RED OAK PRIMARY SCHOOL

Aim

It is really important that the children come to school every day and on time. Starting the day properly makes the children feel positive, make friends and learn well.  Missing school can make children lose confidence, miss vital experiences and let them fall behind

Our aim is to provide an environment which encourages all our pupil’s to attend regularly and punctually. This is vital if we are to ensure the children succeed in school and in their future lives.

 

“There is a clear link between poor attendance at school and lower academic

achievement. Of pupils who miss more than 50 per cent of school only three per cent

manage to achieve five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C including Maths and English.

73 per cent of pupils who have over 95 per cent attendance achieve five or more GCSEs

at grades A* to C.” (Improving Attendance at School, Taylor, C  Dept. for Education 2012)

 

Good school attendance supports engagement in further education, employment or training in the future, which, in turn, helps to support a prosperous and fulfilling life style. The school requires robust systems with which to monitor attendance in order to fulfil the statutory responsibility to promote and safeguard the wellbeing of all pupils.

 

Parent’s Responsibilities

The parents are part of the school team and need to work together with the rest of the team to help their child’s, the class’s and the whole school’s attendance target.

The legal stance

The Education Act 1996 states that all children should attend school regularly and punctually. Section 444 of the Act says: -

 

           “If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails

            to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence”.

 

(NB Where the Education Act refers to “he”, it also means “she”).

 

Sickness

Pupils should always be encouraged to come to school; minor sniffles and tummy aches are often soon forgotten about once they start having fun with their learning.

If a child is truly too sick to come to school, parents should:

• Call the school before 10:00 am to notify school of the absence
• Call the school each day of an absence, and provide a doctor’s note if available.

If a child is off school on a regular basis, or the school needs further evidence of sickness, the school will contact the family to arrange a meeting.

NB: Only the Headteacher can authorise a sickness absence.  A parent cannot self-authorise.

 

Holidays

During Term Time Holidays are not authorised within any of the Lowestoft Pyramid of schools. The only exception is when the application is accompanied by a Doctors letter stating that for health reason a term time holiday is granted. The final decision for any application rests with the Headteacher who may grant a holiday for exceptional reasons. Holidays taken without authorisation will result in a fine.

When will a penalty notice be issued?

• Where a pupil has an unauthorised absence during a school term.
• Where a pupil is stopped with parents/carers during a truancy sweep and the absence is not authorised by the school.

Details of all payment arrangements will be included on the penalty notice. The penalty must be paid in full, there are no options to pay in instalments. The penalty is £60.00, if paid within 21 days, increasing to £120.00 if paid between 21 and 28 days.

 

Failure to pay

 If you do not pay the penalty in full within 28 days of issue, the Local Authority is required to start legal proceedings against you in the local Magistrate’s Court for the original offence of failing to ensure your child attends school regularly. This may lead to a fine of up to £1,000.00.

 

Lateness

Children enter the school from 8.30.

Morning Registers and guided reading start at 8.45 for 30 minutes.

Pupils arriving after the registers have been taken will be marked as Late.

Pupils arriving after registers close, without evidence of a medical appointment, will be marked with an unauthorised Late Mark. This counts as an unauthorised absence for the morning session.

Afternoon registers are called at 1pm.

Registers close 30 minutes after the start of afternoon school and pupils arriving after this time,  without evidence of a medical appointment, will be marked with an unauthorised Late Mark.  This counts as an unauthorised absence for the afternoon session.

 

 What counts as an authorised absence?

• Sickness (see above)
• A specific event of religious observance, where the family regularly practices the given faith
• A medical or dental appointment.  The appointment card needs to be shown to the school in advance i.e. not a phone call.  The child should be at school for the remainder of the day.
• Exclusions
• Participation in a sporting or performance event (individual licence must be applied for from the Child Employment Officer in Ipswich).

 

What counts as unauthorised absence?

• If no satisfactory explanation is given for the child’s absence
• If holiday is taken when it has not been authorised
• Birthdays
• Shopping trips
• Oversleeping and not turning up for the rest of the day
• Not returning from a medical appointment without a doctor’s note
• Pupils arriving later than 30 minutes after the start of morning or afternoon school, without evidence of a medical appointment, will be marked with an unauthorised Late Mark.  This counts as an unauthorised absence for the morning or afternoon session.

