Attendance

Attendance Matters - Every School Day Counts

At William Byrd Primary Academy we aim for our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education and it is vital that they attend regularly and are at school, on time, every day, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

Please ensure when booking medical/dentist or any other appointments for your child, to try and arrange appointments before or after school. If however, you have an appointment during the school day, please collect your child before their lunchtime or after their lunchtime:

Reception - 11:30am-12:15pm

Year 1: 12pm-12:45pm

Year 2: 12pm-12:45pm

Year 3: 12:15pm-1pm

Year 4: 12:15pm-1pm

Year 5: 12:15pm-1pm

Year 6: 12pm-12:45pm

Why Regular Attendance is so Important

Regular absence can have a serious impact on their learning. Any school absence affects the pattern of a child’s learning schedule and disrupts teaching routines affecting the learning of others within the same class.

Attendance Expectations & Procedures

All term time absences are unauthorised except in extreme circumstances, where a meeting will be held with Parents/Carers and the Head of School.

Before booking term time absences, you will need to complete a Term Time Absence Request Form and arrange a meeting with the Attendance Officer.

Persistent lateness can lead to a significant loss in learning time and may also result in a referral being made to the Participation Team.

Absence Due to Illness

This information has been written to help parents/carers make decisions about illness absence and to have confidence that the school will contact you where appropriate.

If your child falls ill in school:

The school will contact you if they have had any sickness or diarrhoea or significant injury.
If your child says they feel unwell the school will ask questions and make a judgement about whether he/she needs to go home, making sure your child knows what to do if it doesn’t improve.

We want all children to get the best out of school and they can only do that when they are fit and well.

We all have days when we just don’t feel up to doing what we have to do and children are the same. As parents/carers how you manage those days will teach your children a lot, not only about the importance of going to school but also about how you as their parents are going to respond when tested.

What to do if you or just one of your children is ill:

You cannot keep your child at home because you are ill, or a brother or sister is ill. This will go down as unauthorised.
Have a think – is there anyone who lives near you that could help you out in times like this?
Is there anyone you could offer this kind of help to?
Everyone needs help sometimes, especially when they have little ones.
We would like to be the kind of school community where everyone had a ‘drop off buddy’.
Why not make that arrangement now before you need it?

Some days it will be clear that your child is too ill for school but what can parents do when they have their doubts? Use the traffic light boxes below to help you make a decision you can be confident in.

If your child is ill and cannot attend school, please contact the Attendance Officer as soon as possible on 01895 462 394 (option 1) or email attendance@williambyrd.school

Red

You should keep your child at home:

For 48 hours after vomiting or diarrhoea.
If they are too ill to get out of bed.
If they have anything contagious. (The school can advise you when to return.)
If they are too ill to learn.
Until you have discussed any broken bones or fractures with the school. (The school may need to complete a risk assessment).

Amber

Think about sending them to school:

If they are playing normally at home in the morning.
If they want to be able to go out that evening.
If the medicine you have given them is enabling them to feel better and enabling them to learn.
If they say they are ill but you feel they are having you on.
Better to send them in late or in the afternoon rather than not at all.

If they have a school worry, promise to talk to the school while they are there.

Most children (like adults) are fine once they are joining in. You can always let the school know that you are concerned and that will help the school with any decision to call you.

Remember having your child sent home from school does not mean it was the wrong decision to send them in. If you think something at school is upsetting your child, talk to them about it and let the school know straight away.

Green

You should send your child to school at all other times including:

As soon as head lice have been treated, hair is washed and dried.
As soon as they are back to being themselves.
If their sibling is ill but they are not.
If they are well enough to learn having been given painkillers etc.

Helping Parents understand Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance

From 19 August 2024, there is a National Framework for Penalty Notice Fines being issued for unauthorised absences recorded by schools.

National Threshold

A single consistent national threshold for when a Penalty Notice must be considered by ALL schools in England, this is:

10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period
These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence
For example, a 5-day unauthorised leave of absence would meet the national threshold
The 10-school week period can span different terms or school years

Who may be fined?

Penalty Notice Fines are issued to each parent who has parental responsibility
For example, 3 siblings absent for unauthorised leave during term-time would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines

First Offence

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised absence, the fine amount will be:

£80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days
If not paid within 21 days, the fine will increase to £160 per parent, per child, payable between the 22nd and 28th day

Second Offence (within 3 years)

The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised absence; a reduced rate is not available. The amount therefore will be:

£160 per parent, per child – payable within 28 days

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 case will be presented straight to the Magistrate’s Court

Prosecution can result in criminal records and fines of up to £2,500 • Cases found guilty in a Magistrates Court can show on the parent’s future DBS certificate (Disclosure and Barring Service) due to a ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’