Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School
ATTENDANCE POLICY
Mission Statement
Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School believes that the regular
education of all children, irrespective of age, gender, race or ability is
crucial to each and every pupil.
Regular and prompt attendance allows every child access to the education
to which they are entitled by law.
Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School will endeavour to work
alongside parents, local community and the Education Welfare Service.
Targets
Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School aims to improve attendance
figures to 94% this academic year and to encourage high levels of
attendance and punctuality by promoting the following strategies by:











Maintaining a high profile for attendance and punctuality
Keeping accurate records
Raising attendance awareness by regular publication of figures
Providing clear guidelines for staff on the registration process and
the accurate and full use of register codes
Attendance related matters will be addressed in the induction
programme for new staff
Informing parents of their legal responsibilities regarding
attendance and punctuality
Ensuring that clear information is regularly communicated to
parents/carers
Raise awareness of attendance issues at parents evenings and new
intake meetings
Promote effective and consistent communication between home
and school
Parents will be actively discouraged from taking holidays in term
time. The Headteacher has the authority to authorise up to 10 days
absence providing attendance is over 94%, and the holidays are not
taken in September or between January and May in Y6.
For the Inclusion Manager to monitor attendance weekly, meeting
with the EWO every half term
 Unauthorised absences and absences without notes from parents
will be dealt with promptly
 Maintaining clear procedures for recording lateness
 Rewarding good attendance
 Promoting an effective partnership with the Education Welfare
Service
 Applying the Whole School Attendance Policy consistently.
Rights/Roles/Responsibilities
Of Pupil:
Every child of compulsory school age is entitled to receive efficient fulltime education that is suitable to their individual age, ability and aptitude
and any special educational needs they may have.
Of the Parent:
Parents must ensure that their children are educated. For most parents this
means registering their child at school. Parents can be prosecuted and, or
fined, if they fail to ensure that their child attends school regularly. The
Education Welfare Service can help parents meet the statutory obligations
on school attendance.
Parents have a statutory right to certain involvement in their child’s
education.
Of the Local Education Authority:
According to the Education Act of 1996 the Local Education Authority
has to offer educational provision for all school age children through its
school’s and the Educational Welfare Service.
Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School must keep an attendance
register at the beginning of the morning and afternoon sessions and report
pupils who fail to attend regularly or accrue unauthorised absences of
more than 1 week (10 sessions).
The Education Welfare Service has the role of assisting the Local
Education Authority to meet the statutory obligations on school
attendance.
Procedures – Who does what and when?
 Computer Input (SIMS) is the responsibility of the class teacher
and is done twice a day.
 Registration in the responsibility of the class teacher or teaching
assistant and involves each pupil at 8:55am and 1:25pm (1:30pm
for KS1 and 12:45 for the Foundation Stage).
 If reasons are not given, a letter is sent home once a week to find
out the reason for the absence. If a reply is not sent into school
within 5 days, the absence counts as unauthorised. As soon as a
child has 10 unauthorised absences, the EWO is informed in order
to commence fixed-penalty notices.
 Pupils who are late are recorded, with the reasons given. Pupils
who are consistently late will be written to, and monitored. If they
are late 3 times in one week, they will receive a lunchtime
detention on a Friday. If their punctuality does not improve, a
meeting will be arranged between the Inclusion Manager and the
parent. If there is still no improvement, the family will be referred
to the EWO.
 Problems relating to a pupil’s attendance will be addressed by a
warning letter to the parent. If there is no improvement, a meeting
is arranged with the Inclusion Manager and the parent. If there is
still no improvement, the family will be referred to the EWO,
involving the school nurse if needed. The EWO automatically
monitors all attendance under the school target, and usually
becomes involved with families with an attendance under 85%.
 Reinforcing the fact that good attendance and punctuality are vital
to the progress of a pupil at school. If a pupil is not in school then
he/she cannot learn. At Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School
we promote good attendance and punctuality in many ways. Each
class is involved in a horse race – the class horse moves 1 space if
they have over 94% attendance, and 2 spaces if they have the best
attendance of the week. At the end of each term, the horse who has
‘run’ the furthest wins a special prize. Each term, children with
100% attendance receive a certificate, and at the end of the year
any child with 100% attendance for the year receives a prize. The
attendance of each class is published each week in the school
newsletter, and regular reminders of the importance of attendance
are also included.
 Promoting a multi-disciplinary approach and working very closely
with a number of support services, for example holding an
attendance panel for persistent absentees in conjunction with the
EWO and the health team.
 The school actively discourages parents going on holiday during
term time, and sends out reminders with the reports. However, if
the holiday is unavoidable, the child may be sent work to complete
during their absence.
 Letters are sent out to Nursery children with attendance under the
school target as they are due to move up to Reception, in order to
remind them of school procedures, and also to remind them of the
reasons why good attendance is vital.
 Letters are sent out every 3 weeks by the Inclusion Manager. The
letters are colour coded to show the level of attendance (gold,
green, amber and red). An assembly is held in conjunction with
this to praise all children with gold and green letters. A display is
also evident in the hall, which is used during the assembly, and
children receive extra prize points for good attendance.
Attendance and Punctuality
The Headteacher decides if absence is authorised/unauthorised and
sanctions any holiday requests during term time in accordance with our
policy of not authorising the leave of any pupil with less than 94%
attendance; only allowing holidays in term time in exceptional
circumstances; only considering leave when requested following school
procedure. However, holidays will not be authorised if taken in
September, regardless of attendance figures, nor between January and
May for children in Y6.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School will evaluate the effectiveness
of its strategies annually.
The Senior Leadership Team are involved in monitoring and evaluation.