ATTENDANCE
Penns Primary School believes that in order to facilitate teaching and learning, good attendance is essential. Pupils cannot achieve their full potential if they do not regularly attend school.
We are committed to:
- Following the framework set in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 which states that:
‘the parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him / her to receive efficient full time education suitable:-
(a) to age, ability and aptitude and
(b) to any special educational needs he/ she may have
Either by regular attendance at school or otherwise’.
- Promoting and modelling good attendance behaviour.
- Ensuring equality and fairness of treatment for all.
- Implementing our policies within the Disability Discrimination Act (2010)
- Early intervention and working with other agencies to ensure the health and safety of our pupils.
- Rewarding regular attendance.
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Going to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education. Talking to your child and their teachers could help solve any problems if your child does not want to go to school.
REGULAR SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
Good attendance shows secondary schools and future potential employers that your child is reliable. Penns Primary records details of all children’s attendance and absence at school. We must do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must tell the school why, immediately.
The school will record the absence; the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A PARENT
By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school – though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education. Once your child is registered at Penns Primary, the parent/carer is legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis. If your child does not attend school on a regular basis you could be fined or prosecuted in court.
HOW TO PREVENT YOUR CHILD FROM MISSING SCHOOL
You can help prevent your child missing school by:
• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• taking an interest in their education – ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities
• discussing any problems they may have at school and letting their teacher know about anything serious
• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments – particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work
To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings:
• after school hours
• at weekends
• during school holidays
• You should not expect Penns Primary to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.
A child’s school attendance can be affected if there are problems with:
• bullying
• housing or care arrangements
• transport to and from school
• work and money
SCHOOL SUPPORT
The school is the first place to discuss any attendance problems. The school will agree a plan with you to improve your child’s attendance.
If your child’s attendance gives the school reason for concern (the trigger point is when attendance drops below 95 per cent), we will invite you into school to discuss support and next steps to improve attendance.
Attendance of less than 95% (i.e. absences of 9.5 school days or more out of
the 190 pupil days in the school year) is shown to compromise pupil
attainment. At 90% attendance pupils miss the equivalent of almost 4 weeks
education (19 school days) and only 10% of pupils who are persistently
absent from school achieve 5 A-C grades at GCSE.
Penns Primary School is adopting Birmingham’s policy for granting leave of absence in term time. This is in line with the Governments renewed appeal to parents. Absences will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances, there is no automatic right to any holidays in term time.
Leave of absence must be requested from and agreed by the Head Teacher in advance of any absence. If approved, the absence is still registered as authorised and if not approved and still taken, as unauthorised. It is recommended that as a general rule, any activity or holiday that can be arranged during the annual 13-week holiday time should not be authorised during the school term.
In cases of serious illness of a close family relative, we request that families carefully consider if the presence of a child for such a visit is most helpful to the situation and the child.
All unauthorised absences will be monitored by the Attendance Lead and may result in you receiving a fixed penalty fine. Unauthorised absence may be subject to a penalty notice fine of £80 payable per parent per child, increasing to £160 each if not paid within 21 days. If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, the notice will be charged at the higher rate.
If there is a third offence, another tool must be considered such as prosecution or another attendance legal intervention.
Please see information from Birmingham City Council updated in July 2024:
