DANYGRAIGPRIMARY SCHOOL

Attendance & Punctuality Policy

Danygraig primary School strives to ensure the highest levels of attendance and good punctuality at all times.

a) Teachers are required to keep accurate attendance register records (adhering to designated codes) Registers are marked at the beginning of every session. It is vital that ‘lateness’ is recorded accurately, and forms a key part of the school’s Safeguarding procedures. Teachers are also required to be vigilant in terms of monitoring attendance, punctuality and patterns of absence and lateness. Teachers are told that any concerns should be raised with the Headteacher, and a EW1 form should be completed.

b) The school uses a ‘first day contact’ system. Admin staff will contact a child’s home on the first day of absence unless parents/ guardians have notified the school with confirmation of and reasons for absence.

Reasons for absence will be logged on the school’s electronic system by Admin staff. Teachers, however, must be familiar with reasons for absence and should alert the Headteacher of concerns and/or patterns of absence.

Wherever appropriate and whenever possible the Headteacher or representative will endeavour to contact, by telephone, the parents/guardians of children who are causing concern with regards to attendance or punctuality.

The school will also endeavour to contact the home after the third day of absence if a parent/guardian hasn’t sent an explanation.

  • c) Once a month admin staff will pass a record for each class to the Headteacher or representative. For monitoring purposes the record will indicate all children whose attendance has fallen to 85% or lower.

-A letter (a) will be sent to the parents or guardians of those children;

-If attendance doesn’t improve in the following months then a second letter (b) will be sent to the parents and referral to education welfare will be made.

d)In the event of persistent problems with attendance and/or punctuality the school will notify the designated Education Welfare Officer. Wherever appropriate the school will endeavour to meet with parents/ guardians to discuss issues and to explore ‘ways forward’. It is desirable that a representative of the Education Welfare Service is present at these meetings.

The school will receive feedback from the EWO following home visits, or from ‘ongoing’ cases.

e) Children are constantly praised during the school assemblies. 100% attendance per term is rewarded with certificates, and the class with a weekly highest attendance is also rewarded with a certificate. The importance of good attendance and punctuality is constantly discussed (including Safety aspects) in PSHE/ circle time sessions.

f)The school follows Local Authority and national guidelines on authorising holidays during term time. Authorisation letters however, clearly indicate that the Governing Body of the school strongly disapproves of holidays being taken during school-term time.

g)Punctuality: If children arrive late, they are required to enter school via the main office. The names of ‘late’ children are logged by administration staff. Reasons for lateness are required. If parents accompany children who are late then the parents/guardians are asked for an explanation for the lateness. Again, this information is logged by administration staff. Teachers are made aware of the situation.

h)If parents/guardians collect their children during the day for a medical appointment, then the school will expect to see an appointment card/letter. Parents/guardians will be required to ‘sign a child out.’ (a written log is kept)

i)Children will not be allowed to leave the premises unaccompanied during the school day. The school will only permit a child to leave with a known, responsible adult. If there are any doubts or concerns about the ‘collecting’ adult the Headteacher or representative will carry out investigations or seek further advice before allowing a child to leave the premises.

j)For requests to take children out of school for reasons other than medical appointments, the Headteacher or representative will carefully consider each case individually and will make a decision or advise accordingly. Discretion has to be used in some cases, for example, family bereavement or trauma. In many cases, however, holiday request forms will be required.

k)In cases of persistent problems with punctuality the steps followed by the school and EWO in paragraphs b), c) and d), above, will apply.

l)Overall attendance records for the school are collated and analysed by the school and the Local Authority. This information will also appear in the All Wales Core Data Set. The school will agree a series of targets, including aspirational targets. School performance against targets will be monitored by the Headteacher, the school’s Board of Governors, the Local Authority’s Education Welfare Service and by the Estyn inspectorate.

Accuracy and close attention to recording attendance and punctuality are seen as vital components in the school’s Safeguarding measures. Good attendance and punctuality are also vital to maintaining and improving standards of learning. The school constantly strives to improve attendance and punctuality and works closely with the Education Welfare Service.

It is a parent’s responsibility and duty to ensure a child’s regular attendance (Education Act 1996) If, however, parents have any concerns, difficulties or worries about their child’s attendance or punctuality, we would encourage them to have a chat with a member of staff. The school and Education Welfare Service have access to a variety of caring and supportive professionals and organisations with the experience to help people overcome most difficulties.

The school will ensure that attendance and punctuality feature in school performance analyses and in improvement planning.

