September 2021 

Dear Parent/Carer,  

School Attendance. 

I am sure you are all very pleased that we are welcoming all pupils back into school this term. Even with the events that have unfolded with the COVID 19 pandemic, we believe that being in school is the best place for pupils to be receiving the best education. We are therefore aiming to have an attendance rate above the national average. We think it is very important that all our pupils benefit from being in school for as many days of learning as possible to ensure they make progress and achieve the results they should. If a school can improve its attendance by 1%, this can result in a 5-6% improvement in attainment. We are asking you to support the school by ensuring your child achieves excellent attendance.  

Here are some ways in which you can help our school achieve excellent attendance. 

• Support your child to have attendance of 95% or above.  

 

Attendance	Days absence	Weeks absence	Lessons missed
95%	10 days	2 weeks	29 lessons
90%	20 days	4 weeks	58 lessons
85%	30 days	6 weeks	87 lessons

 
 

• Please note the term dates, which have been shared with you and are on the school website. Avoid any requests to the school to take your child on term time leave. If you feel you have exceptional circumstances for your child to be absent during term time, you can make a request to me in advance by completing a term time leave application. However, permission may not be given, and my decision is final. You can request an application form from the school officer or download it from the school’s website and return it to the Parent Liaison Officer. You do not have the right to take your child out for term time leave. All unauthorised term time leave will be referred to your local Education Welfare Service which may result in you being fined. 

• We expect independent traveller pupils & parents who bring their child to arrive at school on time (before 8.35am). Pupils arriving after the register has closed will be marked in the register as having an unauthorized absence - late. The school attendance policy states the time that the attendance registers close in the morning.  

• If your child is unwell, please contact the school office on 0300 30 30 610, before school starts (i.e., before 8.30am). Please be specific when detailing your child’s illness and update the school daily of your child’s progress and intention to return to school. We do not expect pupils to come to school when they are sick, but those with regular sickness absence will be expected to provide medical evidence before we authorise further absences. If your child is showing symptoms of COVID 19 then you need to follow the procedures in the guidance provided by Public Health England. 

• Please try and avoid medical and dental appointments during school time. All students leaving school for a medical or dental appointment must show an appointment card/letter before being allowed to leave school.  

• If you or your child is having difficulties that impact on their attendance, please make an appointment with our Parent Liaison Officer (Patsy Hudson) to discuss additional support. It is important that you and your child communicate any concerns with the school so that we can remove any barriers to learning and achieve 100% attendance.  

We have expectations that once we have notified a parent about our concerns, they will ensure that their child’s attendance improves significantly. If a pupil continues to have poor attendance of below 85%, we will carry out a full investigation into your child’s unauthorised absences, which takes approximately 12 weeks. If there is still no improvement, we will refer you to your local authority Education Welfare Service.  

The Education Welfare Service may issue a parent with a formal warning, an Education Penalty Notice (EPN) or decide to prosecute if a child is persistently absent over a 16week period. If a parent is issued with an EPN, they will receive a £120 fine from their local council if paid within 28 days, this is reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days. Fines for unauthorized term time leave are issued to each parent for each absent child. Failure to pay the notice may result in a parent being prosecuted at a Magistrates Court for the child’s non-attendance at school for the period in the notice.  

For further information, a copy of our attendance policy is available to read in the school office or on our website and information on your local authority’s Non-School Attendance, Education Penalty Notices and Local Code of Conduct is available on their website.  

If you would like to discuss this further, please contact Patsy Hudson (phu@compasslp.co.uk) in the first instance. 

Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.  

Yours sincerely 

Mr Nick Cooper 

Head Teacher