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The Divine Mercy
Roman Catholic Primary School
‘with Jesus in our hearts and the Children at the centre,
we welcome and reach out to our diverse community in the Christian Spirit’
Attendance/Punctuality Procedures
Attendance
Our school is committed to promoting the welfare of children through regular school attendance. We know that every day lost to education can have a serious impact on a child’s attainment and overall progress in school. We are therefore fully committed to promoting school attendance by providing an environment and ethos where children enjoy learning, feel safe and can build positive relationships with their peers.
A child cannot succeed and achieve their best in school if they are not here. Our and your expectation 100% school attendance.
Why Attendance Is So Important? –
Excellent attendance at school is important to allow a child or young person to fulfil their potential.
- To learn.
- To have fun.
- To make new friends.
- To experience new things in life.
- To develop awareness of other cultures, religions, ethnicities and gender differences.
- To achieve.
- To gain qualifications.
- To develop new skills.
- To build confidence and self-esteem.
- To have the best possible start in life.
WHAT DOES POOR ATTENDANCE MEAN FOR YOUR CHILD?
It is important to realise as a Parent/Carer the impact that absence from school has on the overall development and achievement of your child. It is worth noting the impact of poor attendance in a year.
| Attendance during one school year | Equivalent days | Equivalent Weeks | Equivalent number of lessons missed |
| 95% | 9 days | 2 week | 50 Lessons |
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 100 Lessons |
| 85% | 29 days | 6 weeks | 150 Lessons |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 200 Lessons |
| 75% | 48 days | 10 weeks | 250 Lessons |
| 70% | 57 days | 11.5 weeks | 290 Lessons |
| 65% | 67 days | 13.5 weeks | 340 Lessons |
Pupils below 90% are classed as being persistently absent from school and the local authority expect all schools to take action to improve pupil absence. How we do this-
- School attendance team daily contact/ home visits.
- Whole school approach.
- Attendance meetings/monitoring
- Outside agency support Early Help/ Social services.
- School nurse referral.
- Early intervention Fixed penalty notice for sporadic attendance.
- Where no improvement is made a request for prosecution.
Punctuality
Remember don't be late or you will miss the gate
- The school day starts at 8.45 am, Pupils arriving after this time are late and need to sigh in at reception.
- A pupil who arrives late will receive an L mark.
- Pupils can come into school from 8.35am and get themselves ready for registration.
- Registers close and 9.15 am any pupil arriving after this time will be marked with a U unauthorised absence and parents are warned that they can be issued with a FPN for unauthorised absences.
- School finishes at 3.15pm, school gates will close at 3.25pm any pupils who have not been picked up will have to be signed out as late collection from reception.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE DURING TERM TIME
There have been some key changes around taking your child on holiday during term time.
From 1 September 2013 Government legislation states that schools are no longer allowed to give any entitlement for parents to take their children on holiday during term time. If a parent chooses to take a leave of absence for their child during term time school will inform the local authority and you are warned that you may be issued with a Penalty Notice.
Please contact your school attendance team for advice and information or www.manchester.gov.uk
Absence from School
What the Law Says
Parents have a legal responsibility for ensuring that children of compulsory school age receive a full-time education ‘suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special education needs that they may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise’. Section 7 Education Act 1996.
Parents whose children are on a school register and fail to ensure the regular school attendance of their children, may be guilty of an offence under Section 444 or 444 (1A) of the Education Act 1996. The council may issue a Penalty Notice or take other statutory action through the courts to secure regular school attendance.
Legal Interventions
Penalty Notice
A penalty notice is used as an early intervention and is an alternative to prosecution under Section 444 of the Education Act for irregular school attendance which is not authorised by the school.
The school may request a penalty notice and one will be issued by the council if the request meets the criteria in the Code of Conduct. There is no right of appeal against the issuing of a penalty notice.
Parents may discharge their potential liability for this absence period by paying the penalty notice. Failure to pay the penalty notice may result in prosecution in the magistrate’s court under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
Prosecution
The offence under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996 carries a maximum fine of £1000 and the council will also seek to recover costs.
The more serious offence under Section 444 (1) (a) has a range of sentencing options for the court to impose on each responsible parent, including:
- Fine of up to £2,500
- Community based sentence
- Three months imprisonment
- Subject to a Parenting Order – can be additional to other sentences
- Costs may be awarded to the council
School Attendance Rewards
- Collect 100% Attendance Certificates For Each School Term.
- Gold certificate and 100% badges for whole school year
- Sport Activities
- Days out
- Gifts
- School Assembly
- Class Rewards
Be in the draw to win an iPad for 100% school attendance for the whole year.
Attendance Target 2022/23
97% |
Click the link below to see all our attendance and punctuality policies...
https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/the-divine-mercy-roman-catholic-primary-school/UploadedDocument/84b55c28-0eb2-47a1-bd30-e73189e48cd4/working_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf