WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICY

 

[Name of school] is committed to providing a full and efficient education to all pupils and embraces the concept of equal opportunities for all.

 

We will endeavor to provide an environment where all pupils feel valued and welcome.

 

For a child to reach their full educational achievement a high level of school attendance is essential. We will consistently work towards a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Every opportunity will be used to convey to pupils and their parents or carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance.

 

School attendance is subject to various Education laws and this school attendance policy is written to reflect these laws and the guidance produced by the Department for Education and Employment.

 

Each year the school will examine its attendance figures and set attendance targets. These will reflect both national and Norfolk attendance targets.

 

The school will review its systems for improving attendance at regular intervals to ensure that it is achieving it’s set goals.

 

This policy will contain within it the procedures that the school will use to meet its attendance targets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Procedures

 

Any child who is absent from school must have their absence recorded as being authorised or unauthorised. Only the headteacher or a member of staff acting on their behalf can authorise absence.

Lateness

Morning registration will take place at the start of school. The registers will remain open for…………. Minutes. [DFEE guidance suggests a maximum of 30 minutes but schools can choose to use a shorter period.] Any pupil arriving after this time will be marked as having an unauthorised absence unless an explanation given is accepted as grounds for authorising the late arrival.

The afternoon registration will be at ……..PM.

The registers will close at ………PM.

First Day Absence

[Enter here a guide to the schools system for responding to a child’s first day of absence. i.e.

Are parents expected to contact the school?

Does the school make telephone contact? Who is responsible for this or making sure that it happens?

How is any information collected, passed on / transferred to the registers?]

Third Day Absence

[What happens if a child is still away and there has been no contact from the parent/s?

Is a standard letter sent? Are parents asked in the letter to contact school that day? ]

Fifth Day Absence

[If there has still been no contact from the parent/s is a further letter sent?]

Ten Day’s Absence

Any pupil who is absent without an explanation for 10 consecutive days will be referred to the Norfolk Pupil Attendance Service [This is a legal requirement]. The school will include details of action that they have taken.

Frequent Absence

It is the responsibility of /the…………………….. to be aware of and bring attention to, any emerging attendance concerns.

In cases where a pupil begins to develop a pattern of absences, the school will try to resolve the problem with the parent/s. If this is unsuccessful the school will refer to the School Health Adviser if the problem appears to be a medical one. In other cases the school will discuss the problem with the schools Education Social Worker (ESW).

Frequent Medical Absences

The school will discuss with the School Health Advisor those pupils who frequently miss days for medical reasons.

A Welcome Back

It is important that on return from an absence that all pupils are made to feel welcome. This should include ensuring that the pupil is helped to catch up on missed work and brought up to date on any information that has been passed to the other pupils.

Absence notes

Notes received from parents explaining absence should be kept for a short period (4 weeks). If there are attendance concerns about the pupil, that may require further investigation, then the notes may need to be retained for a longer period.

Promoting attendance

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.

The Home/School agreement can be used in this way.

Holidays in term time

Holidays during term time are to be discouraged. Further guidance is available within the Norfolk Pupil Holiday document.

Attendance Awards

The school will use the following system to reward pupils who have good

or improving attendance. [Attendance could be linked with

"Healthy Norfolk 2000" campaigns]

Attendance Targets

The schools attendance last year was……..%

The schools attendance targets are 2000/01 ..……%

2001/02………%

2002/03…..….%

 

 

 

 

 

 

The registration system

The School will use manual paper registers/a computerised system for keeping the school attendance records.

The following codes /marks will be used to record attendance information.

Recommended codes NPAS / ICT solutions [for use with Phoenix Gold]

Present / am \ pm

Code

Description

Category

B

Dual Registration Arrangement

Authorised absence

C

Other Circumstances

Authorised absence

E

Excluded

Authorised absence

H

Approved family Holiday

Authorised absence

L

Late Registration closed

Unauthorised absence

M

Medical, Dental or confirmed illness

Authorised absence

P

Approved sporting activity

Attendance out of school

R

Religious Observance

Authorised absence

S

Study leave

Authorised absence

T

Traveller child travelling

Authorised absence

U

Unauthorised absence

Unauthorised absence

V

Educational visit or trip

Attendance out of school

W

Work experience

Attendance out of school

X

Pupil receiving specialist ed.

Attendance out of school

Y

P/T (Nursery, rising 5 or sixth form)

Temporarily not on roll

(blocks session when child is not meant to be in school)

(For further information about the" late" category see Phoenix Gold guidance)

Registers by law must be kept for at least Three years.

Computer registers must be printed out at least once a month and bound into annual volumes.

Entries in paper registers must be in ink.

All corrections must be visible (no correcting fluid)

Register Security

The registers must be safely stored. [Give details of the schools system for moving registers around school and where they are kept after registration times]

 

 

 

 

Appendices
  1. The Law

The Education Act 1996 Part 1, Section 7 states:

The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable-

[a] To his age, ability and aptitude and

[b] To any special needs he may have.

either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

For educational purposes the term parent is used to include those that have parental responsibility and/or those that have the day to day care of the child.

The legislation that appertains to children who are of compulsory school age and are registered at school is contained within this Act.

Part V1 Section 444 contains the details of when an offence is committed if a child fails to attend school.

Register and Admission Roll keeping.

The legal requirements are found in:

The Education [Pupil Registration] Regulations 1995

The Education [Pupil Registration] [Amendment] Regulations 1997

2 Attendance Targets

The DFEE has set targets for Norfolk in relation to unauthorised absence. These are Secondary schools 2000/01 0.8

2001/02 0.7

Primary schools 2000/01 0.3

2001/02 0.3

Norfolk has set its attendance targets within the Norfolk Behaviour Plan. Norfolk has focused on overall attendance rates.

The targets are: Secondary schools 2000/01 91.2

2001/02 91.8

Primary schools 2000/01 95.2

2001/02 95.7

 

 

 

 

 

Categorisation of Absence

 

Any pupil who is on roll but not present in the school must be recorded within one of these categories.

 
  1. Unauthorised Absence
  2. Authorised Absence
  3. Approved Educational Activity

  1. Unauthorised absence

    2. This is for those pupils where no reason has been provided. Or whose absence is deemed to be without valid reason.

  2. Authorised absence

    3. This is for those pupils who are away from school for a reason that is deemed to be valid under the Education Act 1996.

  3. Approved Educational Activity

This is a new category introduced by the Education (Pupil Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 1997. It covers types of supervised educational activity undertaken off site but with the approval of the school.

Note Pupils recorded in this category are deemed to be present for attendance returns purposes.

This would include: