Attendance
The Importance of Regular Attendance
We have always been proud of the close, cooperative relationship which exists between school and home over the matter of attendance. Clearly, both parents/carers and teachers want students to attend lessons regularly and only to be absent from school when it is absolutely necessary. Students themselves also find that they get more out of their years of education if they are good attenders.
- 17 days missed from school each year equates to a whole GCSE grade.
- Attendance affects learning, future earnings, wellbeing and a personal sense of belonging.
What we promise to do to help students achieve good attendance
- We will take form registers at the start of every morning.
- Teachers will take an electronic register during each lesson and note any absentees.
- We will contact parents/carers if we have any cause for concern over attendance.
- We will undertake home visits to support parents/carers in making sure their child attends school.
- We will contact parents/carers on the first day of any unexplained absence.
- Attendance is regularly reported parents/carers at key points in the year and daily on the student parent app.
- We will respond sensitively to absence if it is caused by short-term family difficulties.
- We will work closely with the Attendance and Children Out of School Service, particularly if difficulties with attendance seem to be more than just temporary.
- We will notify you by letter of our concerns should your child’s attendance fall below an acceptable level in any school year. This would normally be below 97%.
- We will positively and publicly reward full attendance for one, two or three terms in any school year by awarding a Bronze, Silver or Gold Certificate of Attendance to the student concerned. A lapel badge is presented to those achieving a Gold Award.
What we ask you to do
Attendance at school is essential if students are to make the most of the opportunities we offer. If you know that your child is going to be away, you should tell your child's Form Tutor in advance. Otherwise you should email schoolabsences@sandbachhigh.co.uk or telephone the School on 01270 765031 on the first day of absence and bring a note on their return to school. Attendance under 97% will always be investigated.
Please try to make any medical and dental appointments, as far as possible, for holidays or after school.
Where poor attendance is emerging we will ask for information so that we can offer support as to why the child is unable to attend school. The school will decide whether to authorise or unauthorise the absence.
PLEASE NOTE: The Government categorises students whose attendance has fallen below 90% as ‘Persistent Absentees’
Punctuality
Punctuality is very important and we are often asked to comment on this when writing references for employment and further education courses. We find when students arrive promptly they are able to have a calm and settled start to their day.
We will record the names of students who arrive after the 8.30am bell as per our attendance policy.
If students are late for reasons such as medical/dental appointments they will be marked with an ‘L’ code, which is counted as late but present, with a comment noted. This will allow students to maintain their 100% attendance record.
For any student who is late to school, after registration closes and does not have a valid reason to be late, the absence will be coded as unauthorised (U).
Absence Requests
(Including Children in Entertainment)
The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for. The department for Education guidance states that 'generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an expectational circumstance'.
The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request.
Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated before the absence. The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.
Valid reasons for authorised absence include:
- Illness and medical/dental appointments (see sections 4.2 and 4.3 for more detail)
- Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong. If necessary, the school will seek advice from the parents’/carers’ religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart
- Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision
- Participating in a regulated performance (to obtain a licence an application must be made by the producer/organiser of the event to the Attendance and Children Out of School Service (Local Authority, Cheshire East) from whom further details can be obtained
Penalty Notice (PN)
A PN may be issued in cases of unauthorised absence and may be considered appropriate in any of the following circumstances.
- In cases of truancy.
- In cases of parentally condoned absence where this can be demonstrated.
- In instances of unauthorised holidays in term time.
- In cases of persistent late arrival at school after the register has closed.
Further details can be obtained from the Attendance and Out of School Service 01270 375255 or on the Cheshire East website.
| Penalty Notices will be issued for
Term time leave: Penalty notice fines will be issued for term time leave of 5 or more consecutive days. 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling 10 week period: A penalty notice maybe considered when there have been 10 sessions of unauthorised absences in a 10 week period. However, the local authority retain the discretion to issue a Penalty Notice before the threshold is met. For example, where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below the above threshold. |
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| Per Parent/Per Child
Penalty Notice fines will continue to be issued per parent per child. For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave, would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines. |
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| First Offence
The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for term time leave or irregular school attendance the fine will be charged at: £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days of the issue, reducing to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days. (Unpaid penalty notices may result in a parental prosecution) |
Second Offence
Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second penalty notice to the same parent for the same pupil within 3 years of the first penalty notice, for either term time leave or irregular attendance the second penalty notice will be charged at: £160 if paid within 28 days. (Unpaid penalty notices may result in a parental prosecution) |
| Third Offence
On the third time that an offence is committed within 3 years of the first penalty notice for either a term time leave or irregular attendance a penalty notice will not be issued. The case may proceed to Parental Prosecution under the Single Justice Procedure. If found guilty of the offence of ‘Failure to send a child to school’ the Magistrates can impose a fine up to £1000 or legal proceedings under Section444 (1a) can include a fine of up to £2500. |
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In Conclusion
We hope that this information will be useful to you and that students, parents and the school can work together to bring students' attendance as near to 100% as possible. If you would like to ask about anything in this policy, please feel free to contact your child's Form Teacher or Pastoral Lead or Ms Oyler, Deputy Headteacher.
The school telephone number is 01270 765031.
The Student Attendance policy can be found on our policy page.