Attendance Matters

Whether your child is in Nursery or in Year 6, good attendance at St John’s is important. Although a day missed from school here and there might feel like nothing serious, it is important to put into perspective that 10 days of school absence will result in approximately 50 lessons being missed.  If children are absent from school then they are missing out on crucial learning and gaps in their learning will form, which will make it harder for them to learn new skills, new knowledge and new concepts.  Furthermore, regular absence from school could also lead to low self-esteem and insecure friendships which will impact on their mental health.  The graphic below shows the impact of poor attendance in Secondary School on their chances of securing GCSEs.  Therefore, if regular poor attendance occurs in Primary School and continues into Secondary, then life chances are significantly impacted.  We all have a role to play in ensuring that children have good attendance.  If you would like to discuss your child’s attendance with school to see how we together can support your child then please contact the school office on admin@digswell.herts.sch.uk and ask for an appointment with either Mr Worton-Geer (Headteacher) or Mrs de la Croix (Assistant Headteacher and SENCO).  

Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no ‘leave’ has been granted. This type of absence can lead to the school referring the absence to the Local Authority for penalty notices and/or legal proceedings.  

Unauthorised absence includes, (however this list is not exhaustive):

•  parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily e.g. because they had a late night or for non-infectious illness or injury that would not affect their ability to learn.
• absences which have never been properly explained.
• children who arrive at school after the close of registration are marked using a ‘U’. This indicates that they are in school for safeguarding purposes, however, is counted as an absence for the session.
• shopping trips.
• looking after other children or children accompanying siblings or parents to medical appointments.
•  their own or family birthdays.
•  holidays taken during term time, not deemed ‘for exceptional purposes’ by the headteacher, including any arranged by other family members or friends.
•  day trips. 
• other leave of absence in term time which has not been agreed. 

National Framework for Penalty Notices 

There is now a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England, of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. The 10 sessions of absence do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence (G, O and/or U coded within the school’s registers). The 10-school week period can span different terms, school years or education settings. 

Sanctions will include issuing each parent (for each child) with a Penalty Notice for £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days (for the first offence). A second Penalty Notice issued within a three-year period will result in a fine of £160 per parent, per child. If a third offence is committed the matter may be referred to the local authority for consideration of prosecution via the Magistrates Court. If prosecution is instigated for irregular school attendance, each parent/carer may receive a fine of up to £2500 and/or up to 3 months in prison. If a parent/carer is found guilty in court, they will receive a criminal conviction. 

Below you will find listed our documents regarding attendance for your information.