Attendance Policy

Author responsible: HoA ISI DOC CODE: 15a Reviewed by: DHP Date of last review: 09/21 Authorised by resolution of: Edu Comm Date of authorisation: 09/22 Applicable: SPS Date of next review: 09/22

This policy is available on the Handbook page of the School Intranet and policies page of the School website and can be made available in large print or other accessible format if required; such requests can be made by email to [email protected].

For the 2020-2021 school year, this document is accompanied by a Covid-19 Addendum, based upon the DfE guidance: Addendum: recording attendance in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19) during the 2020 to 2021 academic year (Sept 2020) and recording attendance during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

1. Policy Statement

1.1 For pupils to benefit fully from the educational opportunities provided by the School, they must have high levels of attendance and punctuality. Ineffective registration or poorly executed follow-up procedures can increase the risks of truancy and educational under- performance, which can negatively affect personal and social development among pupils. A child going missing from school is a potential indicator of abuse or neglect or in itself may indicate that a pupil is at risk of significant harm. Consequently, attendance and registration arrangements are hugely important and must be seen to be regarded as such by pupils, parents and staff.

2. Aims

2.1 This policy aims to provide a clear, consistent and cohesive framework which conforms with statutory requirements and that promotes high levels of attendance and punctuality of pupils

at the School, as well as outlining clear procedures for identifying and addressing situations where pupils fail to attend regularly or punctually, or go missing, so that: • Procedures and lines of responsibility within the School are clear as regards: o Attendance and Registration; o Authorisation and Clearance of Absence (including Exeats) and Lateness; o How sanctions are used to reinforce expectations of attendance and punctuality; o How and when to report concerns, including identifying and addressing any situation where a pupil goes missing from School; • Staff, parents and pupils are aware of, understand and can readily comply with statutory regulations and School rules governing attendance; • Absences and instances of lateness are identified and recorded systematically and accurately and followed up quickly and appropriately in ways that promote high levels of attendance and punctuality and enable action to be taken quickly to identify and reduce absence, including persistent absence. • The School fulfils its responsibility to notify the local authority when pupil register or de- register outside standard transition times.

3. Statutory Framework

3.1 The legal framework governing school attendance is summarised in School attendance: Departmental advice for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities (2020), published by the Department for Education (DfE). The School also complies with guidance published by the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI) and advice published by the Richmond Local Education Authority (LEA), regarding school attendance, which can be found on the richmond.gov website. Responsibilities of parents towards their child’s attendance are outlined in DfE guidance School attendance responsibility measures (2015)

4. Responsibilities of Parents

4.1 Parents with a child of compulsory school age have a legal duty to make sure that their child receives efficient full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude and ability (and to any special education needs they may have). Compulsory school age lasts from the term after a child’s fifth birthday up to the last Friday in the month of June in the academic year of their sixteenth birthday. Since September 2015 all children have been required to continue in education or training until their eighteenth birthday.

4.2 Parents are responsible for informing the school on any occasion when their child is unable to attend due to illness, a medical appointment or pre-agreed work experience, providing the reason for non-attendance. This should be done by emailing the Tutor as far as possible in advance and by the very latest by 8.25am on the morning of the absence, copying [email protected] to the email.

4.3 Parents wishing to take their child out of School for exceptional reasons (such as attending a funeral or wedding, religious observance, elective surgery, or involvement in a regional or national extracurricular competition) must seek authorisation for the absence from the School by writing to the Undermaster for their son’s year group at least a week in advance of the

proposed date(s) of absence. The Undermaster, in consultation with the Deputy Head Pastoral, will confirm whether the circumstances meet the definition of ‘exceptional circumstances’ for which leave of absence may be granted by the School.

4.4 Parents are committing an offence if they fail to ensure their child's regular attendance at school or otherwise. Prosecution could result in a fine of up to £2,500, a jail sentence of up to three months or a community sentence. Alternatively, LEA Education Welfare Officers, Police Officers and head teachers have the authority to issue penalty notices to parents of between £50 and £100.

4.5 Where parents need support to prevent their child from truanting or habitually arriving late, the School may offer to enter into a Parenting Contract. This is a voluntary agreement between the parent and school under which the parent agrees to comply with certain requirements and the School agrees to provide them with the support that they need.

4.6 Where parents fail to ensure regular attendance, do not engage with support services or a Parenting Contract, a parenting order may be requested by the LEA or imposed by Magistrates. This is not a voluntary agreement and requires that parents attend parenting classes for a maximum period of up to 12 weeks. The order may be given for a period of up to 12 months and would require parents to have regular contact with a supervising officer – usually the Education Welfare Officer.

4.7 When parents/guardians are to be away from home overnight during term, they are required in the contract with the school to inform us of the name and contact number for a temporary guardian. This information should be provided to the Tutor, and should be copied to the relevant Undermaster.

5. Responsibilities of Pupils

5.1 Pupils have a responsibility to attend school when they are fit and well and to arrive at School in time for registration (morning and afternoon) each day during term time.

5.2 If, for any reason, a pupil needs to leave the School site during the School day, they must first seek and receive an Exeat from an Undermaster, the Surmaster, or, when if ill, from the School Nurse. Exeats from the Undermaster will normally require a request to be made in writing by the parents in advance. Pupils should then collect their exeat from reception before departing the site.

5.3 Failure to attend school regularly or punctually, or failing to attend registration without good reason, or leaving the School without an Exeat constitute breaches of the School’s Behaviour, Rewards and Sanctions Policy and may lead to formal disciplinary action being taken.

6. Responsibilities of the School

6.1 The School has a legal responsibility for taking and maintaining an accurate School Register (SR) of all pupils twice each day throughout term time: once at the beginning of the morning session and once in the second (afternoon) session. Every entry in the SR must be preserved for a period of three years after the date on which the entry was made. Likewise, a back-up 3

copy of the SR will be retained for three years. The register must be kept from the beginning of the first day on which the school has agreed, or been notified, that the pupil will attend the School. If a pupil fails to attend on the agreed or notified date, the School must establish the reason for the absence and mark the attendance register accordingly.

6.2 The School must notify the local authority within five days of adding any pupil’s name to the register where that pupil is added to the register at the start of any year other than the SPS 4th and L8th form. The School must provide the local authority with all the information held within the admission register about the pupil.

6.3 Where the parent of a pupil notifies the school that the pupil will live at another address, the school must record in the admission register: • The full name of the parent with whom the pupil will live • The new address • The date from when it is expected the pupil will live at this address.

6.4 Where a parent notifies the school that the pupil is registered at another school or will be attending a different school, the school must record in the admission register: • The name of the other school • The date of when the pupil first attended, or is due to start attending, that school.

6.5 The School is also required to agree with the LEA, the regular interval that the school will inform the LEA of any pupil who fails to attend school regularly, or has been absent without the school’s permission for a period of 10 days or more. The School has agreed to inform the LEA if, for any pupil, unauthorised absences exceed 5% of their total attendance for the year.

6.6 The School will also inform the relevant LEA and/or Children’s Social Care (CSC), as appropriate, immediately if: • A single absence raises child protection concerns (see the Missing Pupil Policy and the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy); • A pupil has ten days of unauthorised absence (other than for reasons of sickness or leave of absence); • A pupil of compulsory school age is to be deleted from the school register under any of the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended, as soon as the ground for removal is met and no later than the time at which the pupil’s name is removed from the register. The procedure for notifying the Local Authority is detailed in Appendix 2.

7. Registration Procedure

The Tutors of pupils have primary responsibility for registering their tutees in the morning (and in Friday ‘Tutors’) and following up lateness. Tutors will take the attendance register at the start of each session of each school day during the Morning Registration Period (MRP). A second attendance register will be taken by the period 6 teacher at the beginning of the second session of the day, during the Afternoon Registration Period (ARP).

