To Maintain Attendance Levels As High As Possible

Attendance Policy

1 ATTENDANCE POLICY

 To maintain attendance levels as high as possible.  For all staff to correctly mark child’s attendance.  To maintain an efficient record and monitor attendance daily.  To encourage the parents to see the importance of regular attendance.

OBJECTIVES

 To maximize the benefit of a computerized register system.  To work closely with external agencies to raise levels of attendance.  To maintain office staff with particular responsibility for attendance systems.  To inform parents on all issues to lateness and attendance.  To encourage the children/parents/carers who have poor attendance to attend regularly.

PROCEDURES

 No child should be admitted until office receive relevant paperwork.  Registers are to be delivered to the office by 9am. In the afternoon by 1.15pm  The attendance register will be deemed to be closed at 9.15am and 1.15pm. Which then the child will receive a ‘U’ mark.  Staff are not to make alterations to registers. They should put a comment in for the AWO if they have any information involving the child. Otherwise a ‘/’ or ‘N’ is required DO NOT leave blank.  Arrivals after 8.40am will need to report to the office.  The office staff will log late arrivals and early or late pickups and pass information onto AWO.  If a child arrives after the AWO has printed the registers then the office staff must change them on the paper copy’s AWO to change on Sims.  Weekly printouts to identify patterns of absence will be monitored by AWO.  Attendance Welfare Officer will pass concerns over absence to EWO when necessary.  First day absences without a reason will be followed up with a phone call and, if necessary, a home visit will be made by the AWO and another.

LATENESS

If a pupil is late then a letter will be sent to the parents informing them of this weekly. If this continues then a meeting will be arranged between the AWO, Principal/EWO and parents.

ABSENCES

 All absences are to be coded correctly and accurately.  Teachers will send sick notes or reports of absences directly to the office.

2  If a child is absent then a phone call will be made by the AWO to the child’s home or emergency contact, to establish the reason.  A medical reason i.e. doctor, dentist or hospital reason will result in an ‘M’ on the register if evidence is produced by the parent/carer.  Any other authorized absence will be a ‘C’. The AWO will write this on the register.  If a child is ill then an ‘I’ will be recorded.  If there is no reason for the absence from the Teacher or AWO then the absence report will show an ‘N’ for that child. After a week and no reason still given an ‘O’ will be given  The AWO will ring the home to establish a reason for the absence. If there is no answer then the AWO and another will do a home visit.  If a home visit is necessary, the AWO will leave the names of the families to be visited and inform the office on her return. Outcomes of the visits will be noted and if necessary further discussions with the principal or safeguarding team will take place.  Religious observance.

Agencies involved could be:

 EWO ( MAT)  Social services  Police  Housing (council)  Safeguarding team within school.  School councilors

 Any PA will be closely monitored, alongside any outside agencies involved with the family.  All holidays will be unauthorized unless they meet the requirements of exceptional circumstances. The Principal will take into account the child’s current attendance and the circumstances before the principal’s decision is made.  Any evidence of exceptional circumstances will be followed up by AWO.  No child will be taken off the school roll until it is established that they have been taken on roll by another school or being home schooled.  Any child whose whereabouts are unknown will be reported to the Education Welfare Service as Child Missing Education and taken off roll after the designated time.

Children Missing in Education Position Statement – national definition of children who are not receiving a suitable education:

“A compulsory school age child who is not on the roll of a school, not placed in alternative provision by a Local Authority, and who is not receiving a suitable education at home” (revised statutory guidance for Local Authorities in England to identify children not receiving a suitable education January 2009).

Hull City Council Children Missing from Education protocol is designed to support professionals across CYPS, partners and stakeholders in their combined efforts to safeguard children who are missing in education. Its aim is to identify the practical steps to be taken by professionals to locate and track children and young people missing from education. Please refer to Hull City Council’s protocols.

Extended Leave of Absence 3 Schools have a discretionary power to grant a pupil time off school during the term for a holiday, they can also do this if they believe there are extenuating or compassionate reasons that justify the leave.

All applications for leave must be done in advance by the parent(s), carer(s) that the child normally resides with. No child may be granted more than 10 days in any school year, except in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

Exceptional circumstances means that the parent must make the case as to why their child should be treated differently to the norm.

All requests should be treated on a case by case basis within the school’s published attendance policy which should give it the flexibility to respond to difficult circumstances whilst discouraging unnecessary absence.

The Local Authority recommends that policies neither ban all term-time holidays, nor bestow a right to all families to take time off for family holidays.

Parents must note that there is no obligation on the part of the school or teachers to provide school work to be completed by children whilst away on holiday.

The circumstances of each case should be taken into account, ‘blanket approval’ policies are not acceptable.

When considering a request for leave of absence we will take into account:  The amount of time requested;  The pupil’s general absence/attendance records;  Previous requests made for holiday absence and whether these are occurring annually/frequently;  Proximity of public exams, e.g. SATs;  Pupil’s educational needs and their ability to catch up;  General welfare of the pupil;  Circumstances of the request;  When the request was made.

All requests will be responded to with a written response confirming the length of time requested and how the request will be coded, e.g. whether it is authorized or unauthorized.

Where attendance has, or is likely to fall below 90% if the holiday is taken, all requests for holiday absence will not be authorized, except in exceptional circumstances for example, where the previous absence has been due to prolonged medical/hospital needs. The Headteacher will use their discretion in this matter.

If, following a period of 10 days authorized absence, the child fails to return to school for a further 10 days, the school will seek advice from the Education Welfare Service leading to the possibility of removing the child from the school register.

REWARDS

4  Each class is given a weekly attendance percentage, reported in the whole school assembly. These percentages are displayed on the attendance board, in the hall.  A class achieving 100% attendance for the previous week will receive a certificate and special attendance cup, containing individual prizes and stickers for great attendance.  Children who achieve 100% attendance for the year will receive a certificate and gift during Presentation Day.

REVIEW HISTORY

Date of review Staff responsible Next review due

September 2016 Miss Baker (AWO) September 2017