Attendance

UNCRC Article 28 – Every child has the right to an education

We understand that families may face a number of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors which act as barriers for school attendance. As a child-centred school with a community focus, we believe that through working in partnership with families we can best support children to achieve high attendance and get the most out of their primary school experience.  At Somerdale Educate Together we work hard to make sure everyone feels welcomed, valued, and part of an inclusive culture where children and their families feel safe to attend. 

UNCRC Article 3 - When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. All adults should do what is best for children

We aim for all children to achieve 100% attendance unless illness or an unavoidable cause prevents them from attending school. We know that children who attend school regularly are more likely to make progress in their learning and achieve better life outcomes. Attendance and punctuality are therefore crucial to children’s learning and achievement at school.

Redfield Educate Together School Day

Listen, Understand, Emphasise, and Maintain High Expectations

Parents/Carers should contact us immediately if they or their child/ren are finding it difficult to attend school. We will work closely with you to identify the attendance barriers, co-creating a support plan which will be jointly monitored. We work with a number of external agencies including the Local Authority Attendance and Welfare Services, The Mental Health Support Team (NHS), School Nurse and the Behaviour and Attendance Panel who all provide the school with additional support services.

We aim to:

·      Have high expectations for every pupil’s attendance at school.
·      Communicate these expectations clearly and consistently to parents and to pupils.
·      Set expectations about attendance from the outset 
·      Explain to parents and pupils why good attendance is important and how it helps pupils to achieve.
·      Listen to parents carefully to find out why their children are not attending well enough so that they can act accordingly.
·      Challenge parents who do not make sure that their children attend but also offer support where needed.
·      Ensure that attendance is always recorded accurately.
·      Systematically analyse attendance information so that they can see patterns and trends.
·      Use this analysis to target their actions, both for individuals and at a whole-school level.
·      Make sure that attendance is ‘everyone’s business’ in school.
·      Understand that good attendance does not happen in isolation – there is an inter-relationship between attendance and the quality of the school curriculum, ethos, behaviour and inclusivity.
·      See the process of securing good attendance for all pupils as an ongoing process, never something that is ‘finished’.
          

Supporting Adults

Class teachers
Learning Mentor - Freya
Senco - Emma
Attendance lead - Lisa 

Reporting Absences to the School

Parents must inform the school office on the first day of absence either by telephone, in person or via info@redfieldet.org.uk. Parents are advised to report any continuing absences every day until the child returns to school.

Leave of Absence During Term Time

Leave during term time will not be authorised unless under exceptional circumstances. Families must complete a leave of absence form to apply for term time absence. 

Legal Sanctions

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school on a regular basis. It is a criminal offence under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 to fail to secure regular attendance of a registered pupil at the school. This applies to both resident and non-resident parents who may both be subject to legal sanctions if their child fails to attend school regularly. It also applies to others who may not be the parent but may have day to day care of the child. 
Unauthorised absence from school can result in a number of different outcomes for parents and children. Each case is considered individually.  
Under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, if a child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school, fails to attend regularly at the school his/her parent(s) are guilty of an offence. Parents with more than one school aged child need to be aware that each child’s irregular attendance is dealt with as a separate matter.  
The school will refer cases of unauthorised absence that meet the threshold for a Penalty Notice to the Local Authority for legal action unless there are reasonable grounds for not doing so. The outcome of a referral to the Local Authority may be a Penalty Notice or Prosecution.  
Penalty Notices are intended as a sanction for low level offences and a tool to support improved school attendance for example in circumstances associated with an unauthorised holiday taken during term time. They are an alternative to prosecution and may not be issued if prosecution is considered to be a more appropriate response to a pupil’s irregular attendance.  
A pupil's unauthorised absence from school could result in one of the following: 
A Penalty Notice. The penalty is £80 per parent, per child payable within 21 days, rising to £160 per parent, per child if paid between 22 and 28 days. (Failure to pay will result in prosecution.)  If a second Penalty Notice is issued within a rolling 3-year period the penalty is £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days.  There will be no option to pay a lower amount.    
Prosecution.  
Prosecution could lead to fines up to £2500 and /or up to 3 months imprisonment. (See DfE’s statutory guidance on School attendance parental responsibility measures for more information and Bristol City Council’s Penalty Notice Code of Conduct, available here: https://www.bristol.gov.uk/schools-learning-early-years/education-welfare or ask the school for printed copies.) 
Penalty Notices and prosecution proceedings are issued to each parent with responsibility for the child and are issued for each child with irregular attendance. For example, in the case of Penalty Notices, if two siblings had irregular school attendance, and there were two parents with responsibility for the children, four Penalty Notices would be issued. Penalty Notices cannot be paid in instalments.  
In addition to Penalty Notices, there is a range of other legal interventions open to schools.