Attendance

Why is regular school attendance so important for my child?

Yew Tree Primary Academy is a successful school and your child plays an important part in making it so. Our aim is to ensure your child’s education is the best that it can be and that they can achieve the highest standards in education. Therefore, it is vital that children attend school on time, every day when the school is open, unless the reason for absence is unavoidable.

Ensuring a child attends school is the legal responsibility of the parent/carer and permitting absence from school, without a valid reason, creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.

Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and recurrent absence will seriously affect learning and progress. Pupils' absence also disrupts teaching routines, which can then affect the learning of others in the same class.

Promoting High Attendance

Helping to create and maintain a pattern of high attendance is everybody’s responsibility, parents/carers, pupils and all members of staff.

To help us focus on this we will: 

• Make your child’s attendance record available to you
• Monitor closely the attendance levels of all children from Nursery to Year 6
• Inform parents/carers when there are concerns over attendance or punctuality  
• Should concerns arise, we will invite parents/carers to come into school for discussion, so that we can work together to ensure your child attends school and on time
• Celebrate good attendance and punctuality with class certificates, trophies, achievement assemblies and rewards for classes and individual children.

Parents will receive regular updates on attendance from school and the Principal and all the staff monitor attendance daily, weekly, half termly and termly. Children are rewarded in school for excellent attendance and they are very clear about why excellent attendance is important.

Link to Attendance Leaflet for Families

Understanding types of absence

Every week, any child who is absent from school will be classified, by the school, as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information regarding the cause of any absence is always required.

Authorised absences (mornings and/or afternoons) from school must have a valid reason such as illness or dental /medical appointments that unavoidably fall in school time. The school should be informed of any medical/ dental appointments and may request appointment cards or doctors’ letters before choosing to authorise an absence. 

Unauthorised absences are those which school does not consider reasonable and for which no leave has been granted. This type of absence may lead to School Attendance Services making home visits or seeking to take legal proceedings.

Absence deemed to be unreasonable:

• Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
• Truancy during the school day
• Children who arrive at school too late to get a mark
• Shopping
• Birthdays
• Holidays in term time

Holiday requests in term time are at the complete discretion of the Head Teacher and may only be considered, in the most exceptional of circumstances. This will also be dependant on whether your child exceeds the expected level of attendance.

Persistent Absenteeism (PA)

A pupil becomes a ‘persistent absentee’ (PA) when they have 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence in any rolling 10 week period. Absence at this level can cause considerable damage to a child’s educational prospects and we need the co-operation and support of parents/carers to tackle this. We monitor all absence thoroughly. Any pupil that is approaching the PA level, may be issued with a penalty warning notice by post, stating that if there is no improvement in unauthorised absence, then an Education Penalty Notice (EPN) may be issued.

PA pupils are tracked and monitored carefully by the school and will automatically be made known to School Attendance Services. In this instance parents/carers may be required to attend an attendance panel, with the head teacher, learning mentor and representatives from the authority.

Education Penalty Notices (EPN)

An Education Penalty Notice is an alternative to prosecution and aims to improve attendance.

It is an offence if a child fails to attend school regularly. Absences are classified as unauthorised if without a valid reason or school cannot or has not given permission.

If an EPN is issued, then a fine of £120 payable within 28 days of the notice must be paid. This will be reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days.

Education Penalty Notices may be issued in the following circumstances:

•    Poor school attendance – at least 14 school sessions (7 school days) lost to unauthorised absence within a period of no more than 10 weeks.
•    Lateness – in cases where a child persistently arrives at school after the register has closed and has lost 14 unauthorised late marks within a period of no more than 10 weeks.
•    Poor school attendance and lateness – a combination of reasons which amounts to 10 sessions lost to unauthorised absence within a period of no more than 10 weeks.
•    Leave of absence – leave of absence of at least 14 consecutive sessions (7 school days) not approved by the head teacher as exceptional.  
•    Where siblings are registered at more than one educational establishment ( typically secondary and primary) there is an expectation that the head teachers strive to reach a consensus on whether the leave of absence is exceptional. The Local Authority is unlikely to issue an EPN where only one school authorises the absence.

Punctuality

We expect all parents and carers to ensure that children arrive at school on time.

S​chool gates open at 8:45am doors are closed promptly at 9.00am.

If a child arrives after 9.00am they will be recorded as late. If a child is late for school, the child should be taken to the school office where their attendance can be recorded and any school meals orders taken.

The responsibility for lateness and attendance rests with the parent and any concerns are raised with the parent and not with the child.

Registers close at 9.30am and any child arriving after this time is treated as being late after registration which is recorded as an unauthorised absence.

How can I help my child attend school regularly?

• Talk to your child about school
• Take a positive interest in your child’s work, including homework . Follow what your child’s class learns on their class page on the school website, Facebook and Twitter.
• Use the apps and sites we have available to help your child learn .
• Keep in touch with school staff
• Contact school on the first day of absence if your child is unable to attend for whatever reason
• Attend parents’ evenings and other school events

What should I do if I’m worried about my child’s school attendance?

The first thing to do is to contact the school to discuss your concerns.

What are my responsibilities regarding my child’s school attendance?

As a parent/carer it is your responsibility to ensure that any child of compulsory school age attends school both regularly and on time. The local authority has a duty to make sure that all parents/carers fulfil this responsibility.

What will happen if my child does not attend school regularly?

The school should contact you in the first instance to raise concerns about your child’s attendance. If they see no improvement, or there are particular difficulties involved, a referral will be made to the Education Welfare Service.

What if my child’s school attendance does not improve?

Parents whose children are on a school register and fail to ensure the regular and punctual attendance of their child(ren), may be guilty of an offence under Section 444 or 444(1A) of the Education Act 1996 and the Local Authority may issue a Penalty Notice or take enforcement action through the Courts to secure regular attendance.

How will regular school attendance help my child?

School gives your child a wide range of opportunities and experiences in the form of academic lessons, educational trips and school clubs allowing them to develop their interests and achieve their full potential. Regular school attendance means that your child can make the most of their education.

Less than 95% attendance every year in school equals a 1 grade difference across ALL GCSE grades. Therefore, Yew Tree Academy has a minimum target of 96% attendance for every pupil. 

Excellent attendance and punctuality are essential for future employment, where an absence rate of 5% or above would be considered a cause for concern.

If a pupil does not attend school or is not taking part in an approved educational activity, they are classed as ABSENT from school. This means that if your child is off school for any reason, even if they are ill or have medical permission to be off school, they will be marked as ABSENT.

100% attendance is 190 days in school.

8 days of absence is 96%.

12 days of absence is 94%.

19 days absence is 90%.

29 days absence is 85%.

38 days absence is 80%.

47 days absence is 75%.

Please note: Even if an absence is authorised, percentage attendance is still affected.

We ask parents/carers not to keep their child off school unless the absence is absolutely unavoidable. 

Please make any non-emergency doctor, dentist, optician or other appointments outside of the school day.

It is soon going to be that time of year (if not already) where coughs and colds are on the increase. We understand that when feeling under the weather, staying at home can feel like the best form of recovery but as the NHS says,

“not every illness needs to keep your child from school.”

Here are the recommendations from the Public Health Agency for common illness that often, but not always necessary, result in absences from school;

Best Advice – If your child does not need immediate medical attention, bring them into school. Should your child be ill and off school then please seek medical attention and provide school with a medical note from the GP.