Attendance & Punctuality

Good Attendance and Punctuality

Information for parents / carers

If your child is absent

By law, schools must record absences and the reasons given. Whenever your child is absent please phone the school every day of absence and leave a message on the absence line or speak to a member of office staff. Please phone as early as possible and before start of school.

01273 675080

If we do not hear from you we will contact you (often by Ping) to check why your child is absent. If your child is in Y5 or Y6 you will also receive a phone call. This takes a great deal of office staff time.

If no reason is received, we will record the absence as unauthorised. If your child’s attendance causes concern, we may ask for medical evidence for all absences. This is part of our legal duty.

Lateness:

Being on time is very important too!

School starts promptly at 8.50 am in the junior department and 8.55am in the infant department. We expect children to be in the playground before this ready to line up when the whistle or bell sounds.

When a child arrives late, this is very disruptive to the class. Children arriving late need to be signed in at the school office. Children arriving after 9.20, which is when the register is closed, will be recorded as having an unauthorised absence.

Did you realise?

• 5 minutes late a day = 3 days of school lost a year
• 10 minutes late every day = 6.5 of school lost a year
• 15 minutes late every day = 10 days of school lost a year

So thank you for being on time!

Every Day Counts

St Luke’s Primary believes good attendance and punctuality is vital in providing all children with the best start in life.

The majority of parents and carers ensure their children attend school regularly but increasing school attendance figures remains a school priority because:

• Good attendance is vital in helping your child make progress
• Good attendance helps your child develop good routines and learning habits
• Good attendance is key to your child making and keeping friends
• It is every parent and carer’s legal duty to ensure their child/ren attend school regularly and on time

Did you realise?

• Half a day off each week adds up to more than a whole school year missed by age 16
• A child who attends school for 90% of the time is absent for equivalent of one half day per week
• Health professionals would expect most children to have no more than 6 days absence per school year
• There are 190 days in the school year which means there are 175 non-school days for fun, holidays, special treats

We employ an Independent Attendance Adviser, who works with families to help support improved attendance and punctuality.

When will the school authorise an absence?

• Religious observance
• Exceptional reasons (eg an emergency; funeral; wedding)
• Genuine illness
• Medical or dental appointment (please try to arrange out of school hours but if not possible an appointment card or letter needs to be shown to office)
• Brighton & Hove Music Service summer schools
• Music or other examinations and auditions

We do not authorise absences for:

• Holidays in term time
• Birthdays
• Day trips / treats / shopping

Unauthorised absences will be passed to the local authority who may issue a fixed penalty notice.

All schools have a duty to promote good attendance and punctuality. Attendance figures at St Luke’s Primary have been improving year on year (taking Covid absences out of the equation!) and are now consistently above national averages.

Every year we are required to remind parents of a few key points regarding attendance and punctuality. The full attendance policy sits on the school website.

PUNCTUALITY:

We aim for a punctual start to the school day. Gates will open just before 8.45 for all children from Y1-6 and will close a few minutes after this 8.45 start time. Reception children will arrive at 8.50 by which time the infant playground should be clear of Y1 and Y2 children. While reception parents will bring their children into the playground, parents of children in Y1 and Y2 say goodbye at the gate and children find their own way to class.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE:

Our ‘leave of absence during term time’ policy (part of Attendance Policy on website) is based on The Department for Education guidance to schools, supported by Brighton & Hove Local Authority. Schools are asked not to authorise requests for leave in term time unless there are exceptional circumstances (examples of this would be for a family bereavement or the wedding of a close family friend or relative). We therefore continue to ask parents not to request other leaves of absence for their child during term time but if you feel this is necessary you will need to write to the school to explain what the exceptional circumstances are. The request must be made 2 weeks before a planned absence, as no absences can be authorised retrospectively. If the request does not fit within our policy and the child is absent from school, the absence will be marked as unauthorised and will be referred to the Local Authority who will issue you with a Fixed Penalty Notice. Parents and carers can be at risk of Fixed Penalty Notice fines from the Local Authority for unauthorised absences. The first penalty notice issued to each parent/carer in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. A second penalty notice issued to the same parent/carer in respect of the same pupil, within 3 years of the date of issue of the first penalty notice, is charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days. A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent/carer, in respect of the same pupil, within 3 years of the date of issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action can be taken, including considering prosecution under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. Where parents are separated, one parent will not be fined for an absence from school taken by the other parent.