“Education is the passport to the future, and attendance is the stamp that gets you there.”
Pupils are required to attend school daily. Our school hours are 8.50am – 3.10pm. Parents must inform the school of a reason for absence before 9.30am to prevent the absence being recorded as unauthorised. Any unauthorised absences are reported to the Education Welfare Officer. School attendance is monitored by the Head of School, Attendance Officer (Mrs Ackers) and the Local Authority, in accordance with the Education Attendance Regulations.
Punctuality is important both for the child and the teacher. Please ensure that your child arrives at school at 8.40am as the gated open. A child arriving at school after this time will be recorded officially as late.
Mereside diagram showing timings linked to lateness and codes used:
Our Education Welfare Office will contact parents if they, or the school, have any concerns about attendance or lateness. The Education Welfare Officer visits the school once every half term and works closely with school to ensure that all children are receiving their educational entitlement. As is the case with attendance, persistent lateness is recorded & reported to Local Authority.
Attendance Policy
Did you know?
Good attendance means being in school 95% of the time. Did you know… a 2 week holiday in term time means the highest attendance you can achieve is 94.5%
Let’s work together to reduce school absences!
INFORMATION: A new guide for parents on improving school attendance
Members of the Attendance Action Alliance have worked with the Department for Education to develop this short guide, which helps parents understand how they can work with their school and local authority to support their children to attend school and get the right support.
Parental Responsibility
Parents and carers must make sure their children go to school regularly. By law, school-age children must get a full-time education. Not doing so may lead to fines or legal action and can harm their learning, friendships, self-esteem and confidence.
Pupil Leave of Absence
It’s known that missing school for any reason can cause a child to fall behind in their learning. Sometimes children will find it difficult to settle back into school after a break.
When children are taken out of school during term not only does the education of the individual child suffer, but it can cause disruption to the rest of the class, with teachers having to repeat work and give extra help so that the pupil can catch up. There are 190 school days in an academic year, leaving 175 days free for families to take holidays. Not taking into account other absences, just taking a fortnight’s holiday each year means that, between the ages of five to 16, a child would miss around half an academic year of learning.
What does the law say?
As of 1 September 2013 there has been a change in the The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006. Where there used to be an option for headteachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time in ‘special circumstances’ of up to ten days in a year, this has been removed.
Headteachers are now only allowed to authorise any leave of absence when an application has been made in advance, and it’s felt to be for an exceptional circumstance. The annual family holiday wouldn’t be deemed an exceptional circumstance.
What should I do if I wish to request a leave of absence?
You should contact your child’s school to find out how to make a request for permission. We’d strongly recommend that you do this before planning any leave of absence.
Who should make the request?
The request should be made by the parent or carer with whom the child lives. This is the case even where it’s another person who wishes to take the child out of school.
How much could I be fined if my child misses school?
In the majority of cases, schools and local authorities will try and provide support to help you improve your child’s attendance first, but if this isn’t effective or the absence is for unauthorised term time holiday, parents may face paying a fine.
It’s the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents, meaning the process varies from council to council.
However, under the national rules, all schools are required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.
In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.
Money raised via fines is only used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support. Any extra money is returned to the government.