Attendance

It is vital that all pupils attend school and on time every day unless there is an unavoidable reason for absence.

Good attendance at school is crucial because it helps pupils to achieve - pupils who are not attending are not learning and will therefore not achieve as much as they are capable of. 

Some Key Reminders About School Attendance

Parents / carers are reminded that holidays must not be taken in term time. Parents are reminded that due to government legislation head teachers cannot grant leave of absence for family holidays during term time.

Taking holidays during the school term will be recorded as unauthorised absence and the school will refer such cases onto the local authority (Staffordshire County Council) who may administer a penalty fine.

Any request for absence during term time time must be made by completing a Request for Leave of Absence during Term Time form  which must be returned to the school office. Any absence during term time will only be granted for exceptional circumstances.

Please also note that non urgent medical appointments such as dental checks or opticians appointments must be arranged outside the hours of the school day or in school holidays.

The school will take robust action to address issues of persistent lateness and attendance with the support of outside agencies.

Where there may be specific issues affecting attendance /punctuality parents are encouraged to contact the school so that we can offer support and ways forward to help children attend school more regularly and therefore improve their learning opportunities.

Community Academy Trust (CAT) Attendance and Punctuality Policy - Draft / Pending Approval

Key Information - Daily Routines

The school gate is opened at 8.40am for children to come into school and make their way to classrooms to begin learning.

The school gate is shut promptly at 8.55am which marks the official start of the school day.

Lateness is classed as any child coming into school after the gate has been shut.

All children arriving after the gate has closed must report to the office and will be given a late mark on the register (L). Pupil arriving after 9.15am will be recorded as a U - Arrived in school after registration closed

Where children have persistent lateness problems the head will invite the parents into school to a formal meeting.  

Millfield Primary School will always prioritise providing support over legal action however at this meeting parents will also be reminded of the criteria under which penalty fines can be issues for persistent U marks.

Reporting absence procedures

Parents should notify school that a child is absent and for what reason as soon as possible - this should be done by contacting the school on 01827 213825 before school commences on the day of the absence, alternatively an e-mail can be sent to: secretary@millfield.staffs.sch.uk

Where the school does not receive a message about child’s absence from an adult with parental responsibility, the school will ring the parent to ascertain the reasons for absence

Parents should ensure they contact the school on each day their child is absent unless advised otherwise by the school office.

Where parents require further support to enable their child to attend school, they should contact a member of the school’s Senior Leadership Team.

The school will always look to support parents with improving their child’s attendance however, we recognise that it is our duty to ensure every child has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled. As such, it is our policy to make a referral to the local authority where we feel parents have not engaged with the advice and support offered and their child has continued to acquire unauthorised absence marks, despite interventions having been put into place by the school.

The head teacher of the school has the role of the strategic attendance lead and is supported in this by the senior leadership team.

Day to day monitoring of attendance / the reporting of absence is overseen by the school secretary supported by the school office manager.

Changes to issuing penalty notices for leave in term time - August 2024

In February 2024, the Department for Education published Working together to improve School Attendance. Within this document, in Chapter 6, it lays out the changes to issuing penalty notices.

 The changes to the law are introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and will come into effect from 19 August 2024. This means that any unauthorised leave taken after this date will be dealt with under the new Regulations. 

The changes to the regulations are significant.

New two penalty notice limit in a three-year period

The three-year rolling period starts for parents when the first penalty notice is issued to them after the 19th August 2024.

The first Penalty Notices for leave in term time will increase to £160 per parent per child but can be reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days.

If a second penalty notice is issued within three years of the first penalty notice, then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent per child, with no reduction for early payment. A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three-year period; therefore, the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court. If the parent is found guilty, the potential fine is up to £1,000.

National threshold for issuing penalty notices.

Parents may have heard about the new national threshold for issuing penalty notices which has been set at 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.

However, 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 - where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events.