Absences

New Attendance Rules from September 2024

Ministers have now published guidance on managing school attendance that will become mandatory from September 2024. Here’s what you need to know.

£80 fines and Improvement Notices

Absence fines charged to parents will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days.  From Autumn term 2024, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. Any notice thereafter will automatically be charged at £160.  Parents will also receive “improvement notices”, where they are informed that this is their last opportunity to engage with education and improve their child’s attendance before a fine is issued.

National fine thresholds

From September, schools will have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. They should “not have a blanket position of issuing or not issuing penalty notices”. The threshold can be met with “any combination of unauthorised absence”. For example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late.

Long-Term Sickness to be Flagged with Local Authorities

Schools will have to give councils the name and address of sick pupils who they believe will miss 15 consecutive or cumulative days. Schools will also be “expected to inform a pupil’s social worker and/or youth offending team worker if there are unexplained absences from school”.

Absences

We ask parents to inform school of the reason for a child’s absence as soon as possible. Please contact the school office on 020 8660 7501 with full details of the child’s absence as soon as possible, and no later than 9:15am on the first day of absence. Please provide full details of your child’s absence (sick or unwell is not sufficient).

Parents must also contact the school office to notify us of an absence for medical/dental appointments.

Parents should be aware that, within the context of the law, parents are not allowed to take children out of school during term times except in the case of illness or for exceptional situations. They are no longer permitted to take children out of school during term time for holidays.

When authorising absence, the Head of School and Governing Body will consider the following:

• the child’s previous attendance history (must be 95%+);
• the age of the child;
• the child’s stage of education;
• the time of year (ie: SATs);
• the nature of the trip (an exceptional experience) and
• whether the parents are restricted in terms of leave from their employer.

Each request will be assessed on an individual basis and documentary evidence may be requested.

If leave is taken without authorisation, then the Local Authority may issue a Fixed Penalty notice of £80 to each parent for each child.

Please ensure you complete a form from the office requesting leave of absence at least 14 days in advance of the proposed absence or you can download one here