Attendance

Punctuality brings efficiency and keeps us on track.

Gates open at 08:30 and close at 08:35. We want to help our children start each day feeling ready and prepared, setting them off to a good start. Our pastoral team and attendance officer are here to help and support.

Attendance Officer: Miss R Davis

Absence Line Contact: 01702 478379 opt 1 or 01708 509205

If you arrive after the gate has closed, the attendance officer, will record the name of your child, their class and reason for lateness.

Lateness will be monitored and the attendance officer will work with families to combat morning challenges.

To advise your child will be absent from school or late, please contact us by 09:30 by telephone – 01702 509205.

Attendance Policy: Please see our attendance policy for details here.

Please feel free to contact Miss Davis in the office if you have any morning challenges that you wish to discuss and together we can improve punctuality and attendance.

Being late really matters

We are legally obliged to maintain records of absence. In order to keep our records up to date, on the first day of absence, or before if it is appropriate, we expect parents/carers to inform school as to the reasons for a child's absence using one of the following methods:

Our school operates a first day response to absence and will make telephone contact with parents or other listed adults on the first day of absence, unless parents have telephoned beforehand. On return to school, children should bring a signed note/letter detailing the illness and action taken.

Academy procedures for addressing poor attendance

Please see our attendance policy for details here.

Family holidays in school time

Children are expected to attend every session available to them throughout the school year.

Under section 7 of the education Act 1996, there is no entitlement for you to take your child on holiday during term time. You may be fined for taking your child on holiday during term time without consent of the Academy.

Should parents wish to make an application for a child's absence, they should complete an Absence Request Form, available from the Academy reception. This form asks parents to explain the reason for the intended absence and details of the exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances are defined as "rare, significant, unavoidable and short". The Principal will consider the circumstances for absence and confirm in writing whether the absence will be marked authorised or unauthorised on the student's attendance record. Each request will be judged on a case by case basis. If an event can be reasonably scheduled outside of term-time then it would not be normal to authorise absence for such an event - holidays are therefore not considered 'exceptional circumstances'.

Should the absence be unauthorised and you choose to take the unauthorised leave from the school, then the case may be referred to the Education Welfare Service (EWS). They may choose to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice to you.

A £60 penalty notice may be issued by the EWS to each parent or carer for each child, to be paid within 21 days. If this is not paid within the 21-day period, it will increase to £120. If this is not paid within 28 days, parents or carer's will be prosecuted in the magistrates' court for failing to ensure their children attend school regularly. This could result in each parent or carer receiving a fine of up to £2,500 and / or three months' imprisonment for failing to ensure your child regularly attends school.

Holidays that are either taken in the first 2 weeks of September or carry over from the summer break into the returning first week of term, will be referred to the Local Authority. They may decide to issue a Penalty Notice to parents/carers of that child.

Punctuality

Should your child arrive to school after 8.45am then they will receive a "late" mark on their attendance record for morning registration.

If your child arrives after 09:30am they will be marked with a "U" code showing that they arrived after the start of the first lesson. The "U" code is an unauthorised absence code and will be used unless sufficient evidence is received regarding the absence i.e. medical evidence. This code will affect your child's overall attendance percentage.

Should you require any assistance or advice regarding attendance, our Attendance Officer is available in the office between 8.00am and 4.00pm and can also be contacted by telephone and email:

Telephone: 01702 509205
Email: missdavis@darlinghurstacademy.org.uk