Attendance
We are passionate about keeping our children safe and happy, while ensuring our children are receiving the best possible education, in a nurturing environment. To achieve this, we need the support of our parents. By ensuring your child is in school, every day and on time, we can work together, to give your child the best possible start in life.
It is essential that your children arrive at school on time, to ensure that they do not miss their learning.
Our school’s target for this academic year is at least 96%.
We run a breakfast club every morning from 08.15, to support you getting your child into school on time. The cost for this club is £1.00 per child.
The school day starts 8.50, with the class register being taken at 9.00. Children arriving late could be at risk of a ‘U’ code, which will have a negative impact on their attendance. It is essential that your child arrives on time, as arriving late will not only disrupt your child’s learning, it also disrupts the learning of the children in class.
The school day ends at 3.30. If you need to collect your child earlier than 3.30 for an appointment, please ring school and provide proof of appointment.
We run an After School Club, from 3.30 – 5.30. The cost for each session is £5.00
If your child is absent from school for any reason, you must ring school or notify us via our Studybugs app with an explanation as to why. This must be completed every day of absence. The attendance register is checked and monitored daily.
Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly and on time. If you fail to do this, you are at risk of receiving a penalty warning, which could result in a fine.
At Holy Family R C Primary School, we support our families with the stages of absence.
Stage 1: You will receive a text letting you know that your child’s attendance has dropped below 95%. This will be via StudyBugs.
Stage 2: We will be asking for proof of illness if attendance drops below 93%. Again, this will be a text via StudyBugs. If no proof has been provided, your child will receive a ‘U’ code, which is unauthorised absence.
Stage 3: If no improvement is seen from Stage 2, parents will be invited into school for a meeting. This is to discuss how we can support you to improve your child’s attendance so they can succeed at school. Please note 90% and below is classed as Persistent Absence.
Stage 4: Attendance will be monitored. If there is no improvement over a 6 weeks period, a warning letter will be sent to parents advising of further sanctions.
Stage 5: All interventions have failed, a request will be sent to the authorities, to advise them to move forward with sanctions.
Below shows how poor attendance can impact on a child’s education.
Holidays taken during term will be unauthorised and result in a fine.
New Attendance Penalty Notice (August 2024)
Please take the time to read the following.
First Offence-The first time a Penalty Notice is issued, the amount will be £80 per parent, per child, paid within 21 days. This increases to £160 per parent, per child, if paid after day 21 until day 28. Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may be referred to the Magistrates Court.
Second Offence – (within 3 years) – The second time a Penalty Notice is issued the amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may be referred to the Magistrates Court.
Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years) – The third time an offence is committed a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case may be presented straight to the Magistrates Court under the S.444 of the Education Act (1996) or other legal interventions considered. The Magistrate Court can order fines up to £2500 per parent, per child.
Schools have to regularly inform the Local Authority of any pupils who are regularly absent from school, have irregular attendance, or have missed 10 school days or more without the school’s permission. Schools also have a safeguarding duty, under Section 175 Education Act 2002, to investigate any unexplained absences. Attendance below 96% has a significant impact on pupil outcomes. The school will work with families to understand the barriers to attendance and provide support. Where that is not successful or is not engaged with, the law protects pupils’ right to an education and provides a range of legal interventions to formalise attendance improvement efforts, and where all other avenues have been exhausted, enforce it through prosecuting parents. Parents can be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Local Authority for their child’s non-attendance.