Absences

Reporting Absence

Parents must report absence via Studybugs on the first day of child’s absence giving the reason why he or she is not in school. If we do not hear from parents then a phone call or text is sent by the school office to the parents.
For advice on deciding whether or not to keep your child off school please visit Is my child too ill for school? This website provides information on length of time to keep your child off school and what treatments they need for the illness.
If a child is absent but we don't know the reason why, we will make every effort to contact parents/carers and emergency contacts. If, by 12pm, we have still not been able to make contact we will either arrange for our Parent Support Advisor or Attendance Officer to carry out a home visit, or we will contact the police and/or social services.
Parents who are continually having to be chased for an explanation for their child’s absence will be notified that unless contact is received all absences will be unauthorised and a referral to the Education Welfare Service (EWS) may be made.
Children arriving after 9am, unless for a notified reason (e.g. doctor’s appointment), will be recorded as having an unauthorised absence.
Attendance is celebrated termly by the Head Teacher or Deputy Head Teacher in Achievement Assemblies

What is Studybugs?

Studybugs is an efficient and secure system for reporting your child's absence due to illness. Parent/carers are able to download the free studybugs app or register on the Studybugs website and use it to tell us whenever your child's ill and unable to attend school.

Top 3 reasons to use Studybugs

It’s integrated with our systems, so we know right away if your child is unaccounted for.
It’s quick and easy to register and use and automatically reminds you to keep us posted.
You’ll be helping the NHS and other public health organisations improve children’s health. (https://studybugs.com/about/schools)

Types of Absences and procedures

Each absence is classed as authorised or unauthorised, both of which affect a pupils attendance percentage to reflect the lost learning. Absences are coded as authorised where reasons are considered valid and unauthorised where no explanation or unacceptable reasons are given.

Pupils with attendance of 92% or below will be expected to provide medical evidence for absence relating to illness/ injury such as a copy of a prescription or a medical appointment card etc.

The following reasons are not acceptable:

care for family members
days out to theme parks or to attend concerts/shows
parents’ work commitments or business trips
holidays taken in term time (including long weekends taken on Fridays and/or Mondays)
parental illness

The process we follow when monitoring attendance is as follows:

Long Term Absence

• Where a child is off sick for more than 5 consecutive school days then medical evidence might be requested (e.g. a copy of the prescription).

• If no proof of illness is provided then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and could lead to a referral to the Education Welfare Service.

Absence During Term Time

The ability of the Head Teacher and Trustees to grant leave during term time was removed by the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These regulations came into effect on 1st September 2013 and specify that Head Teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The Department of Education issued all schools the following guidance called 'Working together to improve school attendance' which came into effect from 19^th August 2024, parents may receive a penalty notice if their child has 10 or more sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence within a 10-week period. This is a significant shift, as it places an increased emphasis on consistent attendance and the need for parental awareness regarding the implications of unauthorised absences.

Furthermore, it is vital to note that penalty notice fines for schools are outlines a tiered approach to offences, categorising them into clear stages:

First offence: The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for term time leave or irregular attendance the amount will be: £160 per parent per child if paid within 28 days, this is reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days
Second offence: The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for term time leave or irregular attendance the amount will be: £160 per parent, per child to be paid within 28 days, no reduced rate will be offered
Third offence: The third time an offence is committed for term time leave or irregular attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates Court, Magistrates fines can be up to £2,500 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in Magistrates Court can show on a parents future DBS certificate, due to failure to safeguard a child’s education.

If parents do take their child on holiday during term time, without the authority of the school then they can face the possibility of a fine. We fully appreciate that holidays are far cheaper in term time, but taking children out of school has a dramatic impact on the learning opportunities available to the children.

If you feel you need to remove your child from school due to exceptional circumstances, please submit any requests to the school office.