Slough and Eton Church of England

Business and Enterprise College

A Member of Slough and East Berkshire C of E

Multi Academy Trust

Attendance
Procedures Policy
Owner: Dr Purnima Joshi

Ratified by Governing Body:

Date Ratified: November 2024

Date policy to be reviewed Autumn 2025

November 2024 Page 1 of 20

November 2024 Page 2 of 20
Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Aims and Objectives 4

3. Procedures 4
Registration 5
Lateness 5
Absences 5
Holiday Requests 6
General Information 6
Attendance Issues 6
Personalised Learning Room (PLR)/Grace Centre) 7
Absence during the School Day 7
Sixth Form 8
Recording Attendance 8
Persistent lateness 8
Third and Tenth Day of Absence 8/9
4. Types of Absence 10
Attendance Codes 10/11
Absences before and/or after half term 11
Further guidance 11
5. Penalty Notices 11
The Penalty Process 13
New National Framework (1st/2nd and 3rd offence) 14
6. Support with Attendance 16
Leavers 16
Study Leave 16
Teenage Pregnancy 16
The Law 17

November 2024 Page 3 of 20

1. INTRODUCTION
Parent

Is defined as:

• Any natural parent, whether married or not

• Any parent who, although not a natural parent, has parental responsibility as defined in the
Children Act (1989) for a child or young person
• Any person who, although not a natural parent, has care of a child or young person

Why do we need a policy?

Jesus said, “I have come in order that you might have life, life in all its fullness” so Slough and Eton
Church of England Business and Enterprise College recognises its responsibilities to ensure students
are in school and on time and therefore have access to learning for the maximum number of days
and hours in order that they may live life in all its fullness. Safeguarding is constantly at the forefront
of our minds and our attendance policy is stringent and thorough to ensure children's safety is
always our priority. Parents must know when their child has not arrived at school and we must be
sure children are being cared for when not in school.

Who does it apply to?

Our policy applies to all children and young people registered at this school and is therefore shared
with parents/carers and students on admission to the school. In law, compulsory age applies to all
children from the start of the term commencing on or after the child’s 5th birthday, until the last
Friday in June during the academic year that the young person becomes 16. If a child of compulsory
school age who is registered fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence.

How was it developed?

It has been underpinned by the principles established in the relevant Children Acts, Education Acts,
Regulations and Guidelines from both the DfE and the Local Authority.

What does it do?

Although parents have the legal responsibility for ensuring their child’s attendance, the governors
and staff work together with other professionals and agencies to ensure that this happens.

Why is it important?
Every day of education and indeed every lesson matters. In a curriculum where there is built in
progression, children who are persistently late or absent soon get behind with work and
consequently do not understand all elements of lessons when they return. Children who miss school
frequently will undoubtedly have gaps in their learning which will impede their progress and future
ability to engage in lessons. This in turn will influence their ability to concentrate and often behave.
Frequent absence has a profound and cumulative effect on achievement.

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 2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
This policy ensures that all staff in our school are fully aware and clear about the actions necessary
to promote good attendance and punctuality.

What should we do to maintain good attendance and punctuality amongst our children?

• Raise awareness of attendance and punctuality issues amongst all staff, parents and students.
• Ensure that parents have an understanding of the responsibility placed on them for making sure
their child attends regularly and on time.
• Equip children with the skills needed to take responsibility for school attendance and
punctuality appropriate to their age and development.
• Maintain clear, effective communication channels on school attendance and punctuality
matters.
• Develop and implement procedures for identifying, reporting and following up cases of poor
attendance and lateness.
• Support students who have been experiencing any difficulties at home or at school, which are
preventing good attendance.
• Develop and implement procedures to follow up on non-attendance in school.
• Establish a safe environment to promote good attendance which demonstrates that every
student has and where children/young people can:

- Be Healthy
- Stay Safe
- Enjoy and Achieve
- Make a Positive Contribution
- Achieve Economic Well Being

3. PROCEDURES
Our school will undertake to follow the procedures set out in this policy below:

• To maintain appropriate registration processes.

• To maintain appropriate attendance data.
• To communicate clearly the attendance procedures and expectations of the school to all staff,
parents and students.
• To have consistent and systematic daily records which give details of any absences and lateness.
• To follow up all absences and lateness if parents/carers have not communicated with the
Attendance Officer on the first day of their child’s absence.

