JCJ October 2015 Attendance and Punctuality Policy

Attendance and Punctuality Policy

(Nailsea School Policy)

Policy Adoption Date: February 2014

Policy Amendment: October 2015

Next review date : January 2017

Responsibility for Policy / Name / Signature / Sign Off date
Director Of Learning and Achievement with overview of Attendance / Justin Clayton-Jones
Education Committee Chair / Julie Cayzer

Attendance and Punctuality Policy

1. Rationale:

  1. High attendance at school is correlated with good achievement outcomes. Therefore the maintenance of procedures and practices that encourage good attendance and punctuality are linked to the school aims for high achievement outcomes for our students.
  2. Parents have a duty to educate their children “suitable to their age, aptitude, ability and any special educational needs which they may have” either by regular attendance at school or otherwise under Section 7 of The Education Act 1996. This Policy is also in keeping with the Education Acts of 2002 and 2012. Parents whose children are registered at school are responsible for ensuring that they attend punctually, regularly and stay at school.
  3. This Policy applies to pupils in years 7 – 11 inclusive

2. Purpose:

  1. To define good and poor attendance
  2. to describe the procedures and practices used to promote good attendance and improve poor attendance
  3. to describe the reasons for which absence from school may be authorised
  4. to describe the procedures that will be applied in the case of poor attendance or for absence which is not authorised

