Attendance/Absence - Featherstone Primary

Attendance

The overall school target for attendance is 96%

Good attendance throughout the school year is vital to your child’s education and various studies have confirmed this.

Attendance + Engagement = Achievement

Attendance

Featherstone Academy seeks to ensure that all its pupils receive a full-time education which maximises opportunities for each pupil to realise his/her true potential. The school will strive to provide a welcoming, caring environment, whereby each member of the school community feels wanted and secure. All school staff will work with pupils and their families to ensure each pupil attends school regularly and punctually.

The school will establish an effective system of incentives and rewards that acknowledges the efforts of pupils to improve their attendance and timekeeping and will challenge the behaviour of those pupils and parents who give low priority to attendance and punctuality.

To meet these objectives, Featherstone Academy will establish an effective and efficient system of communication with pupils, parents and appropriate agencies to provide mutual information, advice and support.

Punctuality

There will be no more soft starts.

As a result of government legislation we are legally required to extend the school day.

Reception: School starts at 8:55am – Drop at the Reception Classroom. Gates closed at 9:00am.

Nursery: School starts 9:00am – Drop off at the nursery entrance. Gates are closed at 9:00am.

Years 1 – 6: 8:55am start – The gate will open at 8:45am and teachers will be ready for children to line up on the KS2 playground by the field and they will go inside together as a class at this time. Gates are closed at 8:55am. Arrivals after the designated start time will need to come through the school office and will be marked as late. If a child arrives at school after the above start times, without prior arrangements having been agreed, he/she will be deemed late. Registers close at 9.30am and arrival at school after this time, without prior approval or extenuating circumstances, will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

Pupils arriving at school after gates are closed, must enter through the main reception and report to the school office to be signed in by an adult. Those pupils arriving after 9:00am will be recorded as late. Pupils leaving school for any reason must report to the office before they go so that we can ensure that they are appropriately chaperoned and signed out. Registers are also taken when the children return to classes after lunch. Unexplained absences will be investigated by the attendance officer.

What is expected of the pupils?

To respect themselves and others
To do all they can to attend school regularly and punctually
To inform a trusted adult if they feel that they are being bullied
To encourage friendship and a sense of belonging
To be happy and encourage others to feel happy

What is expected of the Parents?

To keep requests for their child to be absent to a minimum
To notify the school office on each day of your child’s absence, by 9am.
To offer a reason, and medical proof, for any period of absence, preferably before the absence or on the first day of absence
To ensure that their child arrives at school on time, a reason should be offered for any lateness
To work closely with the school and Education Welfare Officers (EWO) to resolve any problems that may impede a child’s attendance
To take family holidays during school holiday periods and be aware that requests for holidays during term time will be refused and will likely incur a fine from the Local Authority.
To be aware of curriculum requirements and be especially vigilant with regards to attendance during important academic times such as SATS
To support their child and recognise their successes and achievements

Our School Day

Little Learners/Nursery/Reception classes:

– Entrance through the gate on The Avenue (KS1 Playground)
– Little Learners collected by teachers at rainbow fencing.
– Nursery and Reception children collected by teachers at gate leading to EYFS outside area.
– Reception start time: 8.55am
– Nursery and Little Learners start time: 9.00am
– Gates close 9:00am
– Entry after this time will be through the main office
– Morning Nursery/Little Learners collection – 12:00 midday
– Afternoon Nursery/Little Learners start – 12:00 midday
– Afternoon/Full time Nursery – 3:00pm collection at gate leading to EYFS outside area.
– Reception collection – 3:25pm collection from door next to Little Learners classroom/Nursery window. (Staff will be on hand to direct during the first week).

Year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 classes:-

– Entrance via the gate on Whitgreave Avenue (KS2 Playground)
– Children will line up in their year group lines.
– Gate open 8:45am
– Children collected by teachers 8:50am
– Gate closes 8:55am
– End of day collection 3:20pm

*Total school hours = 32.5 hours per week*

Working Together to Improve School Attendance

In February 2024, the Department for Education published Working together to improve School Attendance.

The changes to the law are introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and will come into effect from 19 August 2024. This means that any unauthorised leave taken after this date will be dealt with under the new Regulations.

The changes to the regulations are significant so it is important to parents understand them, so you can consider the consequences before taking leave in term time.

New two penalty notice limit in a three-year period

The three-year rolling period starts for parents when the first penalty notice is issued to them after the 19th August 2024.

The first Penalty Notices for leave in term time will increase to £160 per parent per child but can be reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days.

If a second penalty notice is issued within three years of the first penalty notice, then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent per child, with no reduction for early payment. A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three-year period; therefore, the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court. If the parent is found guilty, the potential fine is up to £1000.

Please note. If a parent books a holiday now to take place after the 19th August 2024, they will be dealt with in line with when the actual unauthorised leave from school occurs, not the date of the booking. If the penalty notice is not paid within the given period, the county council with prosecute for the original offence to which the notice applies.

To clarify in terms of the three-year period, Penalty Notices issued for unauthorised absences taken before the 19th August 2024 will not be included in the three year period. However, all penalty notices issued for any reason connected to unauthorised absences after the 19th August 2024 will be counted in the three-year period, even if they are not paid by the parents. The only penalty notices not counted in the three-year period will be those withdrawn by the county council due to an error related to them been issued.

National threshold for issuing penalty notices.

Parents may have heard about the new national threshold for issuing penalty notices which has been set at 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.

However, if in an individual case the local authority believes a penalty notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met.

For example – where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events.

It is important for parents know that in the new regulations when a school becomes aware that the threshold has been met, they are expected in every case to consider whether to request the county council issue a penalty notice.

New code of conduct for issuing penalty notices.

Please click on the link below to view the new code of conduct for issuing penalty notices in August 2024 to coincide with the new regulations coming into force. This contains the details of how the penalty notices will be issued and other uses of penalty to improve attendance.