All About Attendance
At Matford Brook Academy, our aim is that every pupil attends every day, to maximise the development of our core values: scholarship, kindness and community and improve opportunities for them to write their own story.
If your child has an illness, medical condition or a family incident which means they need to miss time at school, please let us know immediately so we can support you and your child.
If you feel there are specific barriers to attending school, do not hesitate to get in touch with us immediately, so we can make any personalised arrangements in school and support you with these. We want all our students to enjoy school, wanting to be here every day that is possible and working together is often the most effective way of making positive changes.
Registration is as follows-:
8.45am primary
8.30am secondary
Families / pupils arriving after registration (including Reception and Year 1) should always report to the school office to be correctly signed in. Children arriving after 8.50am will lose their morning attendance mark.
Why does good attendance matter?
A good education can be the cornerstone of future life opportunities. Missing school can leave gaps in knowledge and understanding and also place the pupil at a disadvantage in both their educational development and potentially in their GCSE success.
Beyond qualifications, going to school every day is crucial for a number of reasons:
- It is the best place for pupils to learn and develop both academically and personally.
- It is good preparation for college or work. Colleges and employers expect a history of good attendance.
- Parents will know where their children are and that they are safe.
- It is a legal requirement.
The Law and School Attendance
The 1996 Education Act (s7) places a legal responsibility upon parents/carers to ensure that their child fully attends the school at which they are registered. This means that your child must attend school every day and on time (unless as parents/carers you can prove that the absence was with the authorisation of the school or that it was unavoidable).
If your child has unauthorised absences then the school can make a request to the Local Education Authority (through the Education Welfare Service) to instigate Parental Responsibility Measures. If you have Parental Responsibility, this could mean receiving any of the following:
- A Penalty Notice - Should a Penalty Notice be issued, one notice will be issued to each parent/carer for each child involved.Currently, each Penalty Notice is for £120, which is reduced to £60 if paid within the first 21 days. If a Penalty Notice goes unpaid after 28 days, then a Magistrates Summons will be issued. Also, if a Penalty Notice has already been issued within the previous 2 years then the Local Authority could proceed straight to Magistrates Summons.
- A Magistrates Summons that could lead to a criminal record, a fine of up to £2,500 and/or a term of imprisonment for up to 3 months
What happens if my child has unauthorised absence
Schools are required to notify the Local Education Authority if a pupil has unauthorised absences. Unauthorised absences can be acquired when:
- Leave has been requested, but the circumstances are such that the school is unable to authorise the leave (and the leave is still taken anyway).
- Leave is not requested and/or the school has grounds to believe that the child has been taken out of school for an avoidable reason (example – a family holiday, buying uniform, looking after a sibling). Sometimes, there have been occasions when schools have been notified that the pupil is sick, but the school discovers or reasonably believes that the reason given for the absence is not genuine.
- A child has arrived late, after the close of registration, with no justifiable reason. The registration period officially closes at 09:30.
Holidays and avoidable absence in term time
As of September 2013, an amendment to the Education (Pupil Registration)(England) Regulations 2006 came into force and greater clarity was introduced to the issue of schools authorising absence requests. These changes reinforced the Government’s view that every minute of every school day is vital and that pupils should only be granted authorised absences by the school in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
A family holiday is not considered by the Government to be an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and therefore may not be authorised by the school. Only the Headteacher can authorise absence.
If you would like a ‘leave’ request to be considered for authorisation due to exceptional circumstances, please request, complete and return an ‘S2 form’ to the school - access via link or at the end of this page.
Should you choose to take your child out of school without the authorisation of the school, then Parental Responsibility Measures could be instigated (see The Law and Attendance).
What does missed attendance look like?
A 96% attendance rate is the minimum expectation for our school (unless the absence is unavoidable and/or authorised by the school).
An attendance rate of 96% means that over one school year, the pupil has missed 1.5 weeks or 35 lessons of school. Over the course of a pupil's- 11 years of compulsory school that could mean 16.5 weeks or 83 missed days of education (almost half a year!)
Supporting Good Attendance
As a parent or carer, there are a number of ways that you can support your child’s education.
These include:
- Ensuring that your child attends school every day and on time.
- Arriving at school with the correct equipment and in a fit state to learn (for example, not hungry or tired).
- Arranging medical appointments wherever possible outside of school hours.
- Notifying the school by 08:30 if your child is going to be absent and why by email
- [email protected] or calling 01392 717140.
General attendance information can be found in the previous section of this booklet.
If you require support with attendance, please contact the school office or your child’s tutor.
Reporting absence
Please email us using [email protected]
Alternatively, you can call 01392 717140 selecting the option for reporting an absence. If you leave a voicemail please state clearly your child’s full name, year group and the reason for being off School.