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• To discuss with parents what constitutes an authorised and unauthorised absence (only the
school can authorise absences, not parents).
• To strongly discourage unnecessary absence through holidays taken in term time.
• To work closely with parents/carers to improve attendance and punctuality.
• To refer to the Attendance Service (Slough Borough Council – the Local Authority (LA)) any child
whose family fails to respond to school initiatives to improve their child’s attendance.
• To report attendance statistics to the DfE and LA as required.
• All staff should be aware that they must report any attendance or punctuality concerns to the
Attendance Officer.
• Advice can be sought from the LA when necessary.
• If a student on the Child Protection Register is absent without explanation the relevant member
of the Senior Leadership Team/safeguarding lead as necessary and social worker is notified.
• If a student is in public care (CLA) the carer, social worker, education co-ordinator and
Designated Teacher for Looked After Children will be involved appropriately.

Registration
The Slough and Eton school day starts with registration at 8.30am and finishes at 3pm (Friday finish
at 2:30pm) for Years 7 to 11 and at different times depending on timetables for Sixth Form students.
The first bell will sound at 8.25am. Any student entering the school after 8.30am will be registered as
late. Registers will close at 9.00am, afternoon registration is taken with Period 5, Monday to
Thursday 1:20pm and Friday 1pm.

Lateness
Any student who arrives in school after 8.30am is marked late ‘L’ and any student that arrives after
9:00am is marked ‘U’. Individual cases of lateness will be dealt with by the Form Tutor and the Head
of Year through the behaviour policy. Persistent lateness will be dealt with by the Attendance Officer
in conjunction with the Head of Year and may result in a formal punctuality meeting with the
Attendance Officer/Head of Year where a Punctuality Action Plan maybe put together to improve
punctuality. If there is no improvement, a meeting will be held with a member of the Senior
Leadership Team. Ongoing lateness can lead to a Warning/Penalty Notice being issued by the
Attendance Team at Slough Borough Council.

Lateness to lessons
We expect all our students to arrive on time to every lesson. If a student arrives late, without a valid
reason, the teacher will mark them late on the register. This lateness will be followed up the next day
with a sanction. If persistent lateness to lessons or missed sanctions, this will be followed up by the
Head of Year and/or a member of the Senior Leadership.

Absences
Parents/Carers are expected to contact the school by 9.00am every day of their child’s absence. This
can be done by using the school’s parent App ‘Weduc’, or email [email protected] or
telephone the school’s absence line 01753 520824 Option 1 -Years 7 – 11, Option 2 – Sixth Form. The
school does not have to accept the parent’s/carer’s reason for the student being absent. In this
instance the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. The school can insist on medical evidence
being provided to authorise an absence, especially if recurring absence and/or more than 3 days
continued absence. Any cost that this may incur will be borne by the parent/carer.

November 2024 Page 6 of 20

The following link provides guidance as to whether your child can come to school.

https://frimley-heathiertogether.nhs.uk/

If there has been no contact from the parent, the Attendance Team will contact (by ‘phone, text or
email) parents of students on the first day of absence once registers are completed. Any student
who has been absent for more than two days without contact may be visited at home. Persistent
absence will be followed up by the Attendance Officer. If the issue persists then the matter may be
referred to the Attendance Service at Slough Borough Council.

If a child is likely to be absent for a period of time, the parent/carer should contact the Attendance
Officer to discuss the situation. Contact should be maintained until the child returns to school.

Medical Absence More than 15 Days Absent

Medical evidence will be required, we will pass the details to the Attendance Service at Slough
Borough Council and they will be responsible to provide provision and support until the student
returns to Slough and Eton. The parent is required to keep the school informed with regular updates
during the student’s absence.

Absence other illness or medical/Religious Observance/Holiday/Visiting Relatives Request

Under education law, parents do not have an automatic right to take their children out of school
during term time. The school holiday dates are published a year in advance and parents are expected
to arrange their family holidays during those times. The school has a safeguarding duty, under
section 175 Education Act 2002, to investigate any unexplained absences.

Withdrawal from Education form (formally known as Leave of Absence form) is available from our
Reception and Attendance Office. This needs to be completed and returned to the school well before
the anticipated leave of absence date. Parents are requested to provide supporting documentation
at this stage i.e., booking confirmation of the flight details showing the booking/payment date (e-
tickets will not be accepted), a copy of the death certificate if there has been a bereavement and/or
any other documentation to support the absence. Parents/cares will be notified in writing by the
Headteacher of the decision as to whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised.