7.1 Morning Registration Period (MRP)

• Pupils should be at school by 8:25am, so that they are present for registration at 8:30am in their Tutor rooms. • Tutors must register pupils as Present or Absent (using the appropriate code, as per 8.1.1) within the MRP (8.30–8.37am) using the ISAMS Registration module: in case of technical problems precluding the use of ISAMS, email [email protected] a list of absentees. • Only where a Tutor has received communication about a pupil’s absence in advance of the MRP from their parent should the absence be cleared immediately during the MRP. • Pupils must not be registered present unless they are sighted by the Tutor during the MRP. • Pupils who have music lessons during registration must sign-in on a list outside the music office. • Pupils arriving late must report to the Book Room to register their presence and explain their lateness. • At 9:30am the book-room will email a list of unexplained Absent pupils to Tutors. All teachers must check the emailed list of absentees and email any corrections to registration (Book Room). If they are still not cleared at 10:40am, an email will be sent to the parents by the Registration Administrator (see Appendix 1), alerting them to their son’s absence. If no contact is received from parents by 11am to explain the absence, the Registration Administrator will phone the Parents and if there is still no contact by 12 midday, will inform the Head of Attendance, the Tutor and the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), who will discuss whether to invoke the Missing Pupil Policy. • If a Tutor has pupils who arrived late, they should check the list of pupils who have arrived after 8:37am, with their reasons for lateness, on the Registration intranet page that day. This list is so: o Tutors know that their tutee has arrived at school late; o A future discussion is triggered with the tutee to find out if there is a valid reason for the lateness to be cleared or not.

7.2 Afternoon Registration Period (ARP)

• Period 6 teachers must register pupils as Present, Late or Absent: No reason yet provided or, when the reason is known, use the appropriate absence code (as per 8.1.1) during the ARP (2.15pm-2.30pm Monday –Thursday and from 2.15-2:30pm on Fridays), using the ISAMS Registration module. In case of technical problems precluding the use of ISAMS, email [email protected] a list of absentees. • L8th pupils with a private study period must register with the teacher responsible for the private study period. • U8th pupils with a free period must register in the Book Room between 2.20pm and 2.30pm. • Pupils who have music lessons in period 6 must sign-in on a list outside the music office. • Each day, the Music Administrator sends a list of pupils with a music lesson during the period 6 to the Registration Administrator. If a teacher has been informed of the reason the pupils is missing the lesson they can use the absence code “Q – Music Lesson (absent)”. The pupil will be registered by their teacher in the subsequent lesson (period 7).

• Games registration: Those who cannot register their group electronically must send a list to the Book Room as soon as possible. Games Halves will be registered directly in iSAMS within the Period Games register.. This will also apply to Games Halves with a late start time – the register should be taken at their beginning of the session and entered into iSAMS in the period 7. Pupils who have a late games half are required to sign in at the Book Room between 2pm and 2.30pm. The late games half register is entered into the period 7 slot. • For Fourth Form, in the Spring Term their second Games Halves option will be registered as a period 7 lesson. • Pupils Off Games must go to the library to be registered at 2pm. • U8th pupils who have no lessons in the afternoon may go home without having to register first, except on Friday when they must register at Tutor meetings. Any U8th pupil going home before 3pm will be allowed to leave if their name is on the list held by security. • If, for any reason, a class has not been registered by the close of the Afternoon Registration Period, then either the Head of Attendance or Registration Administrator must visit that class and complete the registration. • The Book Room will email parents of all pupils who were present in the MRP, but subsequently registered as absent in the ARP by 3:15pm. If no contact is received from parents by 4pm to explain the absence, the Registration Administrator will phone the parents, and if there is still no contact will inform the Head of Attendance, the Tutor and the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), who will discuss whether to invoke the Missing Pupil Policy.

7.3 Lesson registration

• For all other lessons (periods 1–5, 7 and 8), teachers must register pupils as Present, Late or Absent: No reason yet provided or, when the reason is known, use the appropriate absence code. • In the case of a double lesson, the second period registration is optional. • In addition to Tutor’s codes (as per 8.1.1) which may be mirrored, there are some lesson specific codes: Q – Music Lesson, when a pupil has asked permission to miss a period for music.

D – Nurses, when a pupil has asked permission to miss a period for on-site medical care. Appointments may be entered in advance as absences by the nurses (or registered as optional presence code “D – Nurses”)

K – Excused from lesson (other), when a pupil has asked permission to miss a lesson for another reason but is on site (e.g. school tour)

• Pupils who are attending a music lesson are registered by signing in at the Music Office before the start of the music lesson. • L8 pupils without a lesson in period 7 or 8 may go home after completion of their school commitments that day. • U8 pupils without a lesson period 6, 7 or 8 may go home early.

