Every school day counts

Being at school, on time, every day, is vitally important for your child's education and social development.  Children who have lots of time off school struggle academically and find it hard to build relationships with other children.  Like you, we want the best for our pupils and that is why we expect good attendance at school - we define good attendance as 97% and above. This equates to half a day’s absence every two weeks.  If a pupil is absent for a whole day, their attendance for that week drops to 80%.

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have removed the reference to holidays during term time and now provide that a leave of absence during term time will only be granted where an application is made in advance to the Academy and the Academy considers that a leave of absence should be granted due to exceptional circumstances relating to that application.

What amounts to ‘exceptional circumstances’ is a matter of discretion for the Principal and should be judged on a case by case basis, but it is unlikely to amount to an exceptional circumstance if it is merely claimed that a holiday abroad can only be afforded in term time or that a parent is unable to take leave during school holidays.

If your leave of absence has not been authorised by the Academy, you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Local Authority. This could result in a fine of up to £160 per parent per child.

Parents have a responsibility for ensuring their child attends the Academy regularly and punctually. The Academy expects that all parents communicate with them, either in writing or by telephone, giving a reason:

1. In advance of any planned absence.

2. Immediately following any unplanned absence.

3. Daily updates during any absence.

Failure to comply with this requirement will mean that your child will have unauthorised absences on their attendance record and this could lead to a referral to the Education Welfare Service.

If we have had no contact with you and/or the absence is for a long period, home visits could be completed on safeguarding grounds.

Please inform us of any absence by 9.00am on each day of absence by telephoning the Academy office on 01604 715249

If you require a leave of absence form, please collect this from the school's office.

Lateness and punctuality

Being punctual for school is vital for pupils to be ready for learning, settle into class routines and make good progress.

Our gates open for pupils and parents at 8:45am, the doors to the classrooms open at 8:50am.

Any child arriving after 8:55am will be marked as late and should enter school via the main reception and not the pupil entrance.

Parents of pupils who are regularly late will be contacted so we can work together to rectify the situation. Where no improvement is made, the Education Welfare Service will be informed.

 

For more information on school attendance and absence, please follow the links below:

https://www.gov.uk/school-attendance-absence/legal-action-to-enforce-school-attendance

West Northamptonshire penalty notices for school non-attendance information

West Northamptonshire attendance and behaviour advice for parents

Please click here to read our trust-wide attendance policy.

For more information, please access our Attendance Policy attached below.