At West Cornforth Primary School, we take a positive and proactive approach towards school attendance, because we know that children that attend school regularly are more likely to achieve well, and have more opportunities to socialise and experience the wider opportunities on offer.
Our approach is led by Mrs Costello, (Headteacher & Attendance Champion).
The approach is summarised here:
We expect your child to attend school almost every day. This means their attendance should be above 96%. Although attendance of 94%, for example, may sound positive, that is actually 11 school days a year of absence. That is a lot of learning and a lot of social time missed! Our attendance ladder explains further about attendance percentages.
If your child’s attendance begins to decrease, or they are frequently late, we will let you know so that you are aware of the impact that their absence is having. Our approach is supportive – whatever barrier you or your child is facing to having good attendance, we will work with you to find a solution. This could be, for example, support for emotional-based school avoidance, signposting to breakfast club or organising a meet-and-greet. Our support could also involve outside agencies where appropriate.
We aim to work proactively to prevent any child from becoming a persistent absentee – that is where attendance is less than 90%. If a child becomes a persistent absentee, school works closely with the Local Authority to address this and may eventually seek court action – parents/carers have a legal duty to make sure their children attend school.
Penalty Notices – changes from August 2024
The criteria for the issue of a penalty notice will be 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period.
In a 3-year rolling period there will be a 2 penalty notice limit to the same parent for the same child.
- The first penalty notice issued in respect of the pupil will be charged at £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
- The second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil will be charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. •
- A third penalty notice will not be issued to the same parent for the same child in this rolling 3-year period and an alternative legal sanction will be given, this may include prosecution in the magistrate court.
If you have already applied for leave of absence that will take place after 19th August 2024 the penalty notice will be charged as above.
If you decide to apply for a leave of absence in term time, you must inform the headteacher of the circumstances for the leave of absence, detailing any exceptional circumstances. The headteacher will decide based on the information you provide in your request whether the leave of absence will be authorised and will write and tell you the decision. Applications for leave of absence can be obtained from the school office.
