Attendance and Punctuality

ATTENDANCE MATTERS...

Regular attendance is important if your child is to achieve success in
school and we are working hard to reduce levels of pupil absence.

To report a child’s absence, please call the absence line 01243 832667 as the main point of contact,
preferably before 8.30am

You can ring the email attendance officer before 8.30am but we would prefer you call

Parents and carers are required to contact the school for every day of their child's absence to ensure safeguarding procedures are followed.

If you need to contact the school for Attendance purposes 

Mrs Farnes on 01243 832262 - email here

** Requesting leave for an appointment during the school day **

Please can we remind you that if you need to take your child out of school during the school day for an appointment, we ask that you contact the team via email in advance of the appointment or with as much notice as possible. 

Your child will then need to report to the Attendance office by the Library on the morning of the appointment to collect a school exit pass to present to the teacher when leaving their lesson. 

They must sign out in main reception before they leave.

If an appointment is made on the day we cannot guarantee that your child
will receive the message and you will still need to confirm the appointment with a letter/email.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS...

It is the parent’s/carers responsibility to ensure their child/children can access their education and the support we will offer you with this.

Missing school means missing out on so many things such as being with friends, experiencing new activities and learning new skills as well as impacting on a young person’s future prospects.

Future employers and training providers look to see what grades a young person has achieved.  We know that pupils attending for more than 95% of the year achieve GCSE results that are one grade higher than those that do not.

There are very few reasons why a pupil should not be in school and it is essential that you, as parents or carers, play your part.

Facts to think about:

• Attendance that drops below 95% will be monitored.
   
• 90% is equal to missing 19 days in a school year.  Over 11 years of education, this is equal to missing one whole year of school.
   
• Being late by 15 minutes every day means missing two weeks of learning in a year.
   
• Children do not need to stay off school if they have mild health problems such as conjunctivitis, a cold, or headache.  Additionally, they do not always need a 24 or 48 hour recuperation time if they have been sick.
  Please see the advice on the NHS website.

We are confident that you will see the benefits by ensuring that your child does not miss out, by helping your child to attend school every day.

Please take time to read our Attendance Policy which is available on this site here 

Thank you for your support.

West Sussex Fixed Penalty Scheme

The school will routinely and actively pursue the issue of penalty notices for unauthorised absence.

You may receive a fixed penalty notice if:

• Your child has a minimum of 10 sessions (am and pm sessions in a school day) recorded as an unauthorised absence in a 10 week period.
• Your child has an unauthorised holiday.
• Your child is in a public place during the first 5 days of an exclusion from school.
• Your child is persistently late for school (after the register closes at 9.00am)

Following the Government's review of Attendance, a Fixed Penalty notice is now £120 and can be issued per child to each parent and needs to be paid within 21 days.
  
The expression 'parent' in relation to a child includes any person who is not a parent of the child but has parental responsibility and/or care of the child.  If the Fixed Penalty is paid within this period of time ten the fine will decrease to £60 per parent per child.

Should the fines remain unpaid at the end of this period of time you may be prosecuted for failing to ensure regular and punctual school attendance of your child/children.  

This is a criminal offence under Section 44 of the Education Act 1996 and carries a maximum fine of £1,000 per parent.  I am sure you will appreciate how all absence, but particularly extended absence, from school during term time can seriously disrupt your child's progress.  

If you need to speak to a member of the Attendance Team re the West Sussex Fixed Penalty Scheme,
please contact our Attendance Officer
Mrs Farnes on 01243 832262