A parent has a legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly. If a child is unavoidably absent from school, parents are expected to contact school by telephone call on the morning of the first day of absence and on each day they are absent, identifying the reason for absence and the expected date of return.

 If no contact is received, then absence protocols will be followed. If a child is absent, the following actions will be initiated by the school:

• The first day calling procedures will be activated for all students who are not in school after close of register at 9:15am and where no reason for absence is known.
• If school cannot contact a parent and are concerned about a student, a home visit may be carried out.
•  School will telephone home if a student leaves the school without permission.

In certain circumstances the school may also:

• Visit the home of the student
• Write, text and/or email parents of a student to highlight attendance or punctuality issues.
•  Invite parents to discuss how school can support the family to remove barriers to attendance
• Discuss the student at the termly Targeted Support Meetings with the Local Authority to seek advice and guidance on additional support strategies
•  Offer Early Help and/or other external agencies to offer support, guidance, and advice.
• Refer to the Local Authority for joint enquiries to be made to establish the whereabouts of the child through Children Missing Education procedures.
• Refer to the Local Authority to consider issuing a penalty notice or to consider prosecution when all other interventions have failed, or an unauthorised leave of absence has been taken.

It is the duty of parents who have a child of compulsory school age to ensure their child receives efficient, full time education suitable to their age, aptitude, ability and to any special educational needs they may have. Such education may be provided by regular attendance at school.

Any student arriving after 9:15am will be marked as absent and this will count towards their unauthorised absence total.

If a child or young person who is registered at a school does not attend regularly, a parent can receive a fine of £80 (per parent) if paid within 21 days, which rises to £160 if paid within 28 days. 

Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other actions like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered. 

If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500. 

If the fine still goes unpaid, you could get a fine of up to £2500, a community order or a jail sentence of up to 3 months. The court also gives you a Parenting Order.

Attendance_and_Children_Missing_Education_Team___PN_Leaflet_August__2024

https://www.coventry.gov.uk/attendance-inclusion/attendance

When a student arrives late to school, they miss essential information given at the beginning of each school day. Furthermore, when students arrive late, it can disrupt the entire class and therefore valuable learning is lost. 

• Procedure:
  • Mentor time begins at 8.40am, so students need to arrive at school in enough time to be at their mentor room on time. At 8:45 am the gates will close meaning anyone that arrives after that will be deemed as late.
  •A late to school email will be sent out to parents so you can update us on why your child is late for school
  • If the problem persists, we will invite parents/families to attend a meeting to discuss possible support.
  • 10 or more incidents of persistent lateness to school (After registration has closed) within a ten week period can result in a Fixed Penalty Notice Fine.

The school register will officially close at 9:15 am. Students arriving after this time may be marked as having an unauthorised absence for the morning session – U code (Late after the close of register). This is categorised as an unauthorised absence for the session.

Families should try to make appointments outside of school hours wherever possible. Where appointments during school time are unavoidable, we ask that parents notify the school in advance of the appointment wherever possible.  The student should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment. In most circumstances, a child should not miss a whole day at school for an appointment. No student will be allowed to leave the school site without parental confirmation.

In most cases, absences for illness which are reported following the school’s absence reporting procedures will be authorised without the need for parents to supply medical evidence unnecessarily. In line with Department for Education guidance, if we do have a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness or they have been ill for more than a few days, we may ask the parent to provide medical evidence, such as a prescription or an appointment card.

The Headteacher can only authorise leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. The Headteacher will consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request.All absences associated with a family holiday (without exceptional circumstances) during term time will be marked as unauthorised on the register. Any parents known to have removed their child from school for the sole purpose of a holiday may be referred to the Local Authority by the Attendance Team and be issued with a fixed penalty notice.

If a student fails to return on the expected date and contact is not received from, or made with the parents, school will seek advice from the Local Authority. This could result in a possible child missing from the education procedure being instigated.

Leave of Absence Form

Finham Park School acknowledges the multi-faith nature of British society and recognises that, on some occasions, religious festivals may fall outside school holiday periods or weekends and is recognised as such by a relevant religious authority. Where this occurs, the school will consider either authorising the student’s absence or making special leave for religious observance. Parents are requested to give advance notice to the school.

A student becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ (PA) when their attendance drops to 90% and below for any reason. Over a full academic year this would be 40 sessions (20 days). Absence at this level is causing considerable damage to a child’s educational prospects.

The attendance of all students at our school are monitored to identify children who are PA, or are who are becoming a PA. Where emerging concerns are identified we will instigate appropriate and timely interventions to support.  Referrals may also be made to external agencies for targeted support.

We recognise that poor attendance can be an indication of difficulties in or out of school. Parents are encouraged to inform school of any difficulties or changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s attendance and or behaviour in school, for example, bereavement, divorce/separation, emerging health concerns. This will help the school identify any additional support that may be required.

We also recognise that some students are more likely to require additional support to attain good attendance. The school will implement a range of strategies to support improved attendance based on the individual needs and circumstances of the child. 

To plan the correct support, we will invite parents and students to attend a meeting to discuss the concerns and devise a plan to support the child’s regular attendance. Support offered will be child centred and planned in discussion and agreement with both parents and students. This may include a referral to Early Help