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Attendance & Absence

To report your child(ren)’s absence today, please use one of the following options: 

Phone message – 01903 204141 

Email – office@homefield-primary.co.uk 

MCAS message 

 

To report your child(ren)’s absence for a medical or other appointment in the near future please use one of the following options: 
Email – office@homefield-primary.co.uk 
MCAS message 

Attendance Matters

We politely request that parents and carers consider the impact of school absence upon their child before considering a request of absence.

Holidays should be taken outside of term time due to the impact on learning. Where possible, medical procedures and visits to sick family members, should be arranged around holidays times. Arriving late can also have a very negative impact on children's wellbeing and learning, please contact school if you would like to discuss ways in which we may be able to support you to get your child to school on time. 

Key Government guidance:

  • Parents have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

  • Attendance is the essential foundation to positive outcomes for all pupils including their safeguarding and welfare.

    • Children meeting the expected standard at the end of KS2 have an overall absence rate of 3.5% compared to 4.7% for those not meeting.

  • The Government have tightened the laws for Headteachers:

    • All schools can grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances. The DfE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.

    • Penalty notices are issued to parents as an alternative to prosecution where they have failed to ensure that their child of compulsory school age regularly attends the school where they are registered (e.g. an unauthorised holiday in term time).

    • The threshold for a penalty notice is 10 sessions (am or pm) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the Summer Term and a further 8 within the Autumn Term).

    • Where absence escalates and pupils miss 10% or more of school (equivalent to 1 day or more a fortnight across a full school year), schools and local authorities are expected to work together to put additional targeted support in place to remove any barriers to attendance and reengage these pupils.

The school absence policy can be found via this link 

Extract from school policy - It is the role of the Parent/Carer to: 

  • Ensure regular attendance and punctuality for their child. This includes children of EYFS/non-statutory school age. 

  • When exceptional circumstances exist, to apply for “leave from learning” in advance where possible. 

  • Inform the school on the first day of absence via the reporting platform or school office. 

  • Contact the school in confidence, whenever problems occur which may keep children away from school. 

  • Children should only be kept at home if they have a serious illness or injury. If this is the case, parents should contact the school first thing. If a child has a minor illness e.g. mild headache, stomach-aches etc. parents should inform the school and bring them in. If they don’t get any better, school will contact parents straight away, to collect them. If pupils have a dental, clinic or hospital appointment, parents should let the school know. Pupils should be brought back to school after appointments. Pupils should miss as little time as possible.   

  • Medical and dental appointments should not be arranged in school time wherever possible.  

  •  We require parent/carers to work in partnership with the school and other agencies in the best interests of their child; this includes informing the school about significant influences and changes in the child’s life, which may impact on learning.  

  • To organise and book holidays and “Leave From Learning” during the 175 days of school holidays and non-school days and not during the 190 days of learning time. 

  • Where there is persistent and severe absence (more than 10%) schools and the local authority are expected to work together to put additional targeted support in place to remove any barriers and re-engage pupils.