Attendance & Punctuality

At Robins Lane Community Primary School, we 'aim high' - this includes in our attendance and punctuality. We aim for all our Robins to have at least 96% attendance.

That said, we do understand that sometimes, it is not possible or appropriate for children to come to school, for example, when they are too unwell.

To help support your child's attendance, we ask that parents/carers;

• Start positive habits from a young age (children in Nursery and Preschool are not compulsory school age, however, we still strive for good attendance from our Little Robins as it gets them into good habits as they move through school)

• Ensure your child arrives on time each day (we open the doors from 8.30am and the registers are taken at 8.45am)

• Work with us to address any barriers that are affecting your child coming to school

• Keep us fully updated by contacting school when your child is going to be absent

• Tell us in advance if you plan to take your child out of school for events such as holidays in term-time (more information on that below)

• Engage in any supportive meetings and measures we may put in place

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Education Welfare Service

At Robins Lane, we are supported by the Local Authority Education Welfare Service. As part of this service, we have an Education Welfare Officer, Mrs Garton, who works closely with our school on attendance and punctuality matters. If you are offered support with your child's attendance, Mrs Garton will usually attend meetings.

Attendance Groups

We put children into three coloured groups - red, amber and green - to track their attendance.

Every term, we will send you a letter with an update of your child's attendance group.

Please note, once children are in amber or red group, you must provide medical evidence for any absences or they will be coded as unauthorised.

Attendance Rewards

At Robins Lane, we send termly certificates to our children who have 100% attendance and those in green group. We also have a weekly attendance draw each Friday for all children present and on-time all week. The weekly prize is a £10.00 Smyths voucher.

Punctuality

School opens at 8.30am and registers are taken from 8.45am-8.50am. If your child arrives after 8.45am, they will need to enter school via the main office to sign in. It is so important that children arrive on time as at Robins Lane, we make the most of every single minute of our school day. If your child arrives after 8.50am, they will be recorded as late (L). If they arrive after 9.20am, they are recorded as late after registers (U) which is an unauthorised mark and reduces your child's attendance.

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Family Holidays In Term-Time & Unauthorised Absence

Since 2013, Headteachers have only been able to authorise family holidays in very exceptional circumstances. Please try to ensure that any holidays are taken outside of term-time as children can miss significant amounts of work if they absent for multiple days. As family holidays will usually be recorded as unauthorised, it could lead to a fixed-penalty notice fine.

At present, penalty notices can be issued to parents/carers when children have had 10-days of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period. This is not just for absences taken for holidays, this can be for any unauthorised absence recorded on your child's register.

The current (up to August 2024) penalty notices are;

• £60.00 per parent, per child, if paid within 21-days, rising to;

• £120.00 per parent, per child, if not paid within 21-days. Parents/carers have a further 7-days to pay.

• If no payment has been made within the 28-days as outlined above, the Local Authority may initiate court proceedings.

From 19th August 2024, the Government are changing the regulations for attendance, meaning that penalty notices will change to;

• First offence: the first time a penalty notice is issued for term-time holidays or irregular, unauthorised attendance, the amount will be £160.00 per parent, per child (£80.00 per parent, per child if paid within 21-days).

• Second offence (within three-years): the second time a penalty notice is issued, the amount will be £160.00 per parent, per child, payable within 28-days, with no reduced amount for early payment.

• Third offence and any subsequent offences (within three-years): the third time an offence is committed, a penalty notice will not be issued and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates Court. Fines can be up to £2500.00 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in Magistrates Court can show on a future DBS certificate as failure to safeguard a child's education.

• 5-days (or 10 sessions) of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period will initiate the above proceedings.

Please be aware that penalty notices will be issued to all parents with parental responsibility.

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For more details on the Government updated regulations, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-improve-school-attendance

For school's Attendance Policy and Attendance Strategy, please click the documents below. You can also see copies of our termly Attendance Newsletter.