To ensure consistency across Slough schools we advise parents to inform us of any siblings for whom
they are also requesting holiday so that we ca discuss our decision with their other schools.

Absences are only authorised in the most exceptional of circumstances. If the leave of absence is not
authorised and is still taken, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and the LA may be
informed of 5 or more consecutive days of unauthorised absence. In this instance a Penalty Notice
(fine) will be issued to the parents/carers by the Attendance Service at Slough Borough Council. If a
child is away from school for more than 20 days, they may be taken off roll and have to reapply for a
school place on their return.

General Information
November 2024 Page 7 of 20
If a parent/carer requires information regarding attendance or absence, this can be requested in the
first instance from the Attendance Officer.

Attendance Issues
If a student’s attendance drops below 90%, or a pattern of absence emerges over a period of weeks,
this is brought to the attention of the Attendance Officer. This instigates an investigation as to why
the attendance is falling. If the decrease is for unexplained or unacceptable reasons, or is enough to
cause concern, parents will be contacted by phone/email/letter. If attendance continues to
deteriorate, parents and the student may be asked to attend a meeting with the Attendance Officer
and Head of Year to initiate an Attendance Action Plan. This gives the parent/carer and the student
an opportunity to discuss the barriers to attendance and put together a plan to improve. If the
attendance does not improve by the review date, a meeting may be arranged with a member of the
Senior Leadership Team/Attendance Panel. If no further improvement is made then the student will
be referred to the Attendance Team at Slough Borough Council who may consider possible Warning
Notice/Penalty Notice which may lead to prosecution proceedings.

Personalised Learning Room (PLR)/Grace Centre/Shepherd Centre

Any student who is attending these centres whether on a regular or intermittent basis will be
registered at registration times, lateness and attendance issues will be dealt with as above.

Absence during the School Day

Any student that needs to leave the school with the normal school day must sign out with the
Reception/Attendance Officer.

If a student has a medical/dental appointment, the school will need to know in advance of the
appointment so that a note can be added to the register, this will ease disruption to the lesson. A
written note or email from their parent/carer of the appointment must be provided with the proof of
the appointment. If proof is not provided on the day, then this must be submitted to the Attendance
Office on the next day. The parent must collect their child from the school Reception as no child in
Years 7 – 11 will be allowed to leave the school site unaccompanied.

If a student becomes unwell during the school day, they should go to the Medical Room for
assessment. If it is deemed necessary for the student to go home, the school office will contact the
parent/carer. A student will not be allowed to go home during the day unless authorised both by the
school and the parent/carer. The student will then be signed out by the Attendance Officer as an
authorised absence and will need to be collected by a parent/carer. The absence will be recorded as
an ‘authorised illness.

If a student leaves the school premises without authorisation and/or without signing out with the
Attendance Officer, their absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Action will be taken by the
school regarding such truancy.

Sixth Form
Sixth Form students are expected to attend school punctually as dictated by their lessons. The school
should be informed about illness and absence as outlined above. Should the attendance of a student
in the Sixth Form become a significant cause for concern the school will follow the Key Stage 5 Team
protocol. If a sixth form student does not attend for 20 consecutive school days without a valid
November 2024 Page 8 of 20
reason, they will be removed from the school roll. In implementing this policy, staff will have regard
to the school’s safeguarding policy and procedures, the school’s Child Protection policy and the
school’s e-Safety policy and the over-riding principles at all times will be the safety, security,
enjoyment and the achievement of the students.

Record Preservation
School registers are legal documents. We will ensure compliance with attendance regulations by
keeping attendance records for at least three years. Computer registers will be preserved as
electronic back-ups.

Recording Attendance

Registration Marks
Legally the register must be marked twice daily. This is once at the start of the school day and again
for the afternoon. Teachers should mark students as present only if they have physically seen them.
AM Registration - If a student arrives between 8.30 and 9.00am the attendance will be registered as L
(before register closes). If a student registers after 9.00am he/she will be registered as U (late after
register closes), in line with county and DfE guidance. This mark shows him/her to be on site, but
legally recorded as an absence.

PM Registration - If a student arrives late to registration which is linked with Period 5 attendance will
be registered as L for that session.