3. Guidelines:

  1. The school gives a high priority to emphasising to parents and students the importance of regular and punctual attendance. Parents have a vital role to play. The school seeks to establish and maintain strong home – school links and communication systems to maintain high attendance
  2. Where attendance falls below a prescribed limit – 90% of possible sessions - the school will investigate in partnership with parents, students and the Education Welfare Service. With the aim to return the student to full attendance.
  3. The procedures detailed in section 6 will be applied to every absence and give a clear message that absences are not allowed for reasons other than those determined by the law. The procedures and the need for them should be understood by all, and the school will do this by:
  • individual letters to parents,
  • communication to students through assemblies and tutor monitoring and
  • communication to parents through the school website, newsletters and parent forums
  • Authorisation of Absence: In Nailsea School the decision as to whether an absence will be authorised will be taken by the Headteacher. A student’s tutor or House Head will consult with the Head when there are any causes for concern, e.g. after a period of absence, a pattern of missed absences or continued lateness
  • Categories of absence
  • Authorised Absence: an absence agreed by the Headteacher with an explanation from parents, including:
  • Medical: an appointment such as hospital, doctor or dentist
  • Illness: illness as informed by the parent or on receipt of doctor’s/hospital notes if required.
  1. Unauthorised Absence: an absence not agreed or unexplained
  1. Holidays in term time; DfES guidance states that parents should not normally take children on holiday in term time. The Headteacher will determine if the request for a holiday in term time is reasonable. Nailsea School will follow the guidance as set out in the North Somerset ‘Attendance Guidance FAQ re Family Holidays’ booklet available on the North Somerset Website or from the school office or website
  2. Full guidance on attendance codes is held in the school office.
  1. In order to promote good attendance the school may adopt one of the following procedures:
  • Parent Contracts; this will enable the school to support the family in improving the child’s punctuality and/or attendance.
  • Fixed Penalty Notices: these fines are £60 (per parent, per student) if paid within 28 days or £120 if paid between 29 and 42 days. If the penalty is not paid and the notice is not withdrawn the parent will be prosecuted for the offence of failing to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school.
  • Targets for attendance will be set annually in consultation with the Education Welfare Service. The governors on the Education governors sub-committee will check whether these targets were met and, if not, try to establish why not. The evaluation process is described in the procedures section – appendix 6.1.
  • Attendance achieved against the annual target will be reviewed by a member of staff, as designated by the Headteacher and termly at governors’ meeting and at meetings with the EWO.
  1. Review:
  2. This policy will be reviewed at 3 yearly intervals or when new guidelines are issued from North Somerset or theDfE. The policy is next due for review in January 2017.
  3. The chair of the governors Education sub-committee and the designated member of senior staff are responsible for the review.
  4. Related Documents:
  5. North Somerset Guidance on Attendance
  6. North Somerset guidance on Holiday absence authorisation
  7. North Somerset ‘Attendance Guidance FAQ re Family Holidays’ booklet
  8. North Somerset Council code of conduct for issuing penalty notices in respect ofunauthorised absence from school and parental responsibility for the whereabouts of children excluded from school
  9. North Somerset EWS Service Level Agreement
  10. Equal opportunities policy
  11. Inclusion Policy
  12. Governors HandbookList of Absence Codes
  13. DfE Guidance on applying the Education Pupil Registration Regulations;
  1. Procedures
  2. All Schools have to;
  • Call the attendance register twice per day – at the start of the morning session and once during the afternoon session.
  • Ensure that attendance registers are kept, in accordance with legal requirements and the policy of the school.
  • Inform the Local Authority about students who do not attend school regularly or who have been continuously absent for two weeks or more (unless the absence is covered by a medical certificate).
  • Include data on authorised and unauthorised absence in the school prospectus and the, in accordance with Department for Education DfE requirements.
  • Local Authorities are required to;
  • Ensure parents carry out their responsibilities, with regard to their children’s education. In North Somerset the Local Authority fulfils this requirement through the Education Welfare Service,
  • Allocate a named Education Welfare Officer who will work in close partnership with the school. The Education Welfare Service has provided the School with a Service Level Agreement which details this support.
  • Nailsea School
  • Nailsea School will ensure all staff are aware of the registration procedures and that they will complete, accurate registration processes at the beginning of each morning and afternoon session within fifteen minutes of the start of the morning session and 5 minutes of the start of the afternoon session.
  • First day Contact; Nailsea School encourages parents/carers to contact the school office early on the first day of absence by 8:30 a.m.
  • If the parent has not contacted the school by8:30 a.m., then the parents should expect to be contacted by the receptionist or support and guidance assistant
  • Parents will be challenged if they fail to inform the school of the reasons for absence, or if the reasons given for absence are unacceptable. This will be done by the support and guidance assistant or head of /house.
  • It is the view of the school that first day contact works by:
  • Raising awareness of the importance of full and good attendance
  • Addressing problems before they become serious
  • Improving home-school liaison
  • Sending a clear message to parents and students that if a child is absent s/he will be missed
  • Safeguarding - alerting parents who may be unaware that their child is truanting or missing and therefore may be at risk
  • Requiring and promoting a high level of communication within the school staff working as a team by ensuring tutors and Heads of House are alerted if any issues arise as a result of the communications with parents
  • Reducing the number of students who have short-term absence, by discouraging casual absence, thus reducing the overall absence rate
  • Assisting parents and students to reduce casual absence by making students and parents aware that students absence is monitored and followed up and encouraging early contact from parents
  • If no contact is achieved with the parent/carer of an absent student on each day of absence a phone call home will be made by the school to establish a reason for the absence. Any unexplained absences of one week or longer may be reported to the EWO, and further action decided upon.
  • Lateness: Parents are expected to ensure that children are present for registration at 8:30 a.m. Registers will close at 9:00 a.m. Students arriving after 8:30 a.m.but before 9:00 a.m.will be recorded as late. Students arriving after 9:00 a.m.will be recorded late after registration closes which is recorded as an unauthorised absence. (DfE good practice guidance [ Guidance on applying the Education Pupil Registration Regulations] states that registers should be closed within 30 minutes of registration). There are three negative results caused by students who constantly arrive late:
  • The loss of learning suffered by the student themselves which, over a year, can add up to a significant proportion of their time in school.
  • The disruption to other students in their class as the teacher’s attention is taken from the task at hand.
  • Can raise levels of unauthorised absence.
  • The strategies that the school will use to tackle lateness will include:
  • Informing parents by an appropriate mechanism when a student is late persistently.
  • Issuing detentions (C2, C3 or C5) for lateness as deemed appropriate by the Headteacher.
  • Calling parents in to discuss lateness/inviting parents to attendance clinics.
  • Use of Fixed Penalty Notices in cases of unauthorised absence. This decision will be taken by the Headteacher in consultation with the Education Welfare Officer for the school.
  • Evaluation

Evaluation by the Education governors will be to look at:

  • what interventions have been successful, including rewards – see rewards and sanctions policy:
  • Attendance data for individual students, classes, year groups and house groups and the school as a whole.
  • the school ethos
  • the behaviour of students
  • how successful student re-inclusion plans have been
  • the school environment for staff and students
  • the profile of attendance both within the school and schools in the LA
  • how well informed new students, parents and staff are about the importance of attendance and the policy and procedures operating within the school
  • Information and guidance given at School assemblies, new parents evenings or any other events and other communications e.g. website, newsletter etc

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