2. Our Lady’s Bishop Eton Primary school

3. Why we do what we do!!! Please take your time to read this useful guide to your child’s learning…

4. Overview ✱ O ur school recognises that attending school regularly has a positive impact and maximises opportunities for pupils to realise their full potential. ✱ Our policy reflects current Department for Education guidance.

5. Aims ✱ To ensure that pupil attendance and punctuality contribute to good or better progress and attainment.

6. Strategies In order to achieve our aims, school implements the following procedures: REGISTRATION PROCEDURES ✱ Ensures registers are completed twice daily ✱ Ensures registers are dated and clearly marked so that correct information may be entered by office staff ✱ Records pupils arriving late ABSENCE PROCEDURES ✱ Contacts parents if there is no contact or explanation by 9.30 on the first day of absence ✱ Records all unsuccessful contact attempts ✱ Records the absence as unauthorised if there is no response ✱ Only authorises absences if parents/carers provide a specific explanation for the absence ✱ Doctor/dentist appointments are not absences unless the child misses the whole session. A child who has a medical/dental appointment may be credited for the whole session provided s/he attends school at the first opportunity. The situation is the same for a child who leaves after registration for a good reason such as illness, visits to secondary school etc ✱ The special circumstances code will be considered for issues such as death in the family, moving house etc. ✱ Informs parents in writing if the absence is not authorised FAMILY HOLIDAYS DURING TERM TIME ✱ Ensures parents are aware that they do not have the right to take their children out of school during term time for a family holiday REPORTING ✱ Reports absences and lateness in End of Year Reports

7. Outcomes ✱ School attendance is above both the local and national figures and contributes to progress and attainment being good or better when compared to the national benchmarks.

8. Monitoring Evaluation Review ✱ Registers are monitored every term to pick up patterns, causes and percentages of authorised and unauthorised absence and lateness ✱ Parents are informed by letter at the end of each term with regards to any concerns with regards to lateness and absence. ✱ Where there is persistent non-attendance without reasonable explanation, parents/carers will be invited into school to discuss the school’s concerns ✱ Where there is persistent absence that is authorised through sickness and that absence is affecting the child’s progress, the school will invite the parents/carers to school to discuss what support can be offered. ✱ The school will investigate the pupil’s circumstances within school to identify any school based issues which may be affecting the child’s attendance. ✱ Governors and Senior Leaders review the effectiveness and efficiency of this policy annually

9. Applications for Leave of absence to be granted ✱ The Education Regulations 2013 made clear that schools cannot grant any leave of absence during term time unless EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES exist. ✱ For the purposes of absences EXCEPTIONAL has been defined as rare, significant, unavoidable and short. ✱ Unavoidable has been defined as “cannot reasonably be scheduled at another time” i.e. in the 175 days, including holidays and weekends that children and families have to spend together. ✱ Therefore if an event can reasonably be scheduled in these 175 days it will not be authorised. ✱ Absence during term times for holidays is therefore NOT considered an exceptional circumstance. ✱ Absences during term time to visit family members are also NOT considered exceptional circumstances. ✱ Absences to visit an ill relative or attend a funeral are considered exceptional circumstances. Although schools are required to take into account a pupil’s previous record of attendance.

10. Local Authority Guidance with regards to Exceptional Circumstances The DfE cites three examples of ‘exceptional circumstances’: ✱ Where a parent is a member of the armed forces and has restricted leave. ✱ Where a parent is a member of the Fire Service and has restricted shift patterns/ leave. ✱ When there has been a bereavement of a close family member.

11. There are checks and balances that schools must also apply whenever any application for leave is received – ✱ These include : ✱ The age of the pupil ✱ The time of year/any assessment, exam or transition impact ✱ The nature and purpose of the trip ✱ The impact on the pupil’s education ✱ The pupil’s ability to catch up on work missed ✱ The pupil’s educational needs ✱ The general welfare of the pupil ✱ The overall attendance pattern of the pupil ✱ History of previous trips taken in term time.

12. Set within this context examples of circumstances requiring decisions include – Application to take pupil out of school for the purpose of a family holiday ✱ Clearly this is not an exceptional circumstance and the application should be declined. Application for leave of a pupil with parent (s) in the armed forces ✱ This would be considered exceptional circumstances in line with the DfE example. Schools would still need to agree a timeframe and also have mind to the elements of the checklist above. Application for leave of a pupil with a parent in the Fire Service ✱ This may be considered as exceptional circumstances (in line with the DfE example) due to the Fire Service prescribing holidays annually to staff depending on their Watch. The school should however request evidence of shift / rota patterns that necessitate this specific period of leave. When there has been a close family bereavement ✱ This would be an exceptional circumstance in line with DfE guidance. The school would need to be sure of details and have a clear timeframe for the absence. In extreme examples, schools uncertain of a claimed bereavement have requested further proof.

13. Set within this context examples of circumstances requiring decisions include – To allow a pupil to return to their country of origin for family reasons ✱ This could be exceptional circumstances. Pupils return periodically for many reasons both social and logistical, so the school would have to have sufficient evidence to support a request, be very clear on the timescales (and have set out possible consequences of failing to observe these) and previous leave patterns. Other related scenarios are cited below. To allow a pupil to return to their country of origin for religious or cultural reasons ✱ This could be considered as an exceptional circumstance. Schools should check for dates of religious and cultural events and evidence may be requested such as a booking form or trip itinerary to support the request. This should be equally applied to a range of faiths and events based in the UK as well as abroad. Absences of this nature can be marked as ‘R’ which denotes an authorised absence rather than an agreed leave of absence. Time needed to travel to, attend and return from such an event should be carefully agreed.