It is important to be on time at the start of the morning and afternoon school sessions and to
lessons. The start of school/lessons are used to give out instructions or to organise work. If a child is
late, he/she can miss work, time with the class teacher getting vital information and cause disruption
to the lesson for others. This can also be embarrassing to the student and lead to possible further
absence.
If a student is late due to a medical appointment, he/she will receive an authorised absence coded
‘M’. Parents are advised where possible, doctors’ and dentists’ appointments are to be made outside
school hours or during school holidays.

Students who are consistently late before 9.00am (L) are disrupting not only their own education but
also that of the other students. On-going and repeated lateness is considered as unauthorised
absence and will be subject to legal action the school will request a meeting to tackle persistent
lateness and we will change L to U following a meeting raising punctuality concerns and legal action
will follow if 10 or more sessions are recorded over a 10-week period.

Persistent Lateness
Parents/carers of students who have patterns of lateness will be contacted to discuss the importance
of good time keeping and how this might be achieved. If lateness persists, parents/carers will be
invited to attend the school to discuss the problem and offered support. If support is ineffective, not
appropriate or is declined and a child has 10 or more sessions of unauthorised absence due to
lateness recorded in any 10-week period identified through the use of the “U” code, Slough Borough
Council will be required to issue parents/carers with a Penalty Notice. This is in accordance with
Slough’s Code of Conduct for issuing Penalty Notices for non-attendance.

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Third Day of Absence
If a child is not seen and contact has not been established with parents/carers after three days of
absence and that every effort has been made to contact home including a home visit to the property
the school is required to start a Child Missing in Education (CME) procedure as set down by Slough
Borough Council Guidance. We will make all reasonable enquires to establish contact with
parents/carers and the child including making enquires to known friends, and wider family. The
Attendance Officer/Community Liaison Worker/ Learning Mentor or Deputy Headteacher will try to
establish contact. If contact is unsuccessful the school will follow Slough Borough Council Guidance
((CME) referral form).

Tenth Day of Absence

We have a legal duty to report the absence of any student who is absent without an explanation for
10 consecutive days. If the child has not been seen and contact has not been established with the
named parent/carer then the LA is notified that the child is ‘at risk of missing’ his/her education.
Children’s Services Staff will visit the last known address and alert key services to locate the child.
Parents/carers have a responsibility to ensure their contact details are up to date.

Home visits
As part of our duty of care, it may be necessary to conduct a home visit for the following reasons.
• No contact from home for a single or continued absence
• Welfare checks if a parent has reported a child’s illness and no medical evidence has been
provided for continued absence
• Safeguarding concern
• Lack of parental engagement

These are usually unannounced visits that can happen any time during the working day (between
08:00am and 17:00 done by two members of staff (namely, the Attendance Officer with the Head of
Year/a member of the Safeguarding Team/Family Link Worker (staff member). Staff will be wearing
their identification badge and should be shown during the visit. If no contact is made with the parent
during the home visit, they will attempt to knock on neighbour’s doors to enquire further. A note will
be put through the letter box to advise of our home visit and the parent is requested to contact the
school immediately.

Where there is a ring doorbell, the member of staff does not need to show their face if they do not
wish to and may hide their face.

November 2024 Page 10 of 20

4. TYPES OF ABSENCE
Understanding types of absence
Students are expected to attend school every day for the entire duration of the academic year,
unless there is an exceptional reason for the absence. There are two main categories of absences:

1. Authorised Absence: occurs when the school has accepted the explanation offered as
satisfactory justification for the absence, or given approval in advance for such an absence. If
no explanation is received, absences cannot be authorised.

2. Unauthorised Absence: occurs when the school has not received a reason for absence or has
not approved a child’s leave of absence from school after a parent’s request. This includes:

• Parents giving their children permission to be off school unnecessarily such as for shopping,
birthdays, to look after siblings.
• Truancy before or during the school day.
• Absences which have not been explained and/ or irregular absence.

A school can, if needed, change an authorised absence to an unauthorised absence and vice versa if
new information is/is not presented. Any changes will be communicated to parents/carers. An
example of this would be where a parent states a child is unwell but on return to school there is
evidence that he/she has been on holiday.

