School Attendance

At Prior Heath Infant School, we believe in developing good patterns of attendance and set high expectations for the attendance and punctuality for all our pupils from the outset. The school staff, alongside the Local Authority and Department for Education, strongly believe that all children benefit from regular school attendance in order for them to achieve their full potential. To this end, we will do all we can to encourage parents/carers to ensure that the children in their care achieve our expectation of 100% attendance and that any problems that prevent full attendance are identified and acted upon promptly. It is a central part of our school’s vision, values, ethos and day to day life. We recognise the strong connections between attendance, attainment, safeguarding and wellbeing.

The name and contact details of the Senior Attendance Champion (the senior leader responsible for the strategic approach to attendance in our school) is:

Mrs Lindsey Chivers, Headteacher. Email: info@prior-heath.surrey.sch.uk.

The name and contact details of the school staff member children and parents should contact about attendance on a day-to-day basis is:

Mrs Jill Harris, Senior School Administrator. Email: info@prior-heath.surrey.sch.uk

The governor with responsibility for monitoring attendance is: Mrs Krasi Morris.

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 or disability 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.

Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly and on time. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

The Department for Education (DfE) has produced statutory guidance for maintained schools, academies, independent schools, and local authorities. It is called “Working together to improve school attendance” and it includes a National Framework in relation to absence and the use of legal sanctions. Our School Attendance Policy (below) reflects the requirements and principles of that guidance.

This policy is written with the above guidance in mind and underpins our school ethos to:

Promote children’s welfare and safeguarding.
Ensure every child has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled.
Ensure that children succeed whilst at school.
Ensure that children have access to the widest possible range of opportunities at school, and when they leave school.

Helping to create a pattern of regular attendance is the responsibility of parents, children and all members of school staff.

We will:

Develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance.
Accurately complete admission and attendance registers and have effective day to day processes in place to follow-up absence.
Submit a daily attendance return to the Department of Education, in line with the legal expectations placed on all schools.
Build strong relationships with families, listen to and understand barriers to attendance and work with families to remove them.
Regularly monitor and analyse attendance and absence data to identify children or cohorts that require support with their attendance and put effective strategies in place.
Give parents/carers details on attendance in our termly attendance newsletters.
Contact parents/carers should their child’s attendance become a concern.
Share information and work collaboratively with other schools in the area, the Local Authority and other partners when absence is at risk of becoming persistent or severe.

Punctuality

Poor punctuality is not acceptable and can sometimes lead to irregular school attendance patterns. Good time-keeping is a vital life skill which will help children as they progress through their school life and out into the wider world.

Children who arrive late disrupt lessons and, if a child misses the start of the day, they can feel unsettled and embarrassed and risk missing vital work and important messages from their class teacher.

The times of the start and close of the school day for all pupils at Prior Heath Infant School are:

Gates open at 8.30am

Classroom doors open at 8.40am and are locked at 8.50am

Registers are taken promptly at 8.50am

Registers close at 9.20am

Afternoon registers are taken at 1.00pm

End of the school day is at 2.50pm

How we manage lateness:

The school day starts at 8.40am when children can begin to come into school;

Registers are taken at 8.50am.
Children arriving after 8.50am are required to come into school via the school office. Office staff will sign them in and the child will be marked as present in the register but recorded as late ‘L’. Parents must provide a reason for their child’s lateness which is recorded.
At 9.20am the registers will be closed. In accordance with the Regulations, if a child arrives after that time, they will receive a mark that shows them to be on site – ‘U’, but this will not count as a present mark and it will mean that they have an unauthorised absence.
The school may contact parents/carers regarding punctuality concerns.
From time to time a member of the governing body may undertake a ‘Late Gate’ check, greeting late arrivals at the main entrance to the school.

Leave of Absence

A ‘Leave of Absence Request Form’ (below) must be completed in advance for any planned absence including medical or dental appointments.

Approval for term-time absence

The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 set out the statutory requirements for schools. Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are “exceptional circumstances”.

Only the Headteacher may authorise an absence request. Each request will be considered on a case by case basis, considering the specific facts, circumstances and relevant background context behind the request. The Headteacher may also request evidence to support any request for leave of absence.

The Leave of Absence form will be returned to the parents indicating whether or not the absence has been authorised. Where a parent removes a child after their application for leave was not authorised, or where no application was made to the school, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. It is likely that penalty notices will be requested, in respect of each parent believed to have allowed the absence.

Penalty Notices

The Surrey Attendance Service, acting on behalf of Surrey County Council may issue a Penalty Notice as an alternative to the prosecution of a parent/carer for their child’s unauthorised absence from school and require the recipient to pay a fixed amount.

Circumstances when a Penalty Notices may be issued:

Pupils identified by police and Surrey Attendance Advice Officers engaged on Truancy Patrols and who have incurred unauthorised absences.
The Education (Pupil Registration)(England)(Amendment) Regulations 2013, state that Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Headteacher is required to determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted. Where a child is taken out of school for 10 sessions or more and the ‘leave of absence’ is without the authority of the Headteacher, each parent is liable to receive a penalty notice for each child who is absent. In these circumstances, a warning will not be given where it can be shown that parents had previously been warned that such absences would not be authorised and that they will be liable to receive a Penalty Notice if the leave of absence is taken.
The issue of a Penalty Notice will also be considered where a pupil has incurred 10 or more unauthorised sessions during the preceding 10 school weeks. The parents’ failure to engage with supportive measures proposed by the school will be a factor when considering the issue of a Penalty Notice. Unauthorised absence will include late arrival after the close of registration without good reason.
Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty on parents to ensure that their child is not in a public place without justifiable cause during school hours when they are excluded from school. This duty applies to the first five days of each exclusion. Failure to do so will render the parent liable to a Penalty Notice. If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the recipient will be prosecuted for the offence under Section 103. Alternative education provision will be made from the sixth day of any exclusion and failure to attend such provision without good reason will be treated as unauthorised absence.

Further information can be found in the documentation below.

If you have any questions or require further support regarding your child’s attendance, please contact the school office.

Attendance Quick Guide for Parents (PDF, 109.01 kB)

Letter to parents – attendance guidance 2024 (PDF, 108.53 kB)

Attendance Policy – September 2024 (PDF, 343.61 kB)

Prior Heath Leave_Request_Form.Parents_to_school _September 2024 (PDF, 124.15 kB)