8. Procedures for Clearing Absences and Lates

8.1 Tutors’ responsibilities

8.1.1 If a tutee is absent and one of the following codes applies to the absence, then the Tutor must enter it themselves in the School Register (via iSAMS):

N – No reason yet provided U– Late arrival, authorised*

I – Illness

*forward any message about late arrival to [email protected]

Only correspondence from parents/guardians is allowed. If a pupil emails to say he will be late then code “N – No reason yet provided” should still be used (but still forward the email to the Registration)

8.1.2 For all other types of absence, the Tutors must forward the parental correspondence that confirms the type of absence to [email protected]. The Registration Administrator will then identify and enter the appropriate code (see 11.2).

8.1.3 NB Tutors must not approve or authorise a leave of absence. Such leave must be agreed between the Undermaster, Deputy Head Pastoral or Surmaster and the parents in advance. The Undermaster informs the Book Room Administrator of all leave of absence granted.

8.1.4 Tutors should regularly remind parents to advise them, in advance, if their child is going to be absent or late. Early communication between parents and Tutors leads to better, more efficient record-keeping.

8.1.5 If Tutors are not convinced about an explanation of illness provided to excuse absence they should discuss it with the relevant Undermaster, who may request that parents provide medical evidence to confirm the illness. Medical evidence can take the form of prescriptions, appointment cards, etc. rather than doctors’ notes.

9. Exeat Procedure

• Parents seeking an exeat to take their child out of School for exceptional reasons (such as attending a funeral or wedding, religious observance, elective surgery, or involvement in a regional or national extracurricular competition) must seek authorisation for the absence from the School by writing to the Undermaster for their son’s year group at least a week in advance of the proposed date(s) of absence. The Undermaster, in consultation with the Deputy Head Pastoral, will confirm whether the circumstances meet the definition of ‘exceptional circumstances’ for which leave of absence may be granted by the School.

• Undermasters will confirm the granting of the Exeats by emailing Registration and parents. The Exeat will then be placed on iSAMS by the Book Room Administrator.

• When a pupil leaves school, he must sign out at the Main Reception and collect a date- stamped Exeat slip, which he can, when challenged, hand to security as he leaves. Pupils leaving for an Exeat must do so through the main school gates. • Pupils returning from an Exeat should sign back in at the Book Room immediately on arrival.

10. Procedures for Lateness or Failure to Register

10.1 Late Arrivals

• Between 8:37am and 8:55am, any pupil arriving late must go directly to the Book Room to register and explain his lateness. • Where there is a valid reason to excuse the lateness, the pupil is recorded as late but cleared; otherwise the pupil is recorded as an uncleared Late. • Pupils who arrive after 8:55am must go directly to the Book Room and register via the Late Form. Tutors should check the daily list at http://intranet.stpaulsschool.org.uk/handbook/registration if their tutee is late in the morning to ascertain the reason and follow up with the tutee. They should email the Head of Attendance if they believe their tutee should not have been marked late. • Pupils, through Tutors, may challenge a lateness recording, if they have evidence of, or information about, extenuating circumstances which mitigate the lateness. • The school morning register closes at 11am. Any arrivals after this time must be given the appropriate absence code.

10.2 Late Passes

If a pupil has to leave home before 7:30am to arrive at school he may apply for a late pass from the Head of Attendance. A late pass excuses occasional but not habitual lateness – pupils with a Late Pass should still aim to arrive at School on time and in any case must arrive before 9am, otherwise they are deemed late and penalised.

10.3 Sanctions for lateness and failure to register – Late Point System

• Each term, and at the October Remedy, the system starts afresh with all pupils on 0 points.1 point is awarded where a pupil arrives late and registers before 9am • 2 points are awarded where a pupil arrives late and register after 9am • If 4 points are accrued in an Autumn half-term or during the Spring or Summer terms, the pupil reports to the Head of Attendance in Chemistry Lab 2 on a Tuesday morning, before 8am to sign in. • If a pupil fails to report on time, a Wednesday afterschool detention is given. If the pupil signs in at 8am on the Wednesday morning then this detention will be removed. • If the Head of Attendance is persuaded that there was a valid reason for not signing in on time, then they may rearrange for the pupil to sign in on another morning with no detention. • If a pupil has 2 late detentions in one half term then a Midweek Detention is given. 8

• If a pupil has 3 late detentions in a term then a Friday detention is given. • If there are 4 or more in a year then the pupil will have a meeting with the Undermaster which could result in a Saturday detention. 10.4 At all stages the Head of Attendance will aim to treat all pupils equally and fairly. In the event of a disputed instance of lateness, the Undermaster will consider the appeal, which should be made by the Tutor on behalf of the pupil, and will decide whether or not a ‘Late’ should be excused.

