Kepier Learner Attendance Policy

Statement of Intent

Every child has a right to access the education to which he/she is entitled.  Parents and teachers share the responsibility for ensuring that attendance at school is maximised and that unjustified and unauthorised absenteeism is kept to a minimum.

High levels of attendance at school significantly impact upon academic and developmental outcomes.  The law relating to school attendance states in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 that the parent of every child of compulsory age shall cause him/her to receive full-time education suitable:

a. to age, ability and aptitude; and

b. to any special educational needs he/she may have either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. 

It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all children.  Every opportunity will be used to convey to students and their parents or carers the importance of regular attendance.

Good attendance is important because:

• statistics show the links between attendance and achievement are strong.  Pupils on target 96% (our school target) are 3 times more likely to achieve level 5 or above than pupils with below 90% attendance;
• regular attenders make better progress both socially and academically;
• regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with;
• regular attenders find learning more satisfying;
• regular attenders are more successful in transferring between primary school, secondary school and higher education, employment or training. 

The staff at Kepier will engage with parents/carers as appropriate.  Attendance is high profile in school and the benefits of good, regular attendance is promoted via social media, tutor time and assembly, text messages, rewards, school trips and certificates of achievement.

The school will challenge those learners and parents/carers who give low priority to attendance and punctuality.

Parental Responsibility

We endeavour to work in partnership with all our parents/carers.  For this to succeed parents/carers need to ensure that:

• learners arrive on time for school in the correct school uniform and ready to learn with all the correct equipment;
• learners stay in school all day (unless there has been a pre-arranged appointment where the school has been informed and the absence authorised);
• wherever possible all personal appointments are made out of school time;
• contact is made with the school to inform them if a child is going to be absent and when they are likely to return to school;
• when a child returns to Kepier any relevant documentation supporting absence (if applicable) is provided via School Synergy, email, or hard copy presented to main office (which can be scanned and returned);
• for all learners identified with having regular medical appointments, repeated, intermittent or long spells of absence through illness or other circumstances; evidence may be requested.  Medical evidence can take the form of a Doctor’s note, a prescribed medication or a recent prescription, a signed appointment card or any other official medical documentation can be used.  We want to support learners during any period of absence; however, without satisfactory evidence to prove a reasonable justification for failure to cause the child to attend regularly at the school, the school may choose not to authorise absences; 
• when learners become persistent absentees (under 90%) due to excessive medical absence Kepier can offer support to parents/carers with a medical sharing agreement.  This is where the parent and child agree to shared communication between School and medical professionals.  This way, school can be led by medical professionals in agreeing suitable mitigation for periods of absence.

Attendance, Trips, Visits and Events 

We look at ‘attitude to learning’ when organising trips and visits and will occasionally stop a learner participating in an event (including Year 11 prom) if statistically their overall attitude to learning is unsatisfactory.  Attendance, progress and behaviour are factored into a learner’s attitude to learning, the final decision will be made by the Headteacher. 

Study Leave 

Study leave may not be granted once the examination syllabus is complete and learners will be expected to remain in school full time until their last GCSE examination.  If study leave is granted, the attendance code ‘S’ will be entered into the register.  DfE guidance (November 2016).  DFE guidance states that ‘Y11 pupils who are 16 years old are of compulsory school age (up to the last Friday in June) and must be marked on the attendance register accordingly’.  A reduced timetable will be implemented to support year 11 learners with independent revision. 

Attendance and Punctuality Procedures

Registration

The school is statutorily required to take an attendance register twice daily.  This will be managed electronically via our Management Information System (MIS).  This system will display present/absent, or late marks.  The attendance administration assistant or Year Managers will update all other marks using the national attendance codes when additional information is received.

• Morning registration takes place in tutor time at 8.30am.  Learners are registered by coaches within the first 10 minutes of the day.  Registers will close at 9.00am.
• Afternoon registration begins at 1:10pm.  Registers will close at 1:40pm.
• Learners arriving after 8.30am or 1.10pm will be registered as late.  Note: Learners are expected to arrive at their place of registration by 8:30am or 1:10pm respectively in order to satisfy the requirement of being on time.
• Learners are also expected to be on time to their 6 lessons each day and will be marked late and issued a negative point for failure to be on time.
• Learners arriving to school late report to the main reception late window where they are recorded as late.  Any Learner late after the register closes (9:00am & 1:40pm) will be statistically marked absent on their am/pm register even though their individual lesson register will record them as late or present.         
• There may be occasional periods during the school year when it is necessary to alter the timing of the registration period.