Attendance codes for information;

Authorised Absence
I = Illness
M = Medical
R = Religious Observation
S = Study Leave
J1 = An interview with a prospective employer or other educational establishment
C = Leave of absence for exceptional circumstances
C1 = For participating in regulated performance or employment
C2 = Part time
T = Traveller absence (no fixed abode. Related to occupational purposes)
E = Exclusion with no alternative provision

Attending a place other than the school

K = Attending educational provision arranged by the LA
V = Educational visit or trip approved by school
P = Supervised sporting activity approved by the school
W = Work experience
B = Other offsite educational activity
D = Dual attendance

November 2024 Page 11 of 20

Absent due to unavoidable causes
Q = Unable to attend school due to lack of access arrangements
Y = Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
Y1 = Unable to attend due to usual transport not being available
Y2 = Unable to attend due to widespread disruption of travel
Y3 = Unable to attend due to part closure of the school
Y4 = Unable to attend due to whole site being unexpectedly closed
Y5 = Unable to attend as student in criminal justice detention
Y6 = Unable to attend in accordance with Public Health Guidance law
Y7 = Unable to attend due to other unavoidable cause

Unauthorised Absence
G = Holiday not granted or more than agree amount
U = Late (after registers close at 9.00am)
O = Unauthorised absence with no reason given or school not satisfied with reason
L = Late (before registers close)
N = no reason yet provided for absence. (Maximum of 5 days)

Absence Before and/or After Half Term

Any absences falling before and/or after half term will be marked unauthorised unless medical
evidence is received.

Further Guidance
Amendments to school attendance regulations were updated and reinforced on 29th February 2024
which comes into effect from 19th August 2024 in the document Working Together to Improve School
Attendance (see link on the next page). This guidance is statutory with trying to achieve high levels
of school attendance. Improving attendance is everyone’s business. At Slough and Eton, we feel it is
important to work in partnership with families and to find supportive routes to improve attendance.

Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional
circumstances. It is important to note that Headteachers can determine the length of the authorised
absence as well as whether the absence is authorised at all. The fundamental principles for defining
‘exceptional’ are rare, significant, or unavoidable which means the event could not reasonably be
scheduled at another time. There are no rules on this as circumstances vary from school to school
and family to family. There is, however, no legal entitlement for time off in school time to go on
holiday and in the majority of cases holiday will not be authorised.

Taking holidays in term time will affect a child’s schooling as much as any other absence and we
expect parents to help us by not taking children out during school time.

For National Guidance refer to: Working Together to Improve School Attendance 19 August 2024
located at:

November 2024 Page 12 of 20

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file
/1099677/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance

Summary of Responsibilities – Parent /school/Local Authority

https://asset.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6274ecb2d3bf7f5e3916fb5f/Summary_table_of_res
ponsibilities_for_school_ attendance.pdf

Summary of Mental Health – Affecting Attendance

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63dcfbffd3bf7f070ffc1e8d/Support_for_pupils_wh
ere_a_mental_health_issue_is_affectign_attedance_effective_Practice_examples.pdf

November 2024 Page 13 of 20

5. PENALTY NOTICES
The use of a Penalty Notice is an intervention to improve attendance. This is carried out in all cases
below unless the issuing of a Penalty Notice would conflict with other intervention strategies in place
or other sanctions already being processed.

Slough Schools and Slough Borough Council will: use the full range of legal measures to secure good
attendance. Legal measures will only be considered through a referral to Slough’s Attendance Legal
Panel where:

1. The child or family do not require the support from any agency to improve attendance
2. The child has 10 or more sessions of unauthorised absence and parents are complicit in the child’s
absence.

Slough Borough Council may issue a Penalty Notice for any unauthorised absence where the student
has been:
• Absent for 10 sessions (five days of more consecutive unauthorised absence – Code G –
unauthorised holiday.
• Absent for 10 or more half-day sessions (five days of unauthorised absence) during any 10-
week period – these do not have to be consecutive.
• Persistently late (coded U) for up to 10 sessions (five days) after the register has closed.
• Persistently late before the close of the register (coded U), but the school has met with
parents and has clearly communicated that it will categorise as unauthorised any further
lateness (code U), and where the threshold of 10 sessions (five days) has been met.

Before Issuing Penalty Notices

Schools should take all reasonable steps to ensure good attendance without the use of Penalty
Notices.
When a child has become a concern, the school will issue a penalty warning and if there is no
improvement the school will start the Penalty Notice process. Penalty warnings will be given in
writing. Slough and Eton will do its utmost to contact parents/carers before starting the Penalty
Notice process.

The Process of Penalty Notices

At Slough and Eton, the authorised person who can action a Penalty Notice is;
• The Headteacher
Other appropriate adults will be involved in attendance matters and will pass necessary information
to the authorised person who will then pass this on to the attendance legal panel. In cases where an
authorised person has concerns about a student’s attendance, he/she must ensure that contact has
been made with the parents/carers in order to try to resolve any difficulties. If the issuing of a
Penalty Notice is under consideration the authorised person should, in most cases, arrange for a
Penalty Notice warning letter, signed by the Headteacher in the case of schools, to be sent to the
parent/carer. This is completed on the Slough Borough Council Penalty Notice (and warning)
proforma. The letter should include:

• Details of the student’s absence (including attendance certificate)

November 2024 Page 14 of 20

 • An offer to meet with the parent/carer to discuss the concerns and to provide advice and
support in an attempt to resolve any difficulties.
• A statement of the legal responsibilities of the parent/carer regarding attendance.
• The consequences for the parent/carer in failing to ensure his/her child’s regular attendance;
in particular, warning that further unauthorised absences could result in a Penalty Notice or
prosecution.
• An expectation that, after receipt of the warning letter, the level of attendance will
significantly improve and that this improvement will be maintained.

Process to a Penalty Notice

1. Parent/carer contacted regarding attendance concerns.
2. Parent meeting held, review date given, if after the review date there is no improvement
3. Parent is informed by letter regarding the school’s request for a penalty warning notice to be
issue by Slough Borough Council.
4. The Attendance Service at Slough Borough Council issues a Penalty Warning Notice to the
parents(s) to encourage improvement.
5. If there is no improvement and there has been a breech during the warning period, Slough
Borough Council will issue a Penalty Notice (fine) to the parent(s).
6. If the Penalty Notice (fine) is not paid by the specified time period set then this may lead to
prosecution.

Please note in case of an absence through a G code (unauthorised absence through a holiday), - the
Fixed Penalty Notice request is sent to Slough Borough Council to issue.

New National Framework

This is nationwide and also across borders if you move school or house. The three-year rolling period
begins from the date of the first penalty notice issued on or after 19th August 2024

First Offence: the first time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised term time leave or irregular
attendance the amount will be £160 per parent per child paid with 28 days, reduced to £80 per
parent per child if paid within 21 days

Second Offence: Within 3 years of the first offence, the second time a Penalty Notice is issued for
unauthorised term time leave or irregular attendance amount will be £160 per parent per child paid
within 28 days, no reduction for early payment

Third Offence: (within 3 years of the first offence): the third time an offence is committed for
unauthorised term time leave or irregular attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the
case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court. Fines can be around £2500 per parent, per
child. Cases found to be guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show as a criminal record and also on the
parents’ future DBS certificates die to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education.

Payment methods are detailed on the Penalty Notices themselves. Penalties are to be paid to Slough
Borough Council and revenue resulting from payment of Penalties is used by the Council to help
cover the costs of issuing penalty notices and/or cost of prosecuting recipients who do not pay.

Who as affected by Penalty Notices for Non-Attendance?

November 2024 Page 15 of 20
In education law, parents/carers are committing an offence if they fail to ensure the regular
attendance of their child, of compulsory school age, at the school at which the child is registered,
unless the absence has been authorised by the school.

All parents/carers involved in the child’s attendance are subject to the legal measures unless they do
not have the capacity to change the attendance pattern. Parents/carers must inform the school
immediately and access a range of support offered if they feel unable to secure effective change in
their child’s attendance. The authorised person should consider every aspect of a student’s
circumstances before deciding whether to issue a Penalty Notice.

Parent/carers will be warned of the likelihood of a Penalty Notice being issued for unauthorised
absence either via a letter, through the withdrawal from education form, or through the school’s
attendance policy and website.

The Penalty Notice is a fine that is issued to each parent/carer who condoned the absence (or was
responsible for the child) during the period of unauthorised absence for which the fine has been
issued. For each case of unauthorised absence Slough Borough Council will decide whether a Penalty
Notice is issued to one or more parents/carers for each child. N.B. This could mean four Penalty
Notices for a family with two siblings both with unauthorised absence for holiday i.e., one PN for
each child to each parent/carer.

In all cases involving a child in care the authorised person must also send a copy of the warning letter
to the child’s social worker, as well as to the Director of Children’s Services for the LA which has
responsibility for the child if he/she is not exempt.