11. Responsibilities for Monitoring Attendance

11.1 Head of Attendance

• Issue Late Passes as appropriate and maintain a list of pupils who have been issued a Late Pass. Review and update this list annually Maintain the school’s absence and lateness records accurately; • Trains tutors in registration and clearing procedures and assist Tutors who have queries about the system; • Alert Undermasters to any apparent persistent patterns of absence or lateness; • To attend the Pastoral Management Group meeting to review lates and absences, preparing pertinent reports in discussion with the Deputy Head Pastoral. • Follow up with teachers and/or tutors who occasionally fail to complete registers during the Registration Periods. • Contact the local authority where: o A pupil of compulsory school age is to be deleted from the school register at a non- standard time (see Appendix 2); o A pupil joins the school at a non-standard time (see Appendix 2).

11.2 Registration Administrator

• Assist the Head of Attendance with maintaining the school’s absence and lateness records; • All absences must be cleared with the correct code every day. • Email parents of all pupils who are registered as Absent: N – No reason yet provided during the MRP, and telephone the parents of pupils who were present in the MRP, but subsequently registered as absent in the ARP. Where no contact is received from parents, inform the Head of Attendance, the Tutor and the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). • Register pupils who arrive later than 8.55am and maintain a record of reasons given for late arrival. • Enter, as applicable, the following codes in the School Register:

Present Codes

/ - Present in school am \ - Present in school pm

B – Off-site educational activity D – Nurses

J – Interview K – Excused from lesson (other) 9

L – Late P – Supervised sporting activity

Q – Music lesson V – Educational visit or trip

W – Work experience

Authorised Absence Codes

C – Authorised absence E – Excluded

H – Authorised Holiday I – Illness

M – Medical or dental appointment R – Religious observance

S – Study leave X – Non-compulsory school age absence

Y – Exceptional circumstances # - School closed to pupils

Unauthorised Absence Codes

G – Unauthorised Holiday N – Reason for absence not yet provided

O – Unauthorised Absence T – Gypsy, Roma and Traveller absence

U – Arrived in school after registration closed Z – Pupil no on roll

11.3 Undermasters

• Investigate and follow up any apparent patterns of absence or persistent or unauthorised absence and lateness and report any concerns to the Deputy Head Pastoral or DSL; • In particular, if Tutors are not convinced about medical absence, then Undermasters should assist in seeking clarification with the parents and/or medical professionals. • Consider requests for absence in exceptional circumstances in liaison with the Deputy Head Pastoral. This may only be done in advance and with the number of days specified. Inform the Registration Administrator of any leave of absence granted.

11.4 Designated Safeguarding Lead

• Contact the relevant LEA with any concerns about any pupil’s attendance and in any case where a pupil has ten days of unauthorised absence (other than for reasons of sickness, confirmed by medical evidence); • Contact children’s social care services where: o A single absence or repeated absences raise safeguarding or child protection concerns (see the Missing Pupil Policy and the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy); • Consider requests for holiday absence in exceptional circumstances. This may only be done in advance and with the number of days specified. Inform the Registration Administrator of any leave of absence granted. • Follow up with any teachers and/or tutors who routinely fail to complete registers during the Registration Periods. 10

11.5 Reporting missed contacts for holders of a Child Student Visa

The School takes responsibility for all its holders of a Child Student Visa while it is sponsoring them, including by doing all it can to ensure that prospective students are genuine students who can comply with the Immigration Rules, and that students enrol, comply with their conditions of leave, and see their course through to completion, including attending regularly, in accordance with the School’s UKVI Child Student Sponsorship Policy.

