The Law
Your child must receive full-time education. As parent or carer, you are responsible for making sure this happens. Irregular attendance will undermine your child’s education. Statistics show that children who miss school can become victims of crime and some are drawn into anti-social behaviour.
Authorised Absence
Only the head teacher can authorise absence. They are not obliged to accept your explanation. Absence can be authorised for the following reasons: sickness; a one off event such as sibling graduation; family bereavement; a public performance.
Medway Council operates a ‘Truancy Watch’ scheme. You must have a pass for your child if they attend an appointment off site during school time.
Absences will not be authorised if:
- Another member of the family is ill
- The family have overslept or had a late night
- There are problems with uniform/clothing
- You have forgotten school dates
- Your child attends a medical/dental appointment for more than half a day without written proof that this is necessary
- There is an annual family event such as a birthday
- You take your child shopping
Holiday in School Time
You do not have automatic right to withdraw your child from school for a family holiday. In law, you must apply for permission in advance. Pupils will not be granted holiday:
- If their attendance is below 95% (This will be taken from the previous 9 months to present day depending when the holiday is to be taken)
- During the first two weeks of the academic year
- During timetabled examinations (normally 2nd week in May)
If a holiday is taken without prior permission/approval, this period will be registered as unauthorised and a Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued where a parent has caused 10 sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence in a school term. This sanction is £50 (per responsible adult per child) if paid within 28 days of issue or £100 if paid within 42 days. You could end up with an automatic referral to the Magistrates court if not paid.
Monitoring Attendance
The school has a ‘five-step’ approach to monitoring absence and lateness. It will not always be appropriate to progress through all of these steps or even to carry them out in the order listed.
‘Five Steps’
- Telephoning home on the first day of absence
- Weekly checking of attendance with the Education Welfare Officer
- Referring low attendance to the Education Welfare officer
- Inviting parents/carers to a school Attendance Clinic
- Prosecution
Lateness
Lateness may also be referred to the Education Welfare Officer and can provide grounds for prosecution. Children must be encouraged to walk directly to school as quickly as possible in order to keep themselves safe.
Helpful Hints
- Telephone the school before 09:30 on the first day of your child’s absence
- Notify the school well in advance of any medical appointments
- Collect a Medway School Pass in advance of any appointments
- Respond to school enquiries about unexplained absence
- Provide evidence, such as a letter from the hospital, for whole day medical appointments
- Keep us well informed of any ongoing medical conditions your child has that may affect their attendance
- Make sure you have alternative arrangements for a friend or relative to get your child to school in an emergency
- If you do not have an alternative contact, we may be able to help
- If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, bring them anyway. They often perk up during the day but we will contact you if they do not
- If your child has a well-known childhood illness, contact the school for advice on recovery time. We have all the up to date information.
Authorised/Unauthorised absences at Glencoe
The law requires us to report in the prospectus the percentage of authorised and unauthorised absences recorded at the school for the preceding year. For the academic year 2009/2010
- Attendance – 93.2%
- Authorised Absence – 5.0%
- Unauthorised Absence – 1.8%
The school target for 2010/11 is 6.75%.