Attendance – Belvedere Junior and Infant School

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Attendance

Home | Key Information | Attendance

Attendance

Two

Schools

One

Vision

Attendance at

Belvedere Infant and Junior Schools

At Belvedere Infant and Junior schools, we believe that regular and punctual attendance is absolutely vital if children are to make sustained progress, reach their full potential and feel part of their class and whole school community. Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Parents have a duty to ensure that their children are receiving efficient full-time education. All children, regardless of their circumstances, are entitled to a full time education which is suitable to their age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have. Children missing education (CME) are at significant risk of underachieving, being victims of abuse, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later on in life.

Schools also have safeguarding duties under section 175 of the Education Act 2002 in respect of their pupils, and as part of this should investigate any unexplained absences. Please see the Attendance Policy here.

So that every child can achieve their full potential we aim:

To encourage pupils to attend every day and arrive punctually
To create a warm, welcoming atmosphere where children feel valued
To provide a stimulating and accessible curriculum
To ensure parents understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality and are fully aware of school procedures
To strive for an attendance percentage of 96% or above for each pupil in line with national standards.

Every single day a child is absent from school equates to a day of lost learning. Attendance percentages can be misleading. For some parents 90% attendance may seem like an acceptable level of attendance. However, the reality is that 90% attendance means that your child will miss half a day of school each week or 20 days of school during the school year. That is four school weeks.

Reporting an Absence

An unauthorised absence is where there has been no communication by the parent/ carer as to why the child is absent or there is not a legitimate reason to miss school.

Parents/carers are requested to telephone on the first day of absence before 9.30am or as early as possible.

If a child is absent, there are only two methods for reporting this:

Infant Child

• Call the school office on 0208 311 9092 and press 1 to report a child absence, please leave a voicemail if necessary.

• Email the school office at admin@belvedere-inf.bexley.sch.uk with your child’s name, class and details of their illness.

Junior Child

• Call the school office on 01322 431404 and press 1 to report a child absence, please leave a voicemail if necessary.

• Email the school office at admin@bjs.bexley.sch.uk with your child’s name, class and details of their illness.

Messages must state the child’s full name, class and exact details of all symptoms – ‘not feeling well’ or ‘feeling tired’ are not symptoms.

If your child has minor symptoms for example, sniffles, feeling fatigued, they are expected to attend school.

We will of course monitor them, and contact parents/carers should we feel the need to. Alternatively, should your child wake up poorly and their symptoms improve, they should then be brought to school even though they may have missed morning registration as they will receive their afternoon session mark.

Parents are required to notify the school of their child’s absence using either of the above two reporting methods by 9.00am on each day of absence.

Illness and Medical Appointments

Every effort should be made to arrange medical appointments outside of school hours. However we are aware that appointments during school time are sometimes unavoidable. If it is necessary for a child to be out of school for this reason, the child should be returned to school directly after the appointment.

Following an episode of vomiting or diarrhoea pupils are requested to remain away from school for a period of 48 hrs. This is in line with guidance from the Health Protection Agency for schools and childcare settings and helps to reduce the spread of infection between pupils.

Term Time Absence

If you require absence for any other circumstances, we ask that you fill in a ‘Request for Term Time Absence’ form and attach any additional information required such as outgoing/returning flight details. The Head Teacher will consider your request and if it is not exceptional circumstances and you nevertheless take your child out of school, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. In the case of an unauthorised holiday for 5 consecutive days or more the Education Welfare Service
will be notified and a Penalty Notice may be issued. Please note that such a Penalty is issued to each parent for each child taken out of school.

First Offence – A penalty notice for £160 per parent, per child (reduced to £80 per parent if paid within 21 days)

Second Offence (within 3 years of the first offence)-A penalty notice for £160 per parent, per child (no reduction for early payment)

Third Offence (within 3 years of the first offence)-A penalty notice will not be issued, the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates Court. Fines can be around £2,500 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in the Magistrates Court can show as a criminal record and also on a parent’s future DBS certificates due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education)

Additionally, in compliance with the Education Act 436A (Chapter 2 Part 6) the school will, after making appropriate checks, report all Children Missing from Education to the Local Authority Education Welfare an Inclusion Service, who has a duty to investigate the whereabouts of such children and negotiate their prompt return to suitable education.

If a medical appointment takes place during school hours, parents will be asked to provide evidence such as a letter or appointment card in order for the absence to be authorised.

Late Attendance

Parents must make every effort to have their children in school at the correct time to ensure they do not miss key learning. If your child is noted as being late to school frequently, an email will be sent to parents/carers to bring the lateness to their attention as a first stage. If the lateness persists, a formal letter will be sent by the Attendance Officer reminding parents/carers of their responsibility to ensure children arrive at school on time each day. Should there be no improvement, the Headteacher will write personally to the parents/carers and may decide to refer the matter to the Education Welfare Officer.

Concerns around Attendance and Punctuality

If we do not receive communication via a telephone call or voice message on the first day of absence by 9.00am, we will send a message to the parent/carer via Arbor requesting the reason as to why the child is not in school. If no response is forthcoming within 30 mins, a phone call home will be made. Then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised (‘O’ code) on their attendance record.

If we have previous concerns about a child’s welfare (for example, the child is on the child protection register or we believe could be in danger), we may request that our Education Welfare Officer (EWO) complete an unscheduled home visit. If we continue to have concerns, the we would seek support from other agencies to safeguard the child, including the Police and Children’s Services.

Where attendance is a concern, parents/carers may be required to provide medical evidence when the child returns so that the absence is not recorded as unauthorised. Parents/carers will be notified of this arrangement by letter. See Appendixes 3 and 4 for examples of these. In cases of significant concern the school, in collaboration with the EWO make take further steps such as the issuing of fixed penalty notices or seeking the issue of an attendance order.

Possible triggers for attendance letters could be as follows, please note this is not an exhaustive list of triggers and each case is considered on its own merit:

• Attendance is below 96%

• Frequent ‘Lates’ after the register has closed

• Unexplained or unauthorised absences

• Patterns forming regarding absences, for example regular Fridays and Monday absence from school.