Attendance

At Meadows Primary School and Nursery, we truly believe that every school day counts towards your child's future. Days off school add up to lost opportunity for aspiration, growth and flourishment.

Our attendance target for children is an ambitious 97% or above! Our attendance to date is 95.3% - although slightly above national average, we want more for our children at Meadows.

We appreciate it when families use the 175 non-school days a year for time together, family visits, holidays, days out and routine appointments where possible.

Good attendance is important because:

Statistics show a direct link between educational achievement and absence levels. Higher absence can lead to lower achievement.
Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically.
Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to maintain.
Regular attenders find learning more satisfying.
Regular attenders find transition points easier to manage.

Our 'Attendance Matters at Meadows' leaflet is an excellent source of information for parents and carers.

Attendance Matters at Meadows

Reporting Absence:

If your child is absent from school it is very important that you let