If your child is absent you must:
- Contact the academy by 9:00am on the first day of absence and on any subsequent days of absence via the My Child at School App.
- Send a note in on the first day they return to the academy, with an explanation of the absence. This must be brought to Student Services, with the child’s full name and form on.
If your child is absent we will:
- Telephone or text/app on the first day of absence
- Education Welfare Officer may conduct a “safe and well” call on first day of absence and in any event will conduct a home visit if your child has not been in the academy for 3 consecutive days
- Education Welfare Officer will also visit home if absence is an ongoing concern
The Government implemented new legislation effective from 1st September 2013 which means that no requests for holidays can be authorised except in exceptional circumstances.
When a parent/carer wishes to apply to take their child out of school during term time they must complete a leave of absence form and this should be submitted to the academy at least 4 weeks before the proposed start of the holiday and before booking the holiday.
If you take your child on holiday during term time, without the authorisation of the principal, the principal will make a request to the Local Authority to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice. If a Fixed Penalty Notice is issued, the penalty is £60 per child, per parent/carer when the payment is made within 21 days, after 28 days it will increase to £120. Failure to pay within 28 days will result in a summons to appear before the Magistrates Court on the grounds that the parent/carer has failed to secure their child’s regular attendance at school. If the case progresses to court you may receive a fine of up to £1000.00 Please note that a separate Fixed Penalty Notice will be issued to each parent for each child and all monies are payable to the Local Authority.
Attendance and Punctuality expectations
Rossington All Saints Academy believes that excellent attendance and punctuality are key for success. It is the foundation upon which the academy and home can work together. Therefore, we must ensure that attendance and punctuality are the highest they possibly can be in order to prepare our students for their future adult life. We request from parents support in order to keep absenteeism and lateness to an absolute minimum.
At Rossington All Saints Academy we strive for every student to attain 100% attendance.
What is good attendance?
Attendance percentages are not like examination results: an attendance percentage needs to be in the high nineties before it can be considered good. Consider the following examples: –
- An attendance record of 90% might seem good but is equal to 1 day missed per fortnight. If this continues from Years 7 to 11, a total of six month’s education will be lost.
- An attendance record of 80% might seem acceptable but is equal to 1 day missed per week. If this continues from Years 7 to 11, a total of one year’s education will be lost.
Each year, a number of students in every year group achieve 100% attendance records, showing that this is an achievable target. In addition, a number of students have achieved this level of attendance in successive years.
Why is good attendance important?
Good attendance at school is vital for pupils to achieve their full educational potential. Pupils with good attendance records benefit in the following ways:
- Continuity of learning which makes progress and retention easier
- Improved performance in coursework tasks
- Enhanced performance in examinations
- Continuity of relationships and friendships
- Good references for further education or employment
- Good habits are formed for later life
What can parents do to support their child to achieve good attendance levels?
Parents play a very important role in ensuring the good attendance records of their children. Below is a list of suggested strategies: –
- Encourage full attendance.
- Stress the importance of full attendance to your child.
- Do not allow your child to have time off for minor complaints or illnesses: if they are well enough to be up and about they are generally well enough to attend the academy.
- Monitor your child’s attendance.
- Take any vacations in academy holidays, not during term time.
- Try to book any medical or dental appointments out of academy hours or make them towards the very end of the academy day. Please note the academy will not authorise all day absence for medical appointments.
- Ensure your child is punctual to the Academy
If your child is unable to attend the Academy, please telephone 01302 562542 with the reason your child is unable to attend the Academy. Please confirm your child’s name, form and the reason for the absence. Parents are expected to contact the academy every day their child is absent from the academy.
Please remember that it remains the responsibility of parents to keep students at home if they are genuinely unfit to attend and learn. First Aid provision is there for emergencies which occur in school. Students requiring a diagnosis or medical advice should see their GP or request a School Nurse appointment. If a student arrives in school we will assume they are fit and well, They will only be sent home in exceptional circumstances.
Absences
Only the academy can authorise an absence. An explanation given by a parent is not, necessarily, sufficient for the academy to authorise an absence.
According to guidelines to schools from the Department for Education and Science, an absence may only be authorised if the absence is due to: –
- Pupil illness, though we may require medical evidence to support such an absence.
- “Leave” given by the academy (this commonly includes medical appointments, interviews, and other similar special circumstances) However medical appointment should be made out of academy hours whenever possible. Please note the academy will not authorise an all-day absence for medical appointments. Evidence of medical appointments/Interviews will need to be supplied to the academy.
- The pupil being unable to attend due to unavoidable causes – authorised at the discretion of the academy.
- Religious observance where applicable.
Absences which the academy is not able to authorise include: –
- Looking after a relative, pet etc.
- A shopping trip, even if this is for uniform.
- Day trips.
- Lateness after the register has closed.
- Being unable to participate in an academy activity e.g. Games or a school trip.
- Remaining at home to wait for deliveries, repairmen etc.
What can I do if my child starts missing school?
Children can show their worries and concerns in a number of different ways e.g. a reluctance to go to school, feigning illness, failure to attend school even though the child is sent, missing lessons whilst in school. If a problem seems to be emerging parents should: –
- Talk to the child to try to ascertain if there are any problems or worries at the academy, on the journey to or from the academy or at home.
- Contact the academy as soon as possible and speak to your child’s learning manager or the attendance officer. They will be happy to help you and your child with any concerns you may have around attendance.
Persistent Absence
A student becomes a Persistent Absentee when they miss 10% of their schooling across the academic year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s educational prospects and we need parents’/carers’ full support and co-operation to tackle this.
Statutory Requirements, the Law and the Local Authority
Registers are legal documents; regulatory requirements placed on schools regarding the keeping of registers are to be found in the Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006.
Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 states that parents/carers are responsible to ensure their child receives a suitable education.
Under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, a parent who fails to ensure their child attends the school at which they are registered, is guilty of an offence.
The Academy works together with the Local Authority to ensure that parents/carers fulfil their responsibility. There are a range of legal sanctions that may be imposed for dealing with unauthorised absence: Education Penalty Notices, Parenting Contracts and Orders, Education Supervision Orders or referral to the Magistrates Court which can recommend fines (up to £2500) or up to 3 months in prison.
