Attendance

Allesley Hall Primary School promotes consistent high levels of school attendance for all of its pupils across the school. Good attendance enables academic and social development for children from Reception to Year 6. 

Regular school attendance is an important part of giving children the best possible start in life. The aim should be to attend 100% of the time.

Research shows that pupils who attend school regularly achieve at higher levels than those who do not attend regularly, and they also have wider life chances.

Attending school on a regular basis also helps to develop:

• Friendships
• social skills
• team values
• life skills
• cultural awareness
• future career pathways

 National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence 

A new National Framework for Penalty Notices was introduced by the Government regarding school attendance and the issuing of penalty notices when children are absent from school. The regulations came into effect from the 19th of August 2024. The aim is to improve consistency in the use of penalty notices across England.

The national framework includes:

A single, consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These days no longer have to be consecutive. For example: a 5-day holiday would meet the national threshold. The 10-school week period can span different terms or school years.

A new national limit of 2 penalty notices within a 3-year rolling period has also been introduced.

Penalty notices are now issued as follows:

• First offence - The first time a Penalty Notice is issued the amount will be: £80 per parent, per child paid within 21 days. This increases to £160 per parent, per child if paid after day 21, until day 28. Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may result in a prosecution.
• Second Offence (within 3 years) - the second time a Penalty Notice is issued the amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. Any non-payment of the Penalty Notice may result in a prosecution.
• Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years) - the third time an offence is committed a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the parent(s) may be prosecuted under section 444(1A) of the Act. These fines could be up to £2500 per parent, per child.

Headteachers cannot authorise school absences for the reason of a family holiday.

At Allesley Hall, we believe good attendance is essential to support your child in getting the most out of their education and we thank you for your continued support.

Coventry LA have produced a FAQ document for any queries relating to attendance, late to school and holidays in term time. The link is below.

Coventry Local Authority FAQ

AHPS approach to supporting consistent high attendance 

Families are expected to phone the school office and give a reason for a child's absence before 9am each day. If school do not hear from families, we will contact families to ascertain the reason for non- attendance. If we cannot contact families, a home visit will be undertaken. 

If a child is absent due to on-going ill health or medical concerns a meeting will be scheduled for the school and family to discuss the medical needs in more detail. The school nursing team and a families GP may also be asked to contribute to planning steps towards improved school attendance.

If we are concerned about low attendance, we will write to families directly. If attendance does not improve, we will hold a meeting where we will seek support and guidance from our Educational  Welfare Officer (EWO) from the local authority and possibly support from family workers at our local family hub. An early help intervention may be needed to ensure the child's attendance improves. When attendance does improve, we will seek to celebrate and acknowledge this with families.

Partnership working is key to a child's academic, social and emotional success. This is vital in our approach to attendance. 

AHPS Attendance Policy 

Leave of absence during term-time

Requests for leave of absence within term time must be put into writing to the school office. admin@allesleyhall.coventry.sch.uk 

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2013 came into force in September 2013 and amended the 2006 regulations removing the reference to 'holiday' and 'extended leave' as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amended regulations state the head teacher (or authorised person) may not grant any leave of absence during term-time unless there are 'exceptional circumstances' that apply to that application. The headteacher should consider each application on a case-by-case basis and on its own merits. It is at the headteacher’s discretion if the exceptional circumstances warrant the authorisation of the leave and should also determine the number of days the pupil should be absent for. Headteachers should make clear to parents the date on which the pupil will be expected to return to school. All requests for leave of absence must be made in advance and by the parent/carer with whom the child normally resides.

A penalty notice will be issued when leave of absence has been taken, but the school have not received and authorised a request in advance (where it can be clearly demonstrated that the parent/carer understood that permission had not be given).

Excessive delayed return from holiday: Where leave has been granted by the head teacher, an agreed return date should be discussed and what will occur if the pupil fails to return to school on the date stated. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 also enable schools to remove from their roll pupils who have failed to attend on the agreed return date. Following this date, reasonable enquiry should occur by the school and local authority to ascertain the pupil’s whereabouts in an attempt to locate the pupil prior to removal.

Irregular attendance

When a pupil persistently arrives late, schools should investigate the reason for this and offer support where appropriate to rectify the situation. Where the arrival time is after the close of registration period (DfE guidance states the register to pupils should close up to 30 minutes after the register was taken), each school has its own policy stating when the registration will close. If you are later than the close of registration, an unauthorised absence should be recorded. The same process applies when requesting and issuing a penalty notice.

Parenting contracts