The School supports immigration control, including by taking steps to ensure that every student at the School has permission to study in the UK throughout the whole period of their study.

In signing up to the School’s Terms and Conditions, parents are consenting to the arrangements for their child’s application, travel, reception and care arrangements in the UK.

As a sponsor for students under the Home Office Child Student visa scheme, the School is aware of its responsibility to report promptly to the United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) department of the Home Office in cases where a holder of a Child Student visa is found to have contravened the terms of their visa.

In particular, a report will be made by the Registrar to UKVI in the event that a holder of a Child Student visa has:

• Missed 10 consecutive expected contact points (with a contact point being a morning or afternoon registration period) without reasonable permission given by the school leading up to those contact points, resulting in the School withdrawing sponsorship; • Enrolled but not attended; • Not enrolled within the enrolment period; • Withdrawn due to ill health or other circumstances (including if the student withdraws before they travel to the UK); • Ceased to be sponsored by the School; • Been delayed from enrolling or attending (even when the length of the delay is known); • Ceased studying and stopped attending; • Been excluded or otherwise required to leave by the School resulting in the School withdrawing sponsorship; • Been the subject of an administrative error in student reporting; • Returned overseas but not withdrawn (including where the pupil has been permitted to defer). Reports will be made in all cases through the online Sponsorship Management System (SMS) in accordance with the reporting procedures given in the document Tier 4 of the Points Based System: Guidance for Sponsors (2019).

The School does not need to make a report if:

• A student has been given reasonable permission to miss a contact; • The school has decided not to withdraw sponsorship even though the student has missed 10 consecutive contacts. This should be very rare and the School must keep evidence of any decision of this kind, together with the reasoning behind it

Appendix 1

At 10.40am each morning, the Registration Administrator will email the parents of any pupil registered as Absent: N – No reason yet provided for that morning with the following email:

Dear Parent/Guardian,

You are receiving this email from St Paul’s School as, at present, your child appears not to have registered in school for the day, and we have not received notice of any reason for his absence. There may be a number of minor reasons for the failure to register this morning, but we inform parents of any such unexplained absence as part of our duty of care. If your child reports to the Book Room at any point in the rest of the day, then he will be registered as Present: you can view your son’s Registration record through the Attendance section on the Parent Portal .

If you are unaware of his absence, we recommend that you contact him and ask him to contact the Book Room as soon as possible. If there is valid reason for the absence, please reply, copying in the tutor.

Appendix 2

Pupil De-registration outside standard transition times

The School is expected to use the google form provided by Richmond Children’s Services to record and send any names of children being admitted to or leaving the school outside standard transition times*, including the reason for withdrawal.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnGCFy6cnN5FAsKgrHbARYY4q2vSsn9LQj5NMLLLIRKY uu2Q/viewform

Once the form has been completed this needs to be noted in iSAMS, ticking the ‘informed LEA’ box. A statutory age pupil should not be taken off the roll at a non-standard transition point until their new school name and start date have been confirmed, and new home address and start date if they have moved home addresses. In cases of pupils moving abroad, the new school name and start date will suffice. Although it is not a statutory obligation, ISI also recommend that the child’s own local authority be informed, if it is other than Richmond.

Schools must let their Educational Welfare Officer know, or make a SPA referral, when statutory-age pupils are withdrawn from school to receive EHE (elective home education). This is because AfC's Education Welfare Service has a statutory duty to ensure all statutory aged pupils in Kingston and Richmond in elective home education are receiving efficient full-time education suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special education needs.

For de-registration:

• if a new school for the child is known and named, the form will be sent to AfC’s School Admissions Service to make contact with the new school/Home Local Authority and confirm that they are on roll.

• if a new school is not known, the form will be passed to AfC’s Education Welfare Service to investigate and follow up appropriately. For these children where a referral to SPA or additional information may be needed, the Local Authority will complete this process.

Any children whose absence is a concern should still be logged with the SPA team in the usual way.

This new responsibility is statutory and therefore all schools now have a duty to ensure that names are shared with the Local Authority within the prescribed timescales. For deletions at non- standard transition points, the Local Authority must be notified no later than the day when a pupil’s name is deleted from the school register and within five days of adding a pupil’s name to the admission register.

