headteacher is responsible for ensuring this policy is implemented consistently across the school, and for monitoring school-level absence data and reporting it to governors.
The headteacher also supports other staff in monitoring the attendance of individual pupils and issues fixed-penalty notices, where necessary. All registers to be kept for a minimum of 7 years.

The Governing Body

Where attendance is causing concern, governors to set targets based on recommendations and to ensure that targets take account of any government targets which may have been set for vulnerable groups.
The governing body is responsible for monitoring attendance figures for the whole school on at least a termly basis. It also holds the headteacher to account for the implementation of this policy.

Kyson Attendance Policy

You can download a copy of the Kyson Attendance Policy here.