Absence Procedures & Contact
We expect that all students will attend school regularly, arrive on time and be appropriately prepared for the day. To support this, on the first day of an unexpected absence parent/carers should contact the school, in person or by telephone (016973 20509). This contact should be made by 9am at the latest. Please give your child’s name, year and specific reason for the absence. Alternatively parent/carers may email the school office contact@beaconhill.cumbria.sch.uk.
If a child is not in registration and we have not been notified of a planned or unexpected absence we will contact all their named contacts in the stated order to establish a reason for their absence. Where there is no response from home, and we are concerned about the welfare of the child, we may arrange a home visit and/or report to the Police as a potential missing child.
A child should only be absent if the reason is “unavoidable”. Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by parents), as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of each absence is always required. School does not have to authorise an absence if they have any doubts about the validity of the absence.
We expect similar daily contact from parent/carers for each & every day their child is subsequently absent.
Not every illness needs to keep a student from school. For example, a student may be unwell, but they are well enough to do the activities of the school day. See the NHS Livewell website for advice on whether your child is too ill to attend school.
Need to contact someone to discuss your child’s attendance, please email and mark for the attention of either: Mr Jonathan Sunter, our Senior Leadership Team Attendance Champion or Mrs Susan Cruickshank, our Attendance Manager.
Lateness
School starts at 8.40am so your child needs to be on school site at least 5 minutes before.
Children must attend on time to be given a mark for a session. Parents are expected to ensure that their children are present at morning registration (8.40am).
Students need to arrive before 9.10am and 1.40pm after which the register will be closed. Students who arrive after registration but before 9.10am or 1.40pm must sign in at the Office to get their mark.
Arriving more than thirty minutes after the start of the session without good reason is counted as unauthorised absence and a U code will be used. In the event a U or L (late within registration) code is issued parents will be informed via email. If lateness persists and exceeds 10 unauthorised sessions a penalty notice may be issued.
Parents will be notified if there is a recurring pattern of lates and they may be requested to attend school for a meeting with the Attendance Team/Senior Leadership Team. Where students are late twice within a school week our behaviour policy will be implemented.
Medical Appointments
To ensure students’ attendance meets our expectations, all medical appointments should be made, where possible, outside school hours. In situations where this is not possible, we expect students to attend school before and after the appointment, ensuring that they only miss a small amount of lesson time. For example, if a student has a dentist appointment at 10.30am, we expect the student to arrive at school for 8.40am, be collected before their appointment, and then to return in time for late morning/afternoon lessons.
If medical appointments are arranged during the school day, these will only be authorised if we are provided with evidence of an appointment. This may be in the form of an appointment card, letter, screenshot of a text, dated prescription label, note or compliments slip, signed and dated to say they attended.
Why is attendance & punctuality important?
What does good attendance mean assembly PowerPoint
Encouraging regular attendance is one of the most powerful ways a parent/carer can prepare their child for success, both in school and in life.
We define regular attendance as attending school every day, arriving on time and attending every lesson. It is the parent’s legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly. Students who attend school regularly also feel more connected to their community, develop important social skills and friendships, and are significantly more likely to leave school with good qualifications, setting them up for a successful future.
The school aims to achieve good attendance by operating an attendance policy within which students, staff, parents can work in partnership.
The school will monitor attendance and ensure quick and early intervention if a problem is identified. Our expectation is that our students will have attendance over the school year of 97% or above. This is equivalent to 6 days absence over the school year.
All staff will encourage punctuality and good attendance and pastoral staff will liaise with home and other agencies about a child’s attendance when this is appropriate.
Good attendance will be seen as an achievement in its own right and recognised as such with awards such as certificates and prizes.
Promoting Attendance
We implement various rewards and hold regular attendance assemblies to promote a good level of attendance. We actively encourage all students to aim for at least 97% attendance, with 100% being the ultimate goal.
Students are rewarded regularly throughout the year: half termly, termly and end of year with vouchers and prizes awarded to winning students.
Students with 100% attendance at the end of the year are also rewarded. Unavoidable medical appointments are taken into consideration.
Attendance is also taken into account when considering student places for trips, rewards events and social events.
Discussions are held in form time each week with a focus on praising good attendance, improved attendance and encouraging those students who need to improve. Students are also asked to write their attendance into their planners.
Attendance Monitoring & Support
Parents will receive information about their child’s attendance with each report sent home, which is also available for parents to view through Arbor Parent App, our school management system, .
Parents should do everything possible to encourage their child to attend school.
If the reason for a child’s absence or reluctance to attend appears to be school based, such as difficulty with work, or bullying, parents and carers should contact the school at the first opportunity to discuss.
If the reason for their reluctance appears to be based around issues outside of school, parents and carers should still contact the school at the first opportunity to discuss.
Advice and support will be offered to ensure the prompt return of a student.
It is not acceptable for a student to refuse to attend school and, as such, parents and carers must work with the school to agree a way forward as a matter of urgency.
Pastoral Support Leaflet Safeguarding Information
Persistent & Severe Absence
All students who have attendance below 90% at any time throughout the school year are regarded by the Department for Education as persistent absentees. Severely abstenteeism is where students who miss 50% or more of school.
Where attendance or punctuality is identified as a concern, the school will contact parents to discuss how either could be improved, this may take the form of a meeting in school and the creation of an attendance action plan and may involve a governor as well as the Attendance Officer. An Early Help Assessment may be carried out to identify other agencies that may support the student and family.
Where attendance doesn’t improve, schools are advised to start an Attendance Case File and keep the Local Authority up to date with this.
If attendance remains a concern, after a range of interventions and support measures have been tried, the student may be referred to the Access & Inclusion Officer who may arrange a Notice to Improve meeting (previously known as Attendance Review Conference), where the consequences for continued low attendance will be discussed and targets set.
The ultimate result of continued poor attendance may be legal action being taken by the Local Authority against the parents. Our Child Missing in Education policy may also be implemented as required.
Leave of Absence – Exceptional Circumstances
Exceptional Circumstances Absence Request form (ECAR)
Other circumstances for absence in term time are at the discretion of the Head. Provided the request is made in advance using the appropriate form by the parent looking after the child, exceptional leave may be granted, as long as the child’s attendance record is otherwise satisfactory (greater than 97%). Exceptional Circumstances Absence Request forms can be downloaded from the link above or paper copies can be collected from the school office. This should be sent to the school at least 7 days before the start of the holiday. All requests must be made prior to the leave being taken. Leave of Absence cannot be authorised retrospectively.
Since September 2013 Headteachers have not been able to authorise term time absence except in exceptional circumstances, which would not normally be for holidays. From 19th August 2024, the Department for Education updated their legislation on unauthorised absences and now clearly states: a family holiday for leisure or recreation is not considered an exceptional circumstance.
Leave of absence may be refused where children have already missed a lot of work in the past or at crucial times of the year (eg during exams).
Unauthorised Absences & Consequences
A fixed penalty notice may be issued if unauthorised absence is taken, and indeed parents should be aware that they would be committing a criminal offence. There are circumstances in which this may happen:
- 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. This can be met by 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). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in 1 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.
- If the student’s attendance is below 97%
All unauthorised absences, including holidays that have not been sanctioned by the headteacher, are accumulated and parents/carers who fail to ensure regular attendance of their children at school can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. The amount as from 19th August 2024 is £80 (per parent/carer per child) if paid within 21 days; and £160 (per parent/carer per child) if paid between 21 and 28 days. Failure to pay a Penalty Notice will result in prosecution, except in limited circumstances.