Attendance Matters
At Featherby we strive for every child to reach their full potential.
In order to achieve this we need your support in enabling your child to attend school regularly. We have included important aspects from the school attendance policy, the majority of which are legal requirements. We hope this information helps to show how important attendance is. We look forward to working with you to achieve this.
The school year is made up of 190 days and every day counts. We want all children to achieve their full potential and in order to do that they need to be in school for every opportunity on every day.
If a child is absent, parents are advised that they must call the school on the first day of an absence, after 8:30 but before 8.55 am if possible, stating a reason. A call to the school is expected every day of the absence and followed up with a note or evidence of illness*. Where there is an acceptable reason for absence, the head teacher will ‘Authorise’ the absence.
Absences are considered as ‘Unauthorised’ until a satisfactory explanation is received. It is not guaranteed that all reported absences will be authorised.
(* i.e. appointment card, copy of prescription or prescribed medication.)
Current advice states that a 48 hour absence following sickness and diarrhoea is expected. (NHS)
The law says that parents/carers do not have a legal right to take their child out of school for holidays in term time.
Penalty notices may be issued to the parent of pupils who have unauthorised absence from school.
With effect from August 2024, the national policy on unauthorised absence has changed and can summarised as:
The amount of the penalty is £160.
- If this is paid within 21 days the amount is reduced to £80.
- Penalties and prosecutions are in respect of each parent for each child.
5 days absence reduces the potential annual attendance from 100% to 97.4%
10 days absence reduces the potential annual attendance from 100% to 94.7% = Cause for concern
No concern |
96 - 100% |
Concern if absences continues |
95 – 95.9% |
Risk of underachievement – Action needed |
90 – 94.9% |
Severe risk of underachievement, persistent absentee (PA) |
85 – 90% |
Extreme concern – action with Local Authority |
0 – 85% |
School begins at 9:00 a.m. and all pupils are expected to be in school for registration at this time. Any child arriving later than 9:00 a.m. will therefore be considered to be late. Any child arriving later than 9:00 should report to the School Office. Parents / Carers will be asked to complete the signing in system explaining the reason for the lateness.
Children arriving after the close of registration at 9.15am are officially registered with unauthorised absence for the relevant session. 10 unauthorised absences in a 6 week period may result in a penalty notice being issued.
Persistence absence is recognised as children who have a less than 90% attendance, regardless of whether this is authorised or unauthorised. If a child is a persistent absentee meetings will be arranged with the parents to set targets for improvement.
Attendance Matters - Every Child, Every Day
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