We believe that our community is stronger together, with all of our pupils in school, on time, every day. We are building life skills, life-long friendships and preparing your child for future success.

It is vital that we work together as a school community to get every child in school every day. Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly.

 

Why is school attendance important?

Pupils with good attendance are more likely to do well at school. When pupils miss school it can lead to gaps in their learning which might make future lessons more difficult for them.

Regular attendance helps pupils to feel part of the school community and enables them to develop good relationships with their peers and other members of the school community. This can have a positive impact on their wellbeing and help them to feel more settled in school.

When a pupil attends school everyday, it helps to establish good routines and habits for their later life.

 

Why is it important that my child is on time each day?

It is really important that children arrive on time for nursery and school. Just a few minutes late can impact on learning and progress.                                                           

Doors for nursery are open 8:40-8:50 and 12:30-12:40 each day.  

Doors for school are open 8:40-8:45. Registers in school are taken at 8:45.

When children are late to school, they may feel unsettled and they might miss important information and activities. Schools are required to record late arrivals.

If pupils arrive after the start of the school day but when the register is still open, it will be recorded as a late mark. If pupils arrive after the register closes (which government guidelines state must be within 30 minutes of the register opening), then their morning mark will be recorded as an unauthorised absence, unless evidence can be provided that there are exceptional circumstances that led to the late arrival.

 

How do I report an unplanned absence to the school?

We know that sometimes our pupils cannot come to school because they are really unwell - and that's the right thing to do for them and other students. Medical advice is clear however that children with mild illness will often be well enough to attend - for example if they have a cough, or cold, without a temperature.

Unexpected absences must be reported to school by phoning school (386640) or emailing (donnwood.infants@taw.org.uk). Please report any absences by 9am or as soon as you become aware that your child will be absent.

In the case of illness, the absence will usually be authorised unless there are grounds for concern that the illness may not be genuine or that it might not be sufficient to require time off school. In these cases, the school may ask for additional evidence, such as a doctor’s note, appointment card, hospital letter or medical report. The school will not ask for this additional evidence unnecessarily.

If you do not provide a reason for your child’s absence, we will make contact with you to find out why they are not in school. Unexplained absences will be recorded as unauthorised.

Is my child too ill for school?

Top Tips for Keeping Well 

                  

How does occasional absence affect my child?

Missing occasional days from school may seem unimportant at the time; however, this can have a significant impact on your child in the long term:

Did you know?

A pupil with 85% attendance is missing nearly half a term of learning time each school year.

Late arrivals also add up over time – being 10 minutes late each day adds up to two weeks of lost learning time over the whole school year.

Research shows that regular absences can result in poorer outcomes over time.

 

 

 

What about medical appointments?

We understand that pupils need to attend medical and dental appointments and that it is not always possible to arrange this outside of school time. However, we would request that any non-emergency appointments are made for outside of the school day as this keeps the disruption to a minimum and ensures that they do not miss important lessons.

 

What does the law say?

It is a legal requirement for schools to keep a record of attendance and the reasons for any absences. There are clear guidelines set out by the government about how schools should manage attendance and schools are expected to follow these.

Only the headteacher can officially authorise an absence. Parents and carers should provide reasons for absences to enable the school to decide whether or not to authorise the absence based on government guidelines.

Parents and carers must ensure that their child attends school regularly. Failure to do so, without good reason, is an offence, even if they are missing school without your knowledge. Parents and carers of children with unauthorised absences may be subject to a fixed penalty notice/legal action.

From August 19^th 2024 the Government have introduced a new ‘National framework for Penalty Notices’

If your child has 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence in a 10 school week rolling period, you may be issued with a Penalty Notice. These 10 sessions may include any unauthorised absence, including leave in term time and do not have to be consecutive.

• 1^st Penalty Notices are £160. This can be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days but only for the first Penalty Notice issued – this reduction does not apply to any subsequent Penalty Notice.
• 2^nd Penalty Notice, to the same parent for the same child, issued within three years of the date of the first Penalty Notice will be charged at a flat rate of £160.
• 3^rd Penalty Notice will not be issued within a three year rolling period, to the same parent for the unauthorised absence of the same child, - alternative action or legal measures will be utilised for subsequent offences.

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, when a parent purposefully tries to avoid a Penalty Notice by taking their child out of school when there is only four pupil days in school and the fifth day is for example a PD day or bank holiday attached to that week.

In some circumstances a ‘Notice to Improve’ may be issued – However, a Notice to Improve will only be used in cases where support is appropriate. They will not be issued in cases of unauthorised leave in term time for holidays, where information for parents is included on school’s website or a simple warning by the school that a Penalty Notice could be issued if unauthorised leave in term time is taken will suffice.

 

What are the different types of absence?

There are two broad categories of absence:

Authorised absence: This is an absence that has been authorised by the school for a legitimate medical, emergency or unavoidable situation. Typical examples of authorised absence include:

• illness that means a child is too unwell to come to school;
• following NHS advice regarding remaining off school following a period of illness (in the case of certain infectious illnesses);
• an emergency medical or dental appointment;
• the recent death of a close family member;
• religious observance, as long as certain conditions are met.

Unauthorised absence: This is where a pupil’s absence is for a reason deemed to be unacceptable by the school or where the reason for a pupil’s absence has not been provided and cannot be established. Some examples of unauthorised absence include:

• looking after a younger sibling;
• time off for birthday celebrations;
• a family holiday (unless there are exceptional circumstances);
• oversleeping;
• shopping trips or days out;
• waiting in for a delivery.

  

Why won’t the school usually authorise absence for a family holiday?

We recognise that family vacations during the school holidays can be expensive and that booking a cheaper term-time holiday might be tempting. However, headteachers can only authorise leave during term time if there are exceptional circumstances, even if your child has an excellent attendance record or if you believe that the reason for the absence is justified.

Parents and carers should plan their holidays around school holidays and avoid asking for permission to take their children out of school unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

Parents should always apply to the Headteacher for any request for leave in term time by completing a request form available from school.  (DfE guidance states schools should not authorise leave retrospectively so any leave in term time taken without a request being submitted will be unauthorised absence).

Requests for term-time absences should be made as soon as possible and at least a month before the absence is due to take place. However, we recognise that in some rare instances, this will not always be possible.  

In developing and publishing the new national framework, the Government has renewed appeals to parents not to take their children out of school during term time.  The Governors and Headteacher of this school support this and students will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances. The DfE Guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance (Aug 2024) states that: Generally, the DfE does not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. (Paragraph 38.)

Each application for leave in term time will be considered and if it is agreed and authorised the Headteacher will determine the duration of any leave. However, if the application is not agreed and the absence occurs the dates will be unauthorised. Parents will be notified of any decision in writing. This notification may be hand delivered directly to the parent or posted to the parents’ home address.

 

What is school refusal?

If your child is refusing to go to school, this is known as ‘school refusal’. There are a number of different reasons for school refusal, including general anxiety, worries about leaving home, problems with friends or peers and learning challenges. Sometimes, the cause can be a combination of different factors.

If your child is refusing to attend school, you should let us know immediately so that we can work together to put a plan in place to deal with any underlying issues and get your child back into school. The longer school refusal goes on, the more difficult it is to address.

                                                                                                                             

 If you have any concerns or questions about school attendance, please contact the school office who will be able to pass it on to the appropriate person in school.