Late Arrival

We recognise that persistent lateness is:

• detrimental to the child's education
• administratively disruptive
• a poor preparation for future schooling and adult life.

All pupils arriving after registration periods have ended have to sign in at the office. Pupils arriving within 20 minutes of registration closing will receive a late mark L and the minutes late will be recorded on ScholarPack. Pupils arriving more than 20 minutes after registration has closed will receive a U mark which is an unauthorised absence and the minutes late will be recorded on ScholarPack. If the reason for lateness beyond 9.20am/1.35pm is an exceptional circumstance as agreed by the Headteacher then code ‘L’ will be used.

Parents whose children regularly arrive late will receive warning letters from school. If warning letters are ignored and punctuality does not improve, the child’s parent will be invited to a meeting with the Head Teacher. Extreme cases may be referred to the Targeted Support Service.

Absence

• Parents are asked to make contact by 9:30am on the first day of absence, by note, personal contact, telephone call or e-mail - informing the school of the reason for the absence and/or nature of any illness. They are also asked to inform the school if there is a likely return date.
• Notes received by teachers are dated and initialled and sent to the office to be retained until the end of the academic year. The absence is logged as either ‘authorised absence’ or ‘unauthorised absence’.  
• Telephone messages and personal contacts made to the school office are noted on an absence record and subsequently logged as either ‘authorised absence’ or ‘unauthorised absence’.
• Personal contacts made with class teachers should be logged on ScholarPack.
• ALL absence will be recorded as unauthorised unless evidence is provided to prove otherwise.
• If school are not provided with a reason for absence, the parent will be contacted via telephone during 1^st day calling procedures.

List of procedures if a child is absent:

1. It is the school’s expectation that parents contact the school before the start of the day if their child is going to be absent
2. When they call the school regarding illness, parents are asked to say when they expect their child to return to school (for example in cases of vomiting or diarrhoea the child will return after 48 hours). If the child is still unwell after this time the parent must contact the school again
3. It is school policy that if a child is off for more than 3 days then medical evidence must be provided to authorise the absence
4. If a parent does not contact school when their child is absent once the register closes the school will phone before 9:30am
5. If a parent does not respond to the phone call another call will be made to the parent before 11:00am
6. If it is not possible to contact the parent, then the office will phone the emergency contact numbers provided
7. If it has not been possible to ascertain the child’s whereabouts after all these avenues have been explored, then a home visit will be undertaken by the school in the afternoon.
8. If there is no response from the home, within a maximum of 3 days then the school may contact the police (advice will be sought from the Local Authority - CMO)

Leave of Absence

Parents wishing to request a leave of absence should complete an Application for withdrawal from learning form, explaining the circumstances and providing a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice.  School will then inform parents/carers as to whether the application has been granted or not and outline potential further action if the absence is taken.

The Government issued new regulations in September 2013 regarding Leave of Absence;

The Education (Pupil Regulations) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended by Education (Pupil Regulations) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. The Government and Local Authority strongly urge parents/carers to avoid taking their children out of school for family holidays as this will disrupt their education and progress.

Headteachers shall not grant any ‘Leave of Absence’ during term time unless they consider there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. Exceptional circumstances being defined as being of unique and significant emotional, educational or spiritual value to the child which outweighs the loss of teaching time.

All leave of absence requests will be unauthorised unless the circumstances are exceptional. A parent/carer should complete a leave of absence request form (available from the school office) and submit this to the school prior to the holiday. School will respond to the request within two weeks.

Parents/carers do not have any entitlement to take their child on holiday during term time. Any application for leave must establish that there are exceptional circumstances and the headteacher must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the granting of leave.

Applications for ‘Leave of Absence’ which are unauthorised may result in a fine.

Penalty Notices

In line with Nottinghamshire Local Authority regulations, any unauthorised leave of absence, whether for holidays, (persistent) lateness beyond 9.20 am and 1.35pm, or any other form of unauthorised absence, of more than 3 days or 6 half day sessions (over a 6 week rolling period) will lead to parents/carers being issued with an Education Penalty Notice per child:

• If paid within 21 days, the fine will be £60 per child
• If paid after 21 days, the fine will be £120 per child

All adults responsible for care of the child can be fined. Payment must be paid direct to the Local Authority and parents can be prosecuted if 28 days have expired and full payment has not been made. Where a fine remains unpaid, the matter will be enforced at the Magistrates Court. The maximum fine for this offence is up to £1000 per parent, per child.

The Local Authority will not issue more than two Education Penalty Notices per calendar year to any person taking more than two periods of unauthorised absence. Where further absences occur or where the Local Authority deems it appropriate, enforcement will be dealt with directly through the Magistrate Court.