Attendance and Absence
In order for children to achieve their full potential, and to access all the opportunities available to them, it is essential that they attend school regularly.
By attending school every day, children will be able to link learning from one lesson to another, building the blocks of knowledge taught over time. Additionally, children also build consistent relationships with staff and peers which creates a sense of self. The higher the absence, the higher the risk on children’s learning and personal development in the present but also in future years.
The following table shows the impact of absence in relation to lessons.
What does good attendance look like?
The expectation is that children will attend for at least 96% of the time, taking into account illness. This means they will only be absent from school for a maximum of 9 days across an academic year.
Punctuality is also extremely important. Essential learning begins straight after registration (e.g. phonics, Reading) and so children need to be ready for lessons by arriving at school before 9.00am.
Parents/carers will be able to track their child’s attendance through the Arbor app. Teachers will speak about attendance at parent meetings and it will be recorded on the child’s final report.
Each term, children will receive a certificate if they achieve an attendance of 96% or above for the weeks within that term only (Autumn, Spring, Summer). There will be a separate certificate for children who achieve 100%. At the end of the year, similar certificates are provided but which are for attendance over the whole of the academic year.
What will happen if my child is absent?
There will be times when a child is absent because they are unwell or have potentially had an injury which prevents them from accessing school. These instances are usually short and occasional.
If a child is absent, it is essential that a parent/carer informs school on the day, and each day of absence. This is important as part of our safeguarding procedures. If a parent/carers does not contact school, we will attempt to make contact which may include a home visit.
Registers will be coded with the most appropriate code to record the absence accurately. The majority of codes are identified below. It is the discretion of the school to allocate an appropriate code, regardless of whether a parent/carer provides a specific reason. This means that a child with regular absence may be recorded as unauthorised absence rather than authorised because of concerns which could lead to further intervention.
What will happen if my child is absence increases?
If a child’s attendance becomes a concern, we will inform parents/carers in a staged approach which will involve letters informing of the concern and communication with key staff.
Staff may arrange a meeting with parents/carers to try and resolve the situation as quickly as possible, which would identifying any specific issues, and offering support from school or additional agencies.
However, if progress is not made, we may have to inform the Local Authority Legal Intervention Team, and the process would become official. This process can lead to a notice to improve or a Fixed Penalty Notice.
What is the situation with requesting ‘Leave of Absence’ or holidays in Term Time?
Leave of absence or holidays in term time will not be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances in line with the regulations issued by the Department for Education. If parents/carers still decide to take their child out of school, this could lead to the issuing of a fixed penalty notice (PN).
Currently, the PN consists of £160 if paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.
Escalation in cases of repeat offences
With any second penalty notice issued to the same parent/carer for the same child within a rolling 3 year period, the PN will be at the higher rate of £160 with no option for this second offence to be discharged at the lower rate of £80.
There is a national limit of 2 penalty notices that can be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3 year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another tool will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions). This is especially serious as it could lead to a parent/carer having a criminal record.
All absence requests, including for holidays, must be provided to the school in writing by completing the Leave of Absence form, which can be requested from the office or downloaded by clicking on the link below. This form should be handed into school in advance of the absence with details of the reasons.
Where a form has not been completed, and evidence indicates a holiday has been taken (e.g. child speaks about it in school, no one at the house etc.) school will refer the absence and it will be the responsibility of the parents/carers to prove that they were not on holiday.
Current Attendance
The 2026-2027 attendance for each year group, from September, is presented in the table below (updated half termly):
September to October
| Year Group | Attendance |
| Reception | |
| Year 1 | |
| Year 2 | |
| Year 3 | |
| Year 4 | |
| Year 5 | |
| Year 6 | |
| All |