Attendance

Why missing time at school matters

Often parents are under the impression that missing school for a day or two will be easy for your child to catch-up. However this is not the case. There is no time for teachers to work out which children missed which bits of learning and spend an hour one-to-one catching each child up. This just is not manageable. To do this would mean halting learning for all the other children who were in school that day.

A really good example is phonics: if your child misses just one phonics session then they are missing out on learning that sound. Each sound is taught on a different day of the week, week after week. The opportunity to experience this new learning does not come again. Your child will have missed one of the building blocks for reading and will have to work it out, try to learn it on their own, whilst all their friends already know what that sound is. The adults in class may be able to support if they get stuck, but this is not the same as learning it with all their friends.

Maths is another example: Maths lessons are carefully planned to sequence learning and move what the children learn into their long term memory. By missing out one lesson in this sequence, the children risk future learning being built upon lots of gaps…it is unlikely to make sense and therefore confuse other new learning. These gaps are then very hard to fill, even if resulting from only one missed lesson.

On the new signs at the front of school, it states that 95% attendance = 9 days missed = 50 lessons missed. If one missed Maths lesson or one missed phonics session results in notable gaps then imagine what 50 missed lessons would mean for that child. How on earth would they be able to catch up? It is this scale of missed learning that we are so concerned about for the children of St Mary Immaculate.

Time with friends is also incredibly important. The children make up games to play during break times and it can be upsetting for children to return to school and not know how to play them. This can sometimes result in children not being able to play and join in with their friends, which leads to them feeling isolated and lonely. Life moves on quickly and friendships can be fickle when children are younger. If your child misses repeated days of school then their friends will find other children to play with, who are in school more of the time. That feeling of isolation is horrible. Children don’t always tell adults when things are bothering them and a small issue can build into something much larger and harder to resolve.

I know that lots of parents do not see themselves as the type of parents who let their children miss school for unacceptable or frivolous reasons. The values and information parents use to make judgments about attendance have changed post pandemic.

Many parents worry that illness levels are higher. There is also a feeling amongst some parents that they are more wary of spreading illnesses post pandemic. They are less likely to send their child to school when they are unwell. It now feels less socially acceptable to do so. Some parents feel that schools have become more cautious about keeping a child in school. They perceive that a school is more likely to send a child home if they are ill.

At St Mary Immaculate we try to walk the line carefully between being too cautious and not being cautious enough. Our families were helpful during the pandemic and worked with us to manage infection control by keeping ill children at home, no matter how minor the illness. This is no longer the case and we do not need parents to help in this way. I appreciate that this is a shift in expectations and that we can become entrenched in our mindsets.

Unless your child has a fever or some highly contagious disease then we would like them in school. We will only send children home if they are actually unwell (that we can tell to the best of our ability). Staff will be reminding children of the importance of thorough hand washing to keep germs away. We need your help as part of making sure the children are experiencing the full learning opportunities that St Mary Immaculate provides.

Sickness

In accordance with advice from the Health Protection Unit, if your child has been sick or had diarrhoea they should not return to school for a minimum of 48 hours following the last bout of diarrhoea or vomiting. This helps to prevent infections spreading. Thank you.

To report your child’s absence please use the free Studybugs app, or register on the Studybugs website. Click the link below to get started.

Top 3 reasons to use Studybugs

1. It’s integrated with our systems so we know right away if your child is unaccounted for.
2. It’s quick and easy to register and use and automatically reminds you to keep us posted.
3. You’ll be helping the NHS and other public health organisations improve children’s health.

Alternatively, please ring the school office (01926 493959) and by 9.15am at the latest, on each day that your child is absent from school.

Leave of Absence

In September 2013, the Government introduced some significant changes to attendance regulations for pupils at school. The regulations continue to apply during this academic year. The most important of these is in relation to term-time leave of absence. The amendments set out in Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, govern all requests for leave within term time.  When considering such requests for a leave of absence, the school are obliged to act within the law.

The amended regulations removed references to ‘holiday’ and ‘extended leave’, as well as the statutory threshold of 10 school days. It is now clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. If the leave is granted, Headteachers are able to determine the number of school days a child can be absent for. The Government has not defined ‘exceptional circumstances’ as referred to in the 2013 regulations. It is for the Headteacher to decide what he/she views as ‘exceptional’ and it is at their discretion if the circumstances warrant the leave to be granted.

Leave of absence which is taken for the following reasons will not be authorised:

• Availability of cheaper holidays
• Availability of desired accommodation
• Poor weather experienced in school holidays
• Overlap with beginning or end of term
• Booked the wrong dates by mistake
• Booked by another family member
• Attending a wedding that is not immediate family
• Family birthdays
• Unable to take a holiday in school holidays due to work commitments

Update following the Supreme Court ruling April 2017

The Supreme Court clarified has clarified the law on unauthorised leave, including holidays, during term time (Platt v Isle of Wright 2017). The Supreme Court has made clear that attending school ‘regularly’ means that the children must attend school on every day that they are required to do so. As such, the parents of any child who is absent from school without authorisation for any length of time are likely to be considered as committing an offence under s444 of the Education Act 1996.

• The law states a leave of absence may only be granted by a school if an application is made in advance and if it considers there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.
• Schools must judge each application individually considering the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind each request.
• A leave of absence is granted entirely at the school’s discretion. Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance.
• Where a leave of absence is granted, the school will determine the number of days a pupil can be absent from school.
• When making an application for Leave of Absence parents are advised to give sufficient information and time to allow the Head teacher the opportunity to consider all the exceptional circumstances and to notify parents of their decision.  The school may also request further information on the application and supporting documentation where appropriate.
• It is advised that if the resident parent has not received notification or a response regarding the leave of absence application, it is their responsibility to ascertain if the leave is authorised prior to the start of the leave.
• The school can only consider Leave of Absence requests which are made by the ‘resident’ parent i.e. the parent with whom the child normally resides.
• Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, the child is expected to be in school on the dates set out in the application. If the child is absent during that period, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.  Where a leave of absence is requested, but additional days taken either prior to or after the request may be considered as part of the leave of absence.
• Leave of Absences which are not made in advance cannot be authorised in line with legislation.  This will result in the absence being recorded as ‘unauthorised’.
• All matters of unauthorised absence relating to a Leave of Absence will be referred to the Warwickshire Attendance Service, part of Warwickshire County Council. Penalty Notices are issued in accordance with Warwickshire County Council’s Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices and in the first instance, as an alternative to prosecution proceedings.

It is important to note

• Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child, (for example 2 children and 2 parents, means each parent will receive 2 invoices – 4 in total).
  • First Leave of Absence offence: The Penalty Notice amount of £160 to be paid within 28 days, this is reduced to £80 each child if paid within 21 days.
  • Second Leave of Absence offence within a 3 year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice): The amount of £160 paid within 28 days.  No reduced amount.
• Payment plans will not be offered and/or payments received outside of the 28 day period will not be accepted. Where a penalty notice expires unpaid the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider criminal prosecution.
• Third Leave of Absence offence within a 3 year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice)  A penalty notices will be not be issued and the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider instigating criminal prosecution proceedings under S444 of Education Act 1996.

Your child’s progress academically, as well as socially, is our shared priority.