November 2024 Page 16 of 20

6. SUPPORT WITH ATTENDANCE

Leavers
If a student is transferring to another school, parents/carers are asked to: Give the Attendance
Officer comprehensive information about their plans, including any date of a move and their new
address and telephone numbers, their child’s new education provider and the start date when
known. This should be submitted to our school in writing.

If a student transfers and we do not have the above information, then he/she is considered to be a
CME (Child Missing in Education). This requires schools and LAs to carry out investigations to try to
locate the child, which includes liaising with Children’s Services, the police and other agencies.
Through giving us the above information parents/carers can avoid these investigations.

If the student is moving abroad, we will need evidence of the flight details i.e., a copy of the ticket
and the full names of the person(s) that accompanied the student. We will need to know the full
address of where the student will be staying and the details of the new school when known.

Study Leave
We believe that students’ needs are best met if they attend school every day in the period leading up
to examinations. No study leave will be granted during this period, therefore, and students will be
expected to attend school in the usual way. A bespoke timetable will be provided for the Year 11
students to ensure they get the most from this revision period for their GCSE examinations. Study
leave will only be granted to Year 11 students during the time of the GCSE examination period.
Should any students wish to attend school (or should their parents/carers wish them to) on the days
and at times when they are not sitting examinations, arrangements will be made for them to do so.
The school will work within the following legal requirements:

• Study leave should only be granted to Year 11 students and never to those in other year
groups.
• It should never exceed 15 school days in a year and is most appropriately granted during the
examination period itself, i.e., not before the beginning of that period.
• It should always be granted sparingly, taking account of an individual student’s/ability to
manage and benefit from unsupervised study.
• Any student has the right to attend school during study leave and a parent/carer has the
right to insist he/she does so.
• Any sessions given to students as study leave are classified as authorised absence (coded S as
it is not an ‘approved educational activity’) and should be recorded and reported on by the
school as such.

Teenage Pregnancy
Support will be directed by the key worker to keeping a pregnant student in school and wherever
possible to securing her return to full time education as soon as possible after the birth. A student
who becomes pregnant should be allowed no more than 18 weeks authorised absence to cover the
time immediately before and after the birth of the child. After that time, any absence should be
treated as unauthorised and consequently could result in a penalty notice.

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The Law
The Education Act 1996 Part 1, Section 7 states:

The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him/her to receive efficient
full-time education suitable:
[a] to his/her age, ability and aptitude and
[b] to any special needs he/she may have either by regular attendance at school or
otherwise.

For educational purposes, the term parent is used to include those that have parental
responsibility and/or those that have the day-to-day care of the child.

The legislation that appertains to children who are of compulsory school age and are
registered at school is contained within this Act.

Part V1 Section 444 contains the details of when an offence is committed if a child fails to
attend school.

Register and Admission Roll keeping

The legal requirements are found in: The Education [Pupil Registration] (England)
Regulations 2006

Guidance documents on Attendance

The following DfE documents are used to guide attendance recording:
• Absence and Attendance codes (Guidance for Schools and Local Authorities).
• Keeping Pupil Registers (Guidance on applying the Education Pupil Registration
Regulations).
These and other guidance documents are available on the DfE website.

Request to authorise absence from school due to exceptional circumstances

Schools are only able to authorise absence from school in exceptional circumstances. In
making a request for an authorised absence from school you will need to explain why the
circumstances are exceptional.

Please note: There is no general right to authorise absence for a family holiday. If you take
your child out of school without permission the absence will be unauthorised and we will
consider legal action.

Persistent Absence (PA) thresholds

• The PA thresholds for academic year remain the same as previous years.
• A child is deemed a “persistent absentee” if they reach 38 sessions of absence by the end of
half term 6 – this equates to a 90% or below attendance rate of the child’s possible
attendances.

November 2024 Page 19 of 20

 • In order for schools to keep track of potential PA’s the following thresholds for each half
term can be used to monitor and track potential PA’s – if a child reaches the thresholds
shown below at the end of each half term, and their absence levels continued, then it is likely
they will reach PA level at the end of the academic year;

HT1
September until Any child who reaches 7 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
October half term
HT2
September until Any child who reaches 14 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
Christmas break

HT3
September until Any child who reaches 20 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
February half
term
HT4
September until Any child who reaches 25 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
Easter break
HT5
September until Any child who reaches 32 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
may half term
HT6
September until Any child who reaches 38 sessions of absence (Auth or UA)
summer break

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