IMPORTANT CHANGES TO ATTEDANCE IN SCHOOLS

Dear Families of Essendine,

Firstly, we’ve been back for just over three weeks now. It’s been great to see the children return, enthused and full of energy to learn and grow this academic year.

I’ve written to you in the past about school attendance on several occasions. However, from this September, there is new statutory guidance, that schools have to follow now, in order to tackle the growing rise in absence in our schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

This means there are some important changes to the Federation attendance policy, which is attached to this email, and the way in which leave should be requested and in turn will/will not be authorised. This includes:

• A leave of absence will only be granted to a pupil during term time if the request meets the specific circumstances as outlined on page 8 of the policy.

• In the event of an exceptional circumstance, leave of absence will only be granted for two days. Absence for any length of time longer than this will be recorded as unauthorised and may result in a penalty notice. 

• A leave of absence will not be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.

• Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least three weeks before the absence, and in accordance with the leave of absence request form. The school will require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.

As a Federation, we have noticed regular and persistent patterns of absence from school, and moving forward we are taking definitive steps to combat these moving forward. Some of the regular requests for leave include:

• A family member is unwell abroad. Typically, this occurs before or after a school holiday with some families repeatedly taking time off.

• As was the case this year, we also have a high number of absences due to illness before and after school holidays with no evidence to support any illness at all.

• Absence for very minor illness that doesn’t meet the threshold for absence from school.

• Absence from school because there is no one to bring your child to school.

Whilst I have sympathy for genuine cases of the above, unfortunately there has been a significant increase in the number of families misusing the such excuses to take term time leave. As such, we will be taking the following steps to determine if your request for leave will be met including:

• Providing evidence to support requests for leave. This will include receipts for flights etc., not just ticket details. This is your responsibility as a parent to provide this and you will be given a deadline to do so. If you fail to provide this in a timely manner, it can result in the absence being recorded as unauthorised and result in a penalty notice.

• Understanding what steps that you have taken to limit disruption to your child’s education due to absence, including but limited to seeing if you have made other arrangements for family members to bring your child to school/care for them if you need to go abroad.

• Previous attendance records for your child will be reviewed across their previous years to see if there have been similar requests for similar reasons at similar times.

As such, you are invited to review the flow chart which will hep you determine if your request for leave will be considered, before you make that request. This is downloadable from the section below in Arabic and English.

You should also take time to read the attendance policy regarding penalty notices and fines for parents, as there are significant changes to this process, this can be found on pages 9 and 10 of the policy.

Whilst this may sound punitive, good school attendance leads to good outcomes. Not only is it extremely disruptive to your child’s education, but in order to support your child to close the gaps that unnecessary absence causes, it increases the workload of Teachers and Teaching Assistants, and takes away from the valuable learning time of other children.

Good school attendance is everyone’s responsibility, and by electing to send your child to Essendine school, means that you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the Federation policy and therefore, will be held to account under the requirements set out in the policy and this letter.

Let’s continue to work in partnership to increase school attendance.

Kind Regards

Aaron Sumner 

Executive Headteacher

North Westminster Federation