Building each other up - with God as our firm foundation Thessalonians 5: 11
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Attendance
Supporting and promoting good school attendance is one of our priorities. As a school, we strive to work in partnership with parents to ensure that children are always at school when they are able to be.
In 2022, the Government published updated guidance on school attendance.
Within this guidance, it states;
The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education...It is the legal responsibility of every parent to make sure their child receives that education…Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.
All schools have a continuing responsibility to proactively manage and improve attendance across their school community…The most effective schools consistently promote the benefits of good attendance at school, set high expectations for every pupil, communicate those expectations clearly and consistently to pupils and parents, systematically analyse (attendance) data…work effectively with the local authority and other local partners to overcome barriers to attendance.
At St Paul’s, as well as working with the LA, we work with an external company called Independent Education Welfare Services (IWES) who support our school and families to achieve good school attendance for all children.
School attendance is vital for a child’s future success.
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Holiday in term time requests.
Guidance states that;
As headteachers should only grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances, it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday. If the school does not authorise a leave of absence, but the child is absent during the requested time, parents may receive a Penalty Notice (fine). Whilst we do understand the reasons some parents consider taking holiday during term time, we are bound to follow guidance and are required to refer unauthorised absences of more than 10 sessions (5 days) to the local authority.
How do I make a request for leave of absence in term time?
If you need to make a request for leave during term time you should;
1. You need to complete a leave of absence request form, available from the school office (or via the link above), at least four weeks before the start of the holiday.
2. The completed form must then be returned to the school for approval.
3. The school will then write to you, within seven school working days to confirm/decline the request.
What will happen if my request is refused but I still take the leave of absence?
A new version of Working Together to Improve School Attendance will come into force on 19th August 2024. This will be statutory guidance.
Under this guidance, we may be required to issue a fine (known as a fixed-penalty notice) for unauthorised absence. If issued with one, you’ll need to pay this directly to the local authority – £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days.
The decision whether to issue a fine will take into account (alongside other factors) whether the national threshold has been met – namely 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.
If the decision to issue a fine is made;
The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil will be charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days (no option to reduce with an early payment)
A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action should be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution but may include other tools such as one of the other attendance legal interventions.
Before a fine is issued, you may receive a notice to improve to give you a chance to engage with support.
Please follow link for further information from Wolverhampton –