Bryan Slater Director of Education	Distribution
	All Headteachers

This document needs your action as detailed below:

ACTION	Title	Termly Attendance Data Collection
	Summary of contents	Letter to all Headteachers and example of Phoenix Gold Half Termly Attendance Return
	Associated documents	None
	Date	2 March 2004
	Summary of action required	To submit attendance data for the first half of the spring term, by 19 March 2004
	To be completed by	19 March 2004
	LEA Contact	Brian Isham	(	01603 638047
	E-mail address	mailto:brian.isham@norfolk.gov.uk
	Norfolk Self Review reference	5. How well does the school care for its pupils?
	Document reference	MI 54-04

		Education Department The Pupil Access & Support Service County Hall Martineau Lane Norwich
Director of Education: Bryan Slater		Norfolk NR1 2DL
		Tel: 01603 638047
		Fax: 01603 222900
		Minicom: 01603 223833
		Email: mailto:brian.isham@norfolk.gov.uk
Please ask for:	Brian Isham	Your ref:
Contact Number:	01603 638047 Document1	My ref:	PA&SS/BI/AE

2 March 2004

Dear Headteacher

Management Information Sheet regarding Termly Attendance Data Collection

As you will be aware the DfES has placed school attendance at the core of the social inclusion agenda. National and local targets have been set to improve attendance at school at both the primary and the secondary phase.

Part of the national programme is to monitor attendance levels on a half-termly basis. Norfolk LEA is required to collect and collate half-termly attendance data from its schools and to submit the data to the DfES. The data will be used by the DfES to monitor progress towards the national targets. Norfolk LEA will use the data to monitor progress towards the EDP targets and to inform the appropriate allocation of ESW resources.

As the DfES collects the annual attendance data directly from you each May we only require data in the current school year for the two spring half terms and the first half of the summer term.

To assist schools in the management of this, those schools who use the attendance module of the Phoenix Gold school management computer software will be able to submit the data electronically. Phoenix has updated the software to include the facility to run a new report to collate the required data. This will then be available to submit as a data export to the LEA. More detailed instructions are contained in the attached guidance from ICT Solutions.

Schools who are currently not using the Phoenix attendance module but who wish to do so should contact ICT Solutions.

Those schools using other school management software, or currently not using the attendance module in Phoenix will be required to provide the same data.

Data will need to be available, or submitted as follows:

· First half of Spring Term 2004 by Thursday 19 March 2004.

· Second half of Spring Term 2004 by Thursday 22 April 2004.

· First half of Summer Term 2004 by Thursday 10 June 2004.

The data should be sent to the Management Information Centre.

The data required is as follows:

· Number of pupils on roll who are of compulsory age

· Number of pupil sessions (number of pupils on roll x number of days school open x 2)

· Number of pupil sessions missed for authorised absence

· Number of pupil sessions missed for unauthorised absence

· Number of pupils with authorised absence

· Number of pupils with unauthorised absence

The provision of this data will help in the challenge to improve school attendance across Norfolk and I want to thank you in advance for your assistance with this work.

For further information or advice please contact:

Allan Turner Pupil Attendance Service 01603 224102

E mail allan.turner@norfolk.gov.uk

OR ICT Solutions 0845 3033003

Yours sincerely

Dr Bryan Slater

Director of Education