Attendance
School Attendance
We know that a child’s attendance has a direct impact on their learning. Those children who are regularly absent from school and regularly attend school late do not achieve their potential and do fall behind in class and may struggle with friendships. Please support the school in this by ensuring that your child attends school regularly and arrives ready to learn at 8.30am.
Please read the Hertfordshire Parent Guide
Attendance Information
- Children are expected to arrive on the playground between 8.10am and 8:20 am.
-
Classroom doors will be opened at 8.20am.
-
There will be an adult by the entrance door to each classroom in the mornings.
-
The registers close at 8.30am. Your child should be ready and sitting at their desk ready to learn.
-
If your child arrives after 8.30am they will need to come through the front door, so that your child can be registered at the office.
-
If your child arrives after 8.30am but before 8.40am, your child will be marked at Late.
-
If your child arrives after 8.40am, your child will be marked as Unauthorised
-
The gates open at the end of the day at 2.50pm ready for parents to collect their child at 3.00pm.
-
You are able to check your child’s attendance on Arbor. Poor school attendance is below 95%.
-
If you are worried about your child’s school attendance, please do contact us on 01442 973174 or email admin@aycliffedrive.herts.sch.uk
Total time in a typical week, including breaks, is 32.5 hours.
To Attend Or Not To Attend?
As you are all aware, Covid-19 has had a massive impact on pupil’s education across the country. With the effects that Covid-19 has had on children’s education and mental health, it is more important than ever that we try to improve attendance in our school. In order to close any gaps that children may have developed because of the pandemic we need every child in school learning.
We carry out First Day Response. This means that if your child is absent you need to contact the school on the first morning of absence. If no contact is made, then somebody from the office will telephone to request a reason for the absence. Please also inform the office if you know in advance that your child will be absent for medical appointments.
However, please do not send them in if they have an infectious illness, e.g. chickenpox. (Please take advice from your GP) If your child has had diarrhoea or been sick, they must be kept off school for 48 hours from the last incident. This is to ensure that the infection does not spread through the school. If you are unsure if your child can attend school, please contact the school office for further information on 01442 973174.
If your child is off from school, please confirm their absence in writing. Your Child’s absence will only be authorised once confirmation in writing has been received. If your child has below average attendance, you may be asked to provide medical evidence to ensure that the absence is authorised.
Punctuality, Wakey, Wakey, Rise and Shine
Regular attendance also means punctual attendance, it is important for you children to arrive on time; late arrival is disruptive to the class and upsetting for the children concerned. Please ensure that your child arrives in good time for registration.
Attendance Scheme
We are actively encouraging children to attend school regularly through our attendance scheme where children receive certificates for 100% or high attendance and a movie afternoon at the end of the year. Every week an attendance cup is awarded to the class which has the highest attendance This year we have set an attendance target at 97% and we need to work really hard to meet this year’s target. If you have any issues or concerns that you feel may be impacting your child’s attendance please contact us on 01442 973174 or email admin@aycliffedrive.herts.sch.uk.
Term Time Holidays and Absence
Children should not be taken out of school for holidays or days out during term time. However, if this is unavoidable, then a permission form needs to be obtained from the office. The head teacher will be unable to give permission if this coincides with your child’s SATs tests (year 6 only) which take place in May. Absence from school will only be authorised in extreme circumstances in line with Government guidelines.
If a holiday is taken without request or authorisation, a Penalty Notice Fine may be issued to the Parents/Carers on their return.
Legal bit
By law, all children must receive a full time education. As a parent/carer, you are responsible for making sure that your child attends school regularly and on time. If your child fails to attend school regularly and the absences are unauthorised, as a parent/carer you are guilty of an offence under Section 444 of The Education Act 1996. Failure to attend school could result in prosecution and can result in criminal records and fines up to £2.500.00
National Threshold
-
There is a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions, (AM=1 session, PM=1 session) 1 day = 2 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period.
-
These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence.
-
The 10-school week period can span different terms or school years.
Cost of a penalty notice
First offence
The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for term time leave of absence or unauthorised absence the amount will be:
-
£160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.
-
Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
Second offence (within 3 years)
The Second time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised absence the amount will be:
-
£160 per parent, per child within 28 days
-
There is no reduced sum available in this instance.
Part payments or payment plans are not acceptable, and fines must be paid in full within 21 or 28 days, at the rate specified within the penalty notice.
Payment after the deadline may be accepted in exceptional circumstances. In this situation, the higher amount of £160 is usually payable and must be paid immediately and in full.
When paying a penalty notice fine, parents are essentially agreeing to an out of court settlement in respect of the unauthorised absences to which the notice refers. Payment in full against the penalty notice discharges the parent’s legal responsibility for the period of unauthorised absence outlined in the Notice and the parent cannot be subsequently prosecuted for that period.
Third offence and any further offences (within 3 years)
The third time an offence is committed a Penalty Notice will not be issued and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrate’s Court.
-
Prosecution can result in criminal records and fines up to £2.500.00
-
Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on a parent’s future DBS certificate due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’.
If you don’t pay the penalty notice in the given time, Hertfordshire County Council will prosecute you (if the notice hasn’t been withdrawn).
Per parent, per child
Penalty Notice Fines are issued to each parent, for each child that was absent. For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave, would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines.
Section 576 of the Education Act 1996 states that, in relation to a child or young person, a ‘parent’ includes any person who is not a parent (from which can be inferred ‘biological parent’) but who has parental responsibility for or care of the child.
Parent refers to a person who typically has care of a child or young person if the child lives with them either full or part time and they look after them, irrespective of what their biological or legal relationship is with the child.
Make every school day count!!!