The attendance register should only be altered:

• where a learner’s name has been legally changed;
• where an unexplained absence has been explained;
• if an error has been discovered;
• any alterations will be recorded on the MIS as a change of mark with reasons for the change; all changes will be dated and initialled. 

First Day Absence

If a child is absent for any reason, parents/carers must notify Kepier by 8.25am on the first day of absence and each subsequent day of absence unless otherwise agreed.  Parents should report absence using the ‘message’ or ‘contact’ section on their child’s School Synergy page, or alternatively by phoning the school number (0191 5128960) choosing the option to report a pupil absence. This information will be placed on the register when it has been received.

A report will be produced by approximately 9.30am which identifies learners whose absence is unexplained; in this case learners will be marked with 'N' (Reason for absence not yet provided).  Contact will be made to establish the reason for absence via a number of possible ways. School Synergy automated message, Year Manager or administration staff direct phone call to parent/carer. 

If contact has not been made or there has been no response from parents/carers then the school may make an unplanned home visit.  The outcome of this visit will be shared with the relevant Year Manager and the attendance administration assistant and logged on file. 

It is the responsibility of the Parent/Carer to provide a written or verbal explanation for any child’s absence.  If no reason is provided for absence after 5 days the absence will be turned to O (unauthorised absence).  Only evidence to support absence in writing can revert this code as there was too long a period without a justification for absence.

Absence Recording

Every absence (am/pm) will be classified as authorised or unauthorised.  This will be confirmed using the National Attendance Codes.

Authorised Absence

Authorised absences include events such as:

• illness;
• bereavement;
• interview;
• medical appointments (where every effort has been made to make this outside School hours);
• approved sporting activities.

Unauthorised Absence

'Unauthorised Absence' is a period of absence which the school does not consider reasonable and no leave of absence has been issued.  This may include events such as:

• family holidays;
• truancy;
• unexplained absences;
• absence without Evidence to support Absence.

Legal Attendance coding

A parent can offer an explanation for their child’s absence, but If a registered pupil of compulsory school age fails to attend school regularly, the parent could be guilty of an offence under section 444 Education Act 1996.  In April 2017, the Supreme Court held that attending school "regularly" means attendance in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school and not "sufficiently frequent attendance".  This means that a child must attend school on every day that the school requires him or her to do so and failure to do this may lead to the commission of an offence.

Truancy

We run a computerised registration system whereby truancy can easily be identified on a lesson by lesson basis.  Truancy checks are carried out on a daily basis.  When a learner is found to truant, the Year Manager/Senior Leader will:

• interview the learner and discuss the reasons for truancy;
• inform the parents/carers of the truancy;
• ensure the truancy is recorded on the learner’s attendance record;
• apply appropriate sanction/intervention for the truancy. 

Holiday Absence

Holidays in term time are classified as unauthorised and marked on the register as G.  This should not change unless it is at the discretion of the Headteacher who deems the absence as exceptional circumstances rather than a holiday, in which case the absence is authorised.

The school must be notified in writing or by email in advance, at least 7 days prior,  by Parent/Carer if they plan to take their child on holiday or out on exceptional circumstance during term time stating the date timeframe and if there are any exceptional circumstances they want considered.  All holidays are subject to the schools attendance monitoring and legal procedures as set out in appendix 1.  Holidays will also be subject to the Local Authority procedures for leave of absence during term time.  School holidays during term time can lead to a FIXED PENALTY NOTICE and/or PROSECUTION issued and administered by the Local Authority as follows:

• For a first offence within a rolling three-year period a Penalty Notice requiring the payment of up to £160, failure to pay the penalty due will result in prosecution before South Tyneside Magistrates Court. No more than 2 penalty notices will be issued to the same parent for the same child in a rolling three-year period, should a third offence occur this will result in direct prosecution in the magistrate court.  
• Prosecution under Section 444 (1) Education Act 1996, where if convicted you may be fined up to £1,000.
• Prosecution under Section 444 (1a) Education Act 1996 where if convicted you may be fined up to £2,500 and/or 3 months imprisonment.