*Standard transition times for St Paul’s are 13+ (for entry only), 16+ (for entry only) and 18+ (for leavers).

Attendance Policy – COVID-19 Addendum

Author/reviewer responsible: DHP ISI DOC CODE: 15a Reviewed by: SMT Date of last review: 09/20 Authorised by resolution of: GOVERNING BODY Date of authorisation: 09/ Applicable: SPS Date of next review: 09/21

This policy addendum is available on the Handbook page of the School Intranet and policies page of the School website and can be made available in large print or other accessible format if required; such requests can be made by email to [email protected].

This policy addendum should be read in co-ordination with the St Paul’s School Attendance Policy, and will be updated in accordance with changing government guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

1. Purpose of Document The purpose of this document is to outline the additional or alternative school registration and attendance measures and practices that have been put in place by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the DfE document Addendum: recording attendance in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19) during the 2020-2021 academic year, and detail their application at St Paul’s.

2. Policy Statement

The DfE guidance makes clear that school attendance is mandatory for all pupils from the start of the Autumn term, but also creates a new head of authorised non-attendance: ‘not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus’, to be recorded under the code ‘X’. The circumstances

within which this code can be deployed by the school are limited and do not include all reasons in which some families may wish to keep their child at home. It is the School’s policy that:

• Education in school is a right of every child, and a very significant benefit to every child – including to their physical and mental health during this period of crisis. • That it must adhere to government attendance, including marking as unauthorised absence coronavirus-related non-attendance that it believes is not within the categories (or is not directly comparable to the examples) authorised by the DfE. It must also comply with any subsequent reporting obligations regarding non-attendance to the local authority or UKVI (as laid out in the School’s Attendance policy). • The school must also adhere to any guidance issued generally or specifically by PHE, DHSC ort other government agency or equivalent, including that which requires the prevention of attendance by any child in accordance with quarantine, self-isolation or local lockdown measures. • The school will offer remote educational provision to any pupil absent for coronavirus related reasons, recording and monitoring engagement with this remote activity.

The School recognises the high level of concern and genuine anxiety that may be held about school attendance during a period of exceptional crisis, and will seek at all times to reassure, support and empathise. At all times, it will place the welfare of the child as paramount.

3. Attendance Expectations

From the start of the autumn term 2021 pupil attendance will be mandatory and the usual rules on attendance will apply, including:

• parents’ duty to ensure that their child of compulsory school age attends regularly at the school where the child is a registered pupil • schools’ responsibilities to record attendance and follow up absence • the ability to issue sanctions, including fixed penalty notices, in line with local authorities’ codes of conduct

There are some circumstances where pupils cannot attend school due to coronavirus (COVID- 19), to be recorded – ‘not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19)’.

This category must only be used to record sessions that take place in the 2021 to 2022 academic year where a pupil does not attend because their travel to, or attendance at, school would be:

• contrary to guidance relating to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) from Public Health England (PHE) and/or the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)3 • prohibited by any legislation (or instruments such as statutory directions) relating to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19)

In line with the Secretary of State’s expectation that no parent will be penalised for following official public health advice for their child not to attend a given session, this new category of

non-attendance will not count as an absence (authorised or unauthorised) for statistical purposes.

4. Attendance Codes

From the beginning of the new academic year, the school is required to return to using the attendance and absence codes in use before the outbreak resulted in school closures. In addition, schools should use the attendance code X for recording: • pupils not attending a session who meet the criteria for ‘not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19)’. • schools should continue to use code X for non-compulsory school aged pupils who are not expected to attend a session, as they did before the outbreak

5. Examples in which ‘not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19)’ could apply

It is noted that the DfE guidance grants examples in which non-attendance in circumstances related to coronavirus could apply, and does not seek to define exclusive categories. Where a specific case is not covered by the examples, or is not clearly directly equivalent to those examples or more recent guidance, the School consult the local authority Education Welfare Officer, or equivalent, for further guidance before deciding upon whether to authorise the absence as a valid ‘circumstance related to coronavirus’ that merits the child missing full school education.

In line with current legislation, and guidance from PHE (and its successor the UKHSA) and DHSC, examples are as follows. Flowcharts to show how these will be used in registration can be found in appendix 4.