14. Set within this context examples of circumstances requiring decisions include – Application to take child out of school for the purpose of visiting a sick close relative abroad ✱ This might be considered as exceptional circumstances but this would very much depend on the school knowledge of the family, the urgency of the situation and whether parents could provide supporting evidence if required. Application to take child out of school for the purpose of a close relative’s funeral abroad ✱ Provided there is sufficient evidence this could be considered exceptional. The school would need to be sure of the family connection and also be very clear on the time needed to travel to, participate and return. Unavoidable circumstances e.g. the parent/carer has inflexible leave allocation and this has been confirmed by the employer. This would be in addition to the Services/Fire Brigade options cited above. ✱ This is problematic but would not count as ‘exceptional’ as it falls outside the DfE parameters. Schools would have to take the checklist into account and also be sure parents were not exploiting complicit employers to secure leave. This could generally develop into the thin edge of a substantial wedge.

15. Set within this context examples of circumstances requiring decisions include – To take a pupil out of school for the purpose of a family holiday when family have undergone a difficult period/transition in recent months ✱ This could be considered exceptional circumstances if the school knowledge of the family clearly supports this. Care would however have to be taken that school was not left open to allegations of inconsistency. To take a pupil out of school in term time due to pupil’s on-going health/medical needs or the need for specialist accommodation ✱ This could be exceptional circumstances provided the school has sufficient knowledge of the circumstances or can gather such evidence. Application by parent/carer to take a pupil looked after by a Local Authority out of school for the purpose of a family holiday ✱ This would not be exceptional and any such application would be referred immediately to the allocated social worker.

16. Set within this context examples of circumstances requiring decisions include – Application to take a pupil out of school for the purpose of parent’s wedding abroad ✱ This would not be exceptional. This can be an emotive issue, but such weddings rarely take place without extensive pre-planning and there is therefore ample opportunity to avoid term times. To take a pupil out of school for the purpose of a close family member’s wedding abroad ✱ This would not be exceptional circumstances (as above). This seems to be an increasing issue and often such events are linked to beach resorts making it hard to differentiate from an ordinary holiday request. Extended family links may also mean that numbers of pupils may want leave to attend. Application to take a pupil out of school for the purpose of visiting a parent in custody ✱ This would constitute exceptional circumstances. The parent would need to provide the school with the usual evidence of a visiting schedule etc.

17. Letter from Director of Children’s Services Dear Parent or Carer, Re: Important changes to the measurement for school attendance from September 2015 I am taking this opportunity to write to let you know about some important changes regarding school attendance being introduced by the Government. Liverpool City Council believes that good attendance is essential if your child is to achieve the best results possible while at school. The Government expects pupils to have a minimum level of attendance of at least 97% and our schools will be working towards this new target for the forthcoming academic year. You may also be aware the Government requires schools to measure attendance by ‘Persistent Absenteeism’, which is defined as the number of times your child is absent during the year. A pupil who is persistently absent is one who misses 10% or more of their schooling for any reason, from the beginning of the school year to the end of any given half term period as indicated below. Please note that one session is equivalent to half a day. Improving school attendance is a key priority for the Council and its family of schools and the support of our parents is crucial to achieving this goal. Ofsted will measure the performance of your school against this target as well as the usual measures and we need your help to ensure that your child and their school do as well as possible. If you have any queries, please contact Allison Cain, Attendance Lead, on 0151-225-3938. We thank you for your continued co-operation. Yours faithfully, Colette O’Brien. Director, Children & Young People’s Services. TermsPersistent Absence at 10%Number of days off school September – October7 or more sessions3.5 days September – Christmas14 or more sessions7 days September - February20 or more sessions10 days September – Easter25 or more sessions12.5 days September – May31 or more sessions15.5 days

18. The Effects Of Late Arrival To Class  Our school day begins at 8.55am.  The front door will be closed promptly at 8.55am so that the teacher on Door Duty can bring in their class. Today your child arrived late in school. Arriving 5 minutes late each day:  5 days a week = 25 minutes lost learning time a week.  39 weeks a year = 16 hours and 15 minutes lost learning time a year.  7 years in our school = 113 hours and 45 minutes learning time lost. Why is PUNCTUALITY such a GOOD thing?  Being on time:  Gets your child’s day off to a good start so he/she can settle straight into the school day  Sets positive patterns for the future  Leads to good attendance  Leads to better achievement  Leads to understanding that school is important and education is valuable Why is LATENESS such a BAD thing?  Being Late:  Gets your child’s day off to a bad start  Can be really embarrassing for your child to walk into class late  Will be noticed by other children who might make negative comments  May lead to your child feeling confused all day! He/She will have missed out on vital instructions, information and bits of news at the start of the day  Disrupts the lesson for everyone  Creates a bad habit that be hard to break  Can lead to the poor attendance – If your child thinks that it is okay to be late for school they can soon think it’s okay not to go to school at all! What should you do if you have a problem getting your child to school on time?  Talk to your child  Talk to the school  Ask for help – remember it’s better to get help early on to stop little problems from becoming big ones!

19. Registration Procedure Children late for registration (9.05am) are marked down as absent Children arriving in class between 9.05am and 9.30am are coded as late Office staff collect registers from outside classrooms at 9.30am Office ring all non-attenders for whom no reason for absence has been received If contact is made the reason for the absence is recorded in the absence book in the Office If no contact is made the absence is recorded as unauthorised and an e-mail and/or text is sent to confirm this and to ask the parents to contact the school. The school’s Safeguarding Officer is informed at this point If no contact has been made by parents within 5 school days the school will contact Social Services to advise that the child is missing from education A letter is sent to parents where there is evidence of persistent lateness

20. 1 Classroom Teacher 2 Attendance Admin Safeguarding Lead 3 Senior Leadership Team 5 Education Welfare Office Care Line Social Welfare

21. Thank You