Good attendance levels are crucial to ensuring your child is making strong progress and receiving the support to help them succeed at school. Any time off school means they are missing opportunities to gain, deepen and recall key knowledge and skills which are important for future success. At The Havelock Schools we recognise that attending school on time has a positive impact on learning. Every lesson really does count for your child. Therefore we must ensure that attendance and punctuality are the highest they possibly can be in order to prepare our children for their future adult life.
In-line with the Local Authority guidelines, we expect a minimum of 96% attendance.
The Legalities of Term Time Absence
- All absences must be recorded.
- All absences are either authorised or unauthorised.
Examples of authorised absence:
- Genuine illness
- Days of religious observance specified in advance
- Exceptional family circumstances eg bereavement
- Approved sporting activity
- Medical Appointments – evidence to be provided
Examples of unauthorised absence:
- Frequent absence due to minor ailments
- Shopping during school hours
- Looking after siblings of sick parents or carers
- Birthdays
- Day trips
- Holidays
- Arriving late for school after the close of register
Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their child is not late for school.
Infant school start at 8:50am and Junior school start at 8.45am
|
Minutes late per day |
Equivalent of missing |
|
5 Minutes |
3.4 school days a year |
|
10 Minutes |
6.9 school days a year |
|
15 Minutes |
10.3 school days a year |
|
20 Minutes |
13.8 school days a year |
|
30 Minutes |
20.7 school days a year |
Absences Including Term Time Holidays
We actively discourage term-time holidays and would ask that you should only book future holidays within the school holiday times. The Department of Education has tightened attendance guidelines, so that any child who takes 5 or more days for unauthorised reasons (including holidays) is now referred on and could be fined £60 per leave period per adult per child. We understand that it can be difficult for some families to take holidays within school holiday time but we are required by law to follow this guidance.
Monitoring Attendance
At the end of every term we inform all parents of their child’s attendance percentage. If attendance for a child has fallen below 90% then absence reasons will be reviewed and may result in a period of internal monitoring. This will be over a period of at least 4 weeks and will required attendance to be at 96% or above during this time. After the period of monitoring, if attendance still has not improved then we will refer the case to CH Education Welfare Solutions. As a last resort the case will be referred to the county council, who may follow legal procedures. We encourage anyone struggling with their child’s attendance to speak with our family support worker or a senior leader for support.
We are here to Help
We have Parent Link Worker who can help you if you are struggling to ensure your children attend school regularly. Talk to your child’s class teacher about this or call either school office.
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