The government are keen to reduce all absences. They believe poor attendance in the Early Years of education sets a pattern and leads children to believe there is no urgency in education. They state parents are to blame if this happens.

 

“Truancy’ [though] is only one dimension and distracts attention from the cause of

these problems, which is non-attendance in the early years when approved by parents.

This soon becomes a pattern and establishes poor attitudes towards school. The

youngest children don’t play truant from school, they are off because their parents allow

them to be off. The focus of Government should be on attendance first and foremost.”

(Improving attendance at school, Taylor, C, Dept. for Education 2012)

 

Pupils’ Responsibilities

All pupils should be aware of the importance of regular school attendance. If they are having difficulties which might prevent them from attending school regularly, they should speak to their class teacher. 

The children are part of the school team and need to work together to help their class’s attendance rate, and the whole school target.

Pupils should attend all their lessons on time, ready to learn. They also have a responsibility for following school procedures if they arrive late by reporting to the school office.

 

School’s Responsibilities

All members of staff at Red Oak have a legal responsibility to promote and safeguard the well being of all children at the school. (See Whole School Safeguarding Policy dated Spring 2014).

The school staff need to work together with parents, children, governors and the Education Attendance Service to help to reach the whole school’s attendance target.

All staff at Red Oak Primary School will provide an ethos which places a high value on regular attendance and good punctuality. They also have a responsibility to set a good example in matters relating to their own attendance and punctuality.

In addition, schools are required to produce written home-school agreements which include clear understandings about attendance and punctuality.

 

School staff are responsible for ensuring that pupils have a good attendance by: -

*          ensuring that attendance registers are kept accurately;

*          differentiating appropriately between authorised and unauthorised absence;

*          responding to absenteeism firmly, consistently and with care;

*          contacting parents when they are concerned about a pupil’s absences,

            and recording the contact;

*          consulting with the Education Attendance Service if a pupil’s attendance

            continues to give cause for concern;

*          promoting regular school attendance;

*          acknowledging good or improved attendance of individual pupils or

            classes;

 

Governors Responsibilities

The Governing Body of an Academy school should make arrangements for ensuring that their functions relating to the conduct of the school are exercised with a view to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children who are pupils at the school.  They must be aware of school attendance targets and the steps schools are taking to reach these targets.

 

How the school promotes good attendance

Initiatives include:

1. An attendance display in reception to show in red, amber and green, the attendance of each class for the week
2. Weekly figures are prominently displayed.
3. At half termly intervals children will go home with a red, amber or green letter to show their own attendance progress toward the target.
   1. Red= 0-90%
   2. Amber= 90% -  94.9%
   3. Green = 95% - 100%
4. Each term an assembly for pupils with 100% attendance is held. Parents are invited and help to celebrate their children getting certificates
5. The school operates a first day response to absence. We will telephone parents/Carers if we have not been informed by 10am. 
6.  We work closely with the Lead Attendance Officer to track attendance
7. School uses Penalty Notices and fast- track case management system in conjunction with the Attendance Officer.
8. Children Missing Education

Both the school and the local authority must try to trace a missing pupil before the           deletion is made from school records. After 10 days absent the school will let the   Attendance Officer know the situation and the school will fill in a CME form and send it to the relevant person.

 

Every Child Matters

Regular school attendance is a necessary contributor to ensuring the outcomes of Every Child Matters.

a) Be Healthy:

Attendance at school supports children’s emotional and social health and development, the school curriculum teaches children to be healthy.

b) Stay Safe:

            Schools and the LA have a statutory duty to promote the safety and welfare of children. The best way to safeguard children is to ensure they attend school regularly.

c) Enjoy and Achieve:

Good school attendance supports children in reaching their potential and enjoying the fulfilment this brings.

d) Make a Positive Contribution:

Membership of a school community builds confidence, gives children a sense of belonging and teaches them to contribute to and be responsible for the well being of others.

e) Achieve Economic Well Being:

Good school attendance supports engagement in further education, employment or training in the future, which in turn helps to support a prosperous and fulfilling life style.

 

Reviewing the Policy

The school will review the policy annually.