Management Information Sheet

Explains that the guidance is statutory; schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities must have regard to it as part of their efforts to maintain high levels of school attendance.

Key changes described on page 7.

Minor amendments to this section as follows:

• Added emphasis on the link between good school attendance and wider school culture;
• Link between regular absence from school and extra-familial harms, including crime.

Significant revisions to the content of this section.

• Provides clarification of the expectations of the Senior Attendance Champion and the importance of this role;
• Sets out requirements for the attendance policy including a requirement to include details of the new National Framework for PNs (paragraph 26);
• Explains all schools will be required to keep registers electronically and preserve entries for 6 years (paragraph 31, 36);
• Provides clarity on granting leave of absence (paragraphs 37-40);
• New requirements for schools on data sharing introduced through the Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (paragraphs 43, 50, 51);
• Introduces a new expectation on schools to inform a pupil's youth offending team worker of any unexplained absences (paragraph 52).

New sections:

• building strong relationships and joint work with families (paragraphs 17-24);
• education off site (paragraphs 41-42);
• support for pupils who are absent due to ill health or their SEND (paragraphs 53-63);
• part-time timetables (paragraphs 64-69).

Minor amendments to this section as follows:

• Recognition that attendance is linked to improving pupil welfare and needs to be prioritised in other whole school strategies such as combatting bullying (paragraph 73);
• Ensuring that attendance improvement is prioritised and strategies and action plans are put in place for pupils with persistent and severe absence (paragraph 81).

New sections regarding:

• Trading additional services (paragraph 107);
• Working with cross-border pupils (paragraph 108).

Additional information regarding:

• Effective Targeting Support Meetings (paragraphs 91-96);
• Flexibility in work with independent schools;
• Further detail on cross partnership ownership of attendance improvement including the need for the importance of attendance to be understood by all frontline operational staff and local partners (paragraph 87);
• Emphasis on the role of Local authorities to encourage shared ownership of attendance improvement and effective multi-agency work including input from other partners including health, police and the voluntary and community sector (paragraph 102).

Minor amendments in this section to the effective management model (page 46)

• Emphasis on support first including further detail about voluntary and formal support, the role of prosecution and statutory social care involvement (paragraph 135);
• Change made to term 'parenting contracts' for attendance to 'attendance contracts' throughout the guidance;
• Detail on new national framework for penalty notices which reflect changes to the law introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (paragraphs 175 - 201).

Significant revisions to this section to reflect the changes to the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. In summary:

• Requirement for admissions register to be kept electronically (paragraph 204);
• Definition of a person with control of the pupil's attendance (paragraph 207);
• Amendments to the admission of pupils and requirement to make returns to the LA (paragraphs 208-10);
• Details on contents of the admissions register and amendments (paragraphs 211-19);
• Grounds for deletion from the register (paragraphs 221-280).

Please note, due to the extent of the changes, further guidance and training will be offered in due course.

Significant revisions to this section to reflect the changes to the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 including a revised set of absence codes. In summary:

• Requirement for attendance register to be kept electronically (paragraph 281);
• Requirement for schools to take the attendance register at the beginning of each morning session and once during each afternoon session with a substantial break such as a lunchbreak separating one session from the next (paragraph 282);
• Detail on the new attendance and absence codes (paragraphs 284-401);
  Detail on the administrative codes (paragraphs 402-408).

Please note, due to the extent of the changes, further guidance and training will be offered in due course.