• Pupils who are required to self-isolate as they have symptoms or confirmed COVID-19

Pupils who have symptoms of COVID-19, or have had a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test, should self-isolate and get a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

If a pupil tests negative and if they feel well, they can stop self-isolating and return to school. If the pupil remains unwell following the test (such as with a different illness), then they should be recorded as code I (illness). Code X should only be used up until the time of the negative test result. Schools should not retrospectively change the attendance register due to a negative test result.

If a pupil tests positive, they should continue to self-isolate in line with public health guidance. Code X should be used for the period of self-isolation until the test. After the pupil tests positive, they should be recorded as code I (illness) until they are able to return to school.

• Pupils who are a close contact of someone who has symptoms or confirmed COVID-19

Pupils who are a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to self-isolate. They should instead get a PCR test, and should only self-isolate if they test positive. 16

If they do test positive, they should be recorded as code I (illness) until they are able to return to school.

• Pupils who are required by legislation to self-isolate as part of a period of quarantine

As usual, parents should plan their holidays within school breaks and avoid seeking permission to take their children out of school during term time. Families should also consider that their child may need to self-isolate following trips overseas that require a period of quarantine. If a pupil is required to be in quarantine on arrival in, or return to, the UK, the school should use code X in the register.

• Pupils who are clinically extremely vulnerable when shielding is advised

Clinically extremely vulnerable people are no longer advised to shield. All clinically extremely vulnerable pupils should attend their education setting unless they are one of the very small number of children and young people under paediatric or other specialist care who have been advised by their clinician or other specialist not to attend.

If shielding is advised nationally or in a local area again, by DHSC, PHE or UKHSA, then pupils who are clinically extremely vulnerable may be advised not to attend school. Non-attendance in accordance with guidance from DHSC, PHE or UKHSA should be recorded as code X.

• Pupils who are self-isolating but who have not had a PCR test

In line with public health advice, pupils with symptoms must self-isolate and schools should strongly encourage pupils to take a PCR test. Where the pupil is unable to take a PCR test, the school should record the pupil as code X in the register.

Schools should follow up with families if they are not satisfied with the reason as to why the pupil is not in school. Schools can request supporting evidence from the family. Where the school is not satisfied with the reason given for absence, they may record this using one of the unauthorised absence codes, in line with the school attendance: guidance for schools.

6. Changes to Morning Registration Period

• During this period the morning registration period will include an additional email to be send at 9:30am to all staff. This will include a list of pupils who were not registered during the morning registration period but were registered as present during period 1. • Pupils arriving late to lessons will sign in using the QR code (google form) outside their UMs office. These codes will change each day and cycle through 6 different versions to ensure that pupils cannot register as present when they are off site. If a pupil is unable to use the QR code then they must report to the bookroom to sign in. • Parents will be emailed at 10:40am if no information has been received about their absence. This email can be found in appendix 3. • The Registration Administrator will contact parents if registration has been informed that their son is absent due to illness without anymore detail. (appendix 3)

7. Changes to Exeats • Authorisation for routine exeats such a medical or dental appointments can be granted by the registration administrator. Parents can request these exeats by emailing [email protected] cc’ing in the tutor. • Pupils will sign out using the QR code at their UMs office as well as the main reception. • Pupils returning to school should sign in using the same QR code. • U8th who do not have lessons timetabled on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday mornings can request an exeat and arrive to school in time for 10:40am. To request this their parents need to write to the U8th Undermaster. Pupils are asked to sign in using the QR code when they arrive.

8. Remote Learning Pupils who are isolating due to COVID reasons are able to access remote learning. During this period pupils will be registered as present in lessons if they are present online. (This will not include period 6).

Appendix 3

Emails to be sent to parents.

Informed about illness.

Dear (Parent)

Thank you so much for informing us about ….. absences. If he has any of the following symptoms we ask that your sons take a PCR test.

• A new continuous cough • A high temperature • A loss or a change in taste or smell

Please inform us of the result.

We hope that ….. is feeling better soon.

Kind regards

Routine exeat requests

Dear (Parent)

Thank you so much for letting us know. We have placed the exeat on the system. Please can you remind your son to sign out using the QR code and then go to the main reception.

Kind regards

Appendix 4

Registration codes relating to COVID flow charts.