The school is required to abide by a local authority Code of Conduct when making decisions on authorised or unauthorised absences. We will also be required to abide by the Code of Conduct when making decisions on requests for authorization of holidays taken during school term-time. W will be required to look at a child’s existing attendance, and also to look at the possible impact the holiday would have on the child’s overall annual attendance before making a decision. If the child’s overall attendance is deemed unacceptable and actions taken by the school (see policy above) fail to bring about improvement, then the school is bound, by the Code of Conduct, to request the issue of a Penalty Notice.

Penalty Notices for regular non-attendance at school – Please Refer to Code of Conduct

1. / The Education (Penalty Notices) (Wales) Regulations 2013 introduced fixed notice penalties for regular non-attendance at school. Welsh Government has required all Local Authorities to draw up and implement their own Local Codes of Conduct to ensure consistency in the issuing of Penalty Notices.
2. / Welsh Government states that Penalty Notices are one option among a number of different interventions available to promote better school attendance, thus the introduction of these Regulations is one element of Welsh Government strategy to support improved school attendance across Wales.
3. / Swansea has worked with partner authorities within the ERW Regional Partnership to develop a common Code of Conduct and accompanying documentation to support the implementation of the Regulations.
4. / The Draft Code of Conduct has formed the basis of consultation undertaken between the 4th and 28th November 2014. An Equalities Impact Assessment has also been completed.
5. / The expectation of Welsh Government was that all Local Authorities would have their Codes of Conduct in place by September 2014. The process of joint working within the Regional Consortium has resulted in some delays in production, but the advantage is that approaches and implementation should be consistent across borders within the Region.
6. / The Regulations enable the issue of Penalty Notices which incur a fine of £60 (rising to £120 if paid after 28 days, but within 42 days). Criteria for issue are at least 10 sessions (five school days) of unauthorised absence during the current term, contingent with overall attendance falling below 90% in the school year to date. Penalty Notices may also be issued for persistent late arrival at school i.e. after the register has closed (at least 10 sessions), in conjunction with attendance falling below 90% within the current school year.
7. / Holidays in term time may result in the issue a Penalty Notice, if the holiday is not authorised by the Headteacher. Welsh Government Regulations give Headteachers discretion to determine whether or not to authorise holidays in term time.
8. / Requests for Penalty Notices will be issued by schools with the processing being undertaken by the Education Welfare Service.
9. / The Regulations allow any potential fine income to be held to off-set against costs incurred in bringing proceedings. Any surplus income must be remitted back to Welsh Government. At this stage estimates of likely income lack an evidence base. However, Bristol, a similar sized Authority which already implements Penalty Notice procedures, issued approximately 1,000 in the last year.
10. / Parents who do not pay the fine may be liable to prosecution under the Education Act 1996 for ‘Failure to attend school’, not for non-payment of the Penalty Notice fine.

Parental request for term-time absence for holidays.

Agreed by Education legal department (City and County of Swansea) June 2014.

The Local Authority is fully supportive of the national drive to raise school attendance, recognising the crucial link between attendance and attainment. It is already clear from attendance data to date that the strategy of actively discouraging the taking of holidays in term time has resulted in a significant improvement in attendance across schools in the City and County of Swansea.

The Local Authority therefore intends to pursue this strategy as part of its drive to raise school attendance. Whilst individual requests will be considered, no absences due to holidays during term times will be authorised by the Headteacher, other than in exceptional circumstances. This means absences due to pupils being taken on holidays during term time will be recorded as unauthorised.'

Statement Re Penalty Notices. (This can also be found on the school’s Portal Website)

The Education (Penalty Notices) (Wales) Regulations 2013 introduced fixed notice penalties for regular non-attendance at school.

The Welsh Government has required all local authorities to draw up and implement their own Local Codes of Conduct to ensure consistency in the issuing of penalty notices. The code will be implemented in Swansea from January, 2015.

The Welsh Government states that penalty notices are one option among a number of different interventions available to promote better school attendance.The introduction of these regulations is one part of the Welsh Government strategy to support improved school attendance across Wales.

The introduction of these regulations mean that parents may now be fined for their child(ren)’s regular non-attendance at school.

The local code of conduct, which explains how penalty notices will operate, is available on the Swansea Council website

On the website the local authority has also provided answers to some frequently asked questions. Parents/carers will also receive explanatory letters and information leaflets from their child’s school in January, 2015.

If any parent has concerns about their child/s attendance, then please speak to staff in school for advice and support.

The Governing Body of Danygraig Primary Scholl has adopted the above policy, including actions and procedures with regard to penalty notices.

Signed: Cllr C Lloyd Chair of Governors

Date: 20th April 2015

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Policies Policy & Procedures for Attendance & Punctuality