For further information on The Local Authority measures for term time holidays please visit www.sunderland.gov.uk

Alternative Education Placements/Reduced Timetables

Where learners are involved with alternative education placements, an arrangement is made between the alternative provider and School that ensures accurate recording for the child’s attendance.  Both provisions take responsibility for the child’s attendance.  The procedure of recording attendance may have some variation depending on the placement and whether a permanent or temporary arrangement.  If a parent/carer knows that their child is unable to attend their placement they must inform the relevant contact whether school or placement of their absence.  For learners on a reduced timetable, there must be a risk assessment in place and a signed parent/carer responsibility form which explains that the parent/carer takes responsibility for the learner when they are not present in the school.

Long Term Absence

If a child has been in hospital and discharged under medical supervision work packs should be provided for the learner for up to two weeks.  If the learner has not returned to school parents should be invited into school to discuss the appropriate intervention which needs to take place.

Punctuality

It is important to be on time at the start of the morning and afternoon school sessions and to lessons.  The start of school/lessons are used to give out instructions or organise work.  If a learner is late he/she can miss work time with the class teacher getting vital information.  Being late can also cause disruption to the lesson for others.

Sanctions for being late - Kepier promotes all learners to attend school on time, learners who fail to do so will have the following consequences.

Attendance code ‘L’:

• recorded on School Synergy and learner loses 1 point and is included in the daily 3 negative count.

Attendance code ‘U’:

• recorded on School Synergy and the learner loses 3 points and is issued with a 30 minute detention;
• 5 x ‘U’ codes within a half term results in an Attendance panel coordinated by the learners’ Year Manager, placed on a punctuality report and monitored for 3 weeks;
• 3 x ’U’ within the monitoring period, a second Attendance panel is coordinated by Kepier’s Attendance team and specific targets set which are monitored for three weeks;
• failure to successfully complete the targets results in a parental meeting with senior leaders.   

Evidence to Support Absence and Thresholds 

Thresholds for school intervention and authorisation are considered in line with the 96% school target.  See APPENDIX 1 for further details.

Mitigating Circumstances

Kepier understands that individual attendance is unique and often includes exceptional, unusual or mitigating circumstances.  Sometimes these circumstances change or are no longer.  Regular reviews to ensure this information is accurate happen between relevant staff to make the recording of attendance as fair and accurate as possible.

Procedure and Intervention for Unauthorised Absence

All relevant communication with parents/carers regarding attendance will be logged.

The following procedure is followed by the School but depending on the nature of absence a Final Warning Notice (FWN) can be issued at any time if applicable.

When a Learner’s attendance falls below 90% they are classified as a persistent absentee (PA).  When absence can no longer be authorised the following stages will be applied. 

SEE APPENDIX 1 for further details. 

Referral to Local Authority Threshold

• Pupils who are deemed Persistent Absentee (under 90%).
• Block absences of more than 10 sessions of unauthorised absence.
• Irregular attendance with frequent unauthorised absences.
• Prolonged poor attendance pattern, extending to half a term or more.
• Vulnerable pupils exhibiting poor or irregular attendance.
• Pupils with persistent lateness and are marked as unauthorised.
• Those exhibiting a sudden deterioration in their attendance levels, where no

              reasonable explanation is given.

Local Authority and Fixed Penalty Notice

Parents/carers have a duty to ensure that children of compulsory school age receive a suitable education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

• You may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (the penalty is £80 per parent per child) or prosecuted by the Local Authority in the Magistrates' Court and fined up to £1,000.  If it is proved you knew of your child's non-attendance and failed without reasonable justification to ensure regular attendance, a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment may be imposed by the court.

• The court also has the power to direct a Parenting Order requiring your attendance at counselling/guidance sessions and specifying other appropriate action by you as directed by Attendance.

For further information on The Local Authority measures including frequently asked questions please visit www.sunderland.gov.uk – See School Attendance – Information for parents and carers