School Attendance
The Department for Education has issued new statutory guidance for attendance called Working Together to Improve School Attendance. This came into effect on the 19th August 2024. It details what schools, parents and Local Authorities should do to improve pupils’ attendance at school. There are some important changes to attendance management from the 19th August 2024 which will affect the support parents and pupils receive from schools, and the legal sanctions that are used in certain circumstances.
Schools are legally obliged to provide support and intervention for pupils who are at risk of persistent absence (90% attendance or below). This will take the form of meetings with parents, school-based interventions, and the offer of support from outside agencies and professionals, where available.
We are keen to identify the barriers to attendance that families face and will welcome opportunities to overcome these barriers together. However, where attendance continues to fall, despite support, there are legal pathways that must be followed. We have been asked to ensure that parents and carers are fully aware of the new national attendance guidance and how this will work in practice in schools. Changes to Penalty Notices: Term Time Leave If a pupil takes unauthorised term time leave for 10 consecutive sessions or more (generally 5 days) they will be subject to a penalty notice. The fine for a penalty notice is increasing - to £80 per parent, per child. This increases to £160 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days for pupils who are of statutory school age. If a penalty notice remains unpaid, parents may be the subject of court proceedings for failing to ensure the regular school attendance of their child and this could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to 3 months per parent.
For second offences of unauthorised term time leave (10 consecutive sessions or more) within a three-year rolling period, the fine is a flat £160 per parent, per child.
For the third offence in a three-year rolling period, the referral will be automatically considered for prosecution in relation to Section 444 Education Act 1996. These fines will apply to term time leave taken from September 2024. Previous penalty notices from the last 3 years will be taken into account when a period of term time leave is taken from September 2024. Therefore, if parents have already received one penalty notice in the last three years, they will get a fine of £160 per parent per child for their next one. If they have received two or more in the last three years, they should expect to be referred for prosecution.
Irregular School Attendance Over Time If a parent is willing to support their child and the school in improving school attendance, and engage with school to achieve this, an Attendance Contract will be offered. This allows us to work together with parents and carers to improve attendance in a supportive and nurturing way. Having an Attendance Contract in place will mean regular informal meetings to identify any barriers to a pupil’s attendance and discuss what support can be put in place to overcome those barriers.
If a parent is not engaging with any offers of support from school, and attendance continues to decline, the school may use a different method of support, called a Notice to Improve. This is a last effort to engage parents before legal sanctions are considered. A Notice to Improve will be a formal collaboration between the school, the Local Authority and parents.
If these attempts at formal support fail, and a pupil’s attendance continues to be a concern, the school will make a referral to the Local Authority for legal sanctions to be considered. If a pupil has unauthorised absences for ten sessions or more in a 10-week period, the school may refer a parent for a penalty notice. This will be charged at £80 per parent, per child. This increases to £160 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days for pupils who are of statutory school age. If a penalty notice remains unpaid, parents may be the subject of court proceedings for failing to ensure the regular school attendance of their child and this could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to three months per parent.
Requests for Absence
Requests for Absence Requests for absence should be made by parents in line with the school’s Attendance Policy. This will be in written form with the date of the proposed absence and as much detail as possible about the reason for the absence. As is currently the case, Headteachers may still only authorise absence that they consider to be an unavoidable and exceptional circumstance. The school will reply to parents to advise them whether the absence will be authorised or not. You can find our school’s absence request form on the school website, or by clicking here.
Medical Appointments
Medical Appointments Where absence from school is requested due to medical appointments, the school will ask parents/carers to share confirmation of the appointment. This could be in the form of an official letter or email, confirming details of the time and date of the appointment. Absences for medical appointments are recorded as ‘Authorised’ but will need to be supported by evidence of the appointment. Attendance Policies
Attendance Policies
Our Attendance Policy will be updated to reflect these changes in the coming weeks. However, please accept this information as notice of the changes which will come into effect from the start of the school academic year in all schools. Fenstanton and Hilton Primary School I am sure you will understand the importance of a child’s regular attendance at school. Nationally, there is a trend of falling school attendance. Here at Fenstanton and Hilton Primary School, we recognise those concerns within our own cohort of children. For your information, there are ten school ‘sessions’ in a week, made up of five morning sessions and five afternoon sessions.
We very much hope that you will share our ambition that pupils will attend school 100% of the time. Whilst achieving this is relatively rare, often due to illness, it is worth recognising that a child who achieves 90% attendance throughout their time in primary school will have missed 26 weeks of education, or more than two terms of school. Whilst 90% might seem high when used as a measure in test scores, for example, it is concerningly low when it comes to school attendance.
Please be assured that our first step as a school will be to identify ways in which we can support school attendance. I will contact you and meet with you to discuss the first steps, where necessary.
Yours sincerely,
Richard Martin Headteacher
