Attendance & Punctuality
The Importance of Good School Attendance and Punctuality
We are ambitious for all our children and our aim is for them to enjoy their experience at school, to see success and have the best possible start to their adult life. By attending school regularly, children can reach their full academic potential, learn to develop and sustain relationships and demonstrate that they are reliable.
The link between irregular school attendance and poor academic achievement and limited life outcomes have been well researched. The Government have now published guidance on managing school attendance that is mandatory from September 2024. Poor attendance is defined as anything below 96%. The Department for Education expects 100% attendance however a minimum attendance rate of 96% is definitely expected.
Every day that your child is absent from school is an opportunity missed. Schools and parents have a shared responsibility to ensure that children attend school regularly and on time. Punctuality is just as important as attendance. We open the gates and the classroom doors at 8:25am every morning and take the register by 8:35am. It is important that children arrive in school on time as it supports them to learn good timekeeping and also reduces classroom disruption for the other children and themselves.
In Term 1, having a few days off, has a significant impact on your child’s attendance percentage. 10 sessions which are equal to 5 days absence will mean your child’s attendance would be 86.1%. If this was to happen every term, your child would be off school for about a month and a half every year which would have a serious impact on your child’s learning. As a school, we are expected to regularly update parents on expectations and their child’s attendance.
We understand that there are times when children are clearly not well enough to be in school. We will authorise absence for example: infectious diseases, vomiting, diarrhoea, throat/chest infection etc. This is not a cough or a sneeze.
The guidance also acknowledges “many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, examinations or variable moods”. But it is “important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly”.
Generally, the DfE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.
Your child must not be absent from school:
For day trips, birthdays, holidays, if weather is bad or you are running late, to care for other family members or due to the illness of a parent or sibling. The school will only authorise an absence in very exceptional circumstances and each of these will be considered on their own merit. Reporting absences is a parent or carer’s responsibility. Parents will need to notify school with the reason why their child will be absent.
We are not allowed to authorise holidays of any sort. Once your child has 10 unauthorised sessions off in a rolling period of 10 school weeks you could be fined. The threshold can be met with “any combination of unauthorised absence”, e.g. term time holiday, late after the register closes etc.
Fining and Improvement Notices
From Autumn term 2024, absence fines charged to parents have risen from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days. The second fine will automatically be charged at £160. The Department of Education and KCC can gather our attendance data at any time. The school does not benefit from these fines and they are not paid to school.
Let’s work together to achieve consistently high attendance and punctuality. There are only 190 school days in a year and we want to see every child at school because every school day counts.