Attendance and Absence
Attendance
Regular attendance at school is very important and there is a clear link between high attendance at school and high academic achievement. At St Gregory’s we track and monitor attendance closely, but always with the aim of supporting students and families to ensure everyone in our community is given the best opportunity to meet their full potential.
To help identify when, and if, your child needs to be absent from school for common illnesses including a high temperature, cough, colds, flu or vomiting, please follow the guidance on the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
Absence
While we obviously understand some absence from school is unavoidable, our KCSP Trust policy states that all students should have attendance higher than 96%. When an individual child’s absence falls below 96%, we monitor this carefully and will contact parents and guardians to share our initial concerns. If attendance does not improve, you will receive further communication explaining the next steps, including the impact the absence will have on the child’s learning and progress, and a reminder of your legal responsibilities to provide an education.
For absence, lateness or appointments, please select the absence icon on the Edulink app.
Alternatively, you can email: attendance@sgschool.org.uk
Medical and Dental Appointments
Whenever possible, please make appointments outside of school hours. If students need to miss part of the day for an appointment, the attendance team should be notified using Edulink or by email: attendance@sgschool.org.uk
No appointments will be authorised without medical evidence, evidence must be produced before the appointment or within 5 days of the appointment.
On the day of the appointment, students should report to Mrs Levings in Attendance, where they will then need to sign out. Parents will be contacted if a child asks to leave school without prior notification by the parent. On return to school, they must sign back in with Attendance.
Lateness
Lateness to school is not acceptable without a valid reason. A student arriving to school after 9.00am will be recorded as an unauthorised late. An unavoidable delay due to a public transport issue is the exception to this.
If a child is late to school, the school’s Attendance team will email parent(s) via Edulink to alert them that their child did not arrive to school on time. Unauthorised late arrivals can be reported to the Attendance Service who, in turn, can issue each parent with a penalty notice and a possible fine of up to £80 per parent.
Penalty Notices for Unauthorised Absence
From April 2005, Kent Local Authority introduced Penalty Notices for unauthorised absence from school of at least 10 sessions (five days) in a current term. The following circumstances will be considered as appropriate reasons for the issuing of Penalty Notices:
- Truancy.
- Parentally condoned absences.
- Excessive holidays in term time.
- Excessive delayed return from extended holidays.
- Persistent lateness after the register has closed.
On receipt of the Notice, the penalty will be £80 per parent (if paid within 21 days). After 21 days, the cost rises to £160 per parent. Failure to pay the penalty in full by the end of the 28 day period may result in prosecution by the Local Authority.
Absence Request
As you may be aware, Headteachers are not allowed to authorise holiday during term time unless in exceptional circumstances. For your request to be considered, please complete the form below.
The Education Act 1996 states, “If any child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school, fails to attend regularly, the parents of the child shall be guilty of an offence”. Below is some additional guidance which should help improve attendance and communication with school. This will ensure your child’s attendance is recorded accurately.
- Your child should attend school every day and on time.
- You should contact the school on each and every day of an absence.
- You should make every effort to get your child to school even if they are feeling unwell. The school will always contact you if the child deteriorates.
- Make sure the school have the correct contact details, especially if there is an emergency.
- Don’t be offended if the school contact you - it is for the safety and welfare of your child.
- If you do have issues that prevent your child from attending, discuss these issues as soon as possible with the school. Do not leave it. Contact the school and ask for an appointment to talk about the problems.
- If your child has any health issues please make sure the school is aware and, if appropriate, make arrangements. For example provide asthma pumps, Epipens etc.
- If you feel you need to take leave during term time, you must complete the Absence Request form. The Headteacher has the discretion to authorise the absence, if they feel there is exceptional circumstances to justify this. Each request is taken on individual merit.
- Should your child’s attendance remain poor, after all possible intervention, legal proceedings will be considered.