Ferney Lee Primary School

Attendance

The national target for all children is 95% attendance. In order to achieve this, it is vital that children attend school regularly and are only absent in the case of illness or for exceptional circumstances. The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have. It is the legal responsibility of every parent to make sure their child receives that education either by attendance at a school or by education otherwise than at a school. 

Improving school attendance has been a focus for our school and the government over a number of years.  From September 2024 the government introduced a framework for improving school attendance. This framework introduced some changes to way schools and local authorities approach attendance, in particular unauthorised attendance and term time leave. For more information, please read the Working Together Improve School Attendance August 2024

Encouraging good attendance

The staff at Ferney Lee strive to make every child feel safe and welcome in school.  Children are at the centre of our school community, and we work hard to build good relationships with them and their families.

If a child is experiencing difficulties at home or at school, then our staff team are there to listen to their worries and help get the support that they or their family need.

Parents/Carers are regularly made aware of their child’s attendance, through parents’ meetings and the end of year report.  We use a traffic light system to colour code attendance data to parents, setting out what our expectations are and the level of concern their child may be reaching.

How absence equates to lost learning

Children who are persistently late or absent soon fall behind with their learning. Children who are absent from school frequently develop large gaps in their learning which will impact on their progress and their ability to meet age related learning expectations.

Absences

It is the parent/carer's responsibility:

• To notify the school on the first day of absence before 9:30am or as soon as possible. Parents should report an absence by telephoning the school, 01706 254848 (option 2) & leave a voice mail message.  We then expect parents to contact school everyday of their child's illness. Children should be back in school as soon as they are well enough. 
• To provide medical evidence, if needed, on the child’s return to school.
• To ensure that, as far as possible, medical appointments are arranged for outside school hours. Where this is not possible, parents are expected to provide evidence of the appointment in advance, and the child should attend school before/after the appointment to ensure that they are not missing important learning.
• To liaise with the school as soon as possible regarding any specific issues that might cause absence or lateness, e.g. a sick parent/carer.

Parents/carers of children for whom we do not know the reason for absence will be contacted after 9:30am.

 Is my child too ill for school?

We all know that everyday attendance at school is vital for children to get the most out of their education. However, we recognise that children may be ill at some point and therefore some absence is unavoidable.

We understand it can be tricky deciding whether or not to send your child into school. Please use the NHS link below to help you decide.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ 

or see the poster below

Absence for Holidays

Since September 2013 schools are not allowed to authorise any requests for children to be taken out of school for a holiday during term time.  Parents/carers are expected to take their children on holiday during the school holidays to minimise the impact of missing education.

Requests for absence can only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and a holiday would not be considered ‘exceptional’.  Requests must be made to the school in advance, as the DfE insists schools cannot authorise any absence after they have been taken.

Any request of absence must be put in writing to the headteacher by parents/carers in advance  (ideally at least 4 weeks prior), which explains why they require their child to miss school.

If parents/carers decide to take a holiday during term time, the child’s absences will be marked as unauthorised. 

Penalty Notices can be issued by the Education Welfare Service for unauthorised holiday absence during term time.

Please see the information below regarding Penalty Notice fines from Calderdale Council: