Management Information Sheet

A Government consultation was launched on 25 January 2022 (School attendance: improving consistency of support) which consults on four proposals to build on schools, trusts and local authorities' existing work on attendance and improve consistency of attendance support for families across England. The consultation runs for 5 weeks, closing on 28 February.

In parallel, the DfE also intends to modernise the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 and a separate consultation on the draft regulations will be issued in due course. Proposals:

1. Requiring schools to have a published attendance policy and have regard to statutory guidance on the expectations of schools, academy trusts and governing bodies of maintained schools on attendance management and improvement.
2. Introducing guidance on the expectations of local authority attendance services.
3. A clearer more consistent national framework for the use of attendance legal intervention, including a new regulatory framework for issuing fixed penalty notices for absence.
4. Bringing the rules for granting leaves of absence in academies in line with other state funded schools.

It is recommended that senior leaders read the consultation documents and respond to the consultation. We will offer further advice once we know the outcome of the consultation.

Schools should continue to have regard to the existing DfE advice and legislation for the purposes of their current attendance and children missing education arrangements.

As referenced in MI Sheet 3/22, we have drafted an Attendance Strategy for Norfolk to tackle persistent absence, building on good practice and DfE guidance. We are now in a position to consult with schools and a range of partners about the draft strategy.

If you would like to be part of a virtual workshop to hear more about the proposed strategy and provide your views to help us to shape this work going forward, please book into one of the consultation sessions via the Norfolk Services for Schools website. Details of the dates and times of the workshops can be found below:

• Workshop 1: Monday 28 February 2022, 12pm to 1pm
• Workshop 2: Wednesday 2 March 2022, 3.30pm to 4.30pm
• Workshop 3: Thursday 3 March 2022, 10.30am to 11.30am

Fixed penalty notices in response to Year 11 absence

We have had feedback from some secondary schools that they found last year's Year 11 warning letter a beneficial tool in ensuring an improvement in Year 11 attendance. Following this feedback and to support schools we have updated the Year 11 warning letter for this academic year. This can be found on the Schools and Learning Providers website,fixed penalty notices page.

Where there are concerns about the attendance of Year 11 pupils that a school has been unable to address through supportive measures, they will be able to warn parents of Year 11 students that continued unauthorised absence will result in the issuing of a fixed penalty notice.

As we know, school attendance is mandatory for all pupils and the DfE expects schools to work with families and the Local Authority to secure regular school attendance for all pupils in line with statutory requirements.

We have created the attached warning letter to send to parents. Where attendance does not improve after the issue of this letter and the criteria of at least 9 sessions (4.5 school days) is lost to unauthorised absence by the pupil, schools will be able to refer for a fixed penalty notice in the usual way. We do not see this as an appropriate intervention for cases of entrenched patterns of poor attendance, but rather an efficient tool to remind and focus parents and young people that they still need to attend school regularly until Friday 24 June 2022. Warning letters will need to be issued to target Year 11 concerns by 25 February 2022.

This warning letter will cover the 6 weeks prior to the start of Year 11 examinations period (28 February 2022 to 26 April 2022) and referrals must be submitted no later than 6th May 2022. However, if the criteria is met sooner a referral can be submitted prior to the 6 May 2022.

Revised 'Reduced timetables: guidance for schools, academies and other education settings'

This guidance sets out Norfolk County Council's position on the use of reduced timetables and provides a framework for school practice and other professionals working with schools. It includes a format for recording and notifying the LA of a reduced timetable and the plan for reintegration.

Schools should notify the Attendance Service of any reduced timetable at the point it is agreed. They are asked to scan a copy of the signed plan and send to the Attendance Team via secure email to csattendance@norfolk.gov.uk or securely via Any Comms Plus with 'name of school and part time timetable' in the subject line. If the child is looked after or previously looked after, the information should also be copied to the Virtual School: virtual.schools@norfolk.gov.uk. Please do not send originals. It is important you retain the original signed copy for your records.

The Attendance Service will review all plans submitted and contact schools where further information is required and/or where there are concerns about the arrangements put in place.

Summary of key changes:

• Further clarity provided around seeking multi-agency agreement when a child/young person is open to any other professional.
• The reduced timetable plan has been adapted to include a section that ensures the voice of the child/young person is captured and considered when implementing a reduced timetable.
• The template has been adapted to support schools with capturing the key information and reasoning behind the implementation of a reduced timetable.
• The reduced timetable plan has been adapted to support schools to detail within the plan the risk assessment that has been undertaken to consider the impact the reduced timetable will have on the pupil's needs and what measures will be taken to mitigate against these risks.

The revised guidance and plan template can be found here.