Gallow Field Road
Foxton
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7QZ
Telephone: 01858 545 328
Email: office@foxton.leics.sch.uk
(Revised September 2013)
This policy has been amended to comply with the Department for Education Advice on Attendance (August 2013). Parents, schools and the Local Authority share legal responsibilities for school attendance which can be summarised as follows:
Authorised absence is when the school has given approval in advance for a pupil of compulsory school age to be away, or has accepted an explanation offered afterwards as satisfactory justification for absence.
The following reasons for absence could be authorised:
If a child is absent from school for any reason, it is important that the school is informed by 10am. School will telephone for an explanation at 10am.
Unauthorised absence is when a pupil is away from school, or when a pupil is late after the register has closed, without permission from an authorised person.
The following reasons for absence should be unauthorised:
The parent or carer is not able to authorise absence and the school can refuse to accept their reasons for absence. The Local Authority should be consulted where schools are experiencing difficulty in determining whether the reason provided for absence is valid, and particularly where parents appear to be condoning absence that the school considers may be unjustified. If parents/carers fail to provide a reason for absence within two weeks the absence should be coded as unauthorised.
School hours are:
All children are expected to be at school by 8.55am for registration. We ask that children do not arrive before 8.45am. The cloakroom doors open at 8.45am for the children to get themselves ready for the school day. School begins promptly at 9.00am.
Children arriving after 9.00am are considered late and a record will be kept in the late book.
Lateness is defined as unauthorised absence when a pupil arrives after registration closes. Registration at Foxton closes at 9.00am for the morning session and 1.00pm for the afternoon session.
Parents are not legally entitled to take their child on holiday during term time. The law does not permit the Head Teacher to authorise term time holidays or extensions to holidays which run into term time. In exceptional circumstances the Head Teacher may grant a leave of absence. Requests need to be made in writing and state the nature of any exceptional circumstance.
The school sets attendance targets each year. These are agreed by the senior staff and governors at the annual target-setting meeting. The targets are challenging yet realistic, and based on attendance figures achieved in previous years. The school considers carefully the attendance figures for other similar schools when setting its own targets.
Individual pupils’ authorised and unauthorised absences and lateness are reported to parents with the pupils’ annual reports.
It is the responsibility of the governors to monitor overall attendance and they will request an annual report from the head teacher. The governing body also has the responsibility for this policy and for seeing that it is carried out. The governors will therefore examine closely the information provided to them and seek to ensure that our attendance figures are as high as they should be.
The school will keep accurate attendance records on file for a minimum period of three years. The rates of attendance will be reported in the school prospectus.
This policy will be reviewed by the governing body every two years, or earlier if considered necessary.