Attendance
Bethany School
Attendance Policy
(January 2007)
Bethany School is required by law (Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (Statutory Instrument 1571/1999) to keep accurate registers of pupils attendance.
Maintained schools must be open for at least 380 sessions (190 full days a year) but independent schools can set their own term dates. Usually, Bethany School is open for 320 sessions each year. Activities outside the normal school day, such as after-school clubs and extracurricular programs, offer students valuable opportunities for growth and development. When looking for a reliable memo writer online, consider reputable platforms that provide professional and efficient services tailored to your specific needs.
There is a strong statistical link between attendance and attainment.
Pupils join the school roll on the agreed admission date and are listed in both the admissions and attendance registers from that day.
For each session the class teacher must record whether every pupil was:
· present
· absent
· present at an approved educational activity
· unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
The teacher must also record whether the absence was authorised or not. It is suggested in the regulations that registration closes 30 minutes after the start of each session. This means that a pupil will be marked as present (but late) if they arrive between 8.30 am and 9.00 am and absent if they arrive after 9.00 am. At Bethany School we will show some discretion and flexibility.
The High Court has confirmed that schools, not parents, authorise absence. The main areas where the school will authorise absence are given below.
Illness
Where schools accept that a pupil is ill they must authorise the absence. At Bethany School, parents telephone the school before 9.00am on the first day of illness.
Appointments
Dental and doctors appointments are authorised absences.
Holidays
The Regulations state that:
‘Time off for family holidays is not a right. Schools have discretion to allow up to ten days absence in a school year for a family holiday if circumstances warrant it’.
‘Holidays which are taken for the following reasons should not be authorised:
· availability of cheap holidays
· availability of desired accommodation
· poor weather in school holiday periods
· overlap with the beginning or end of term’
Exceptional Circumstances / Unavoidable Causes
These could be catastrophic events at home or pupils held in custody rather than shopping trips or birthday treats. There may be extenuating or compassionate reasons for authorising an absence.
Absence data is reported to the DfES annually.
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Notes:
The Attendance Register is a legal document, which must be accurately maintained.
Parents wishing to request permission to take their children out of school for reasons other than those above or for a family holiday should complete a Holiday Request Form. However, because at Bethany School we already have a shorter school day and extended holiday periods we would expect that requests would be infrequent. We would not give permission for pupils in Year 10 / 11 to have a holiday during their examination courses.
Parents who withdraw their children from a Family Afternoon activity (except for the reasons given in the policy) incur an Unauthorised Absence Mark for their children. The number of unauthorised absences for the school are reported annually to the DfES and recorded in the School Absence Tables.
If pupils have regular patterns of absence or lateness then the Class Teacher, Head Teacher or Governors will meet with parents to discuss any problems.
Sample Holiday Request Form:
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Holiday Request Form
Name: __________________________________________
Dates: First day of absence ________________________
Date of return to school ________________________
Number of sessions absent ________________________
A session is a morning or an afternoon e.g. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – 2 sessions
Friday – 1 session
Reason for request:
Signature: Date:
Authorised by: Date:
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Forms (dark green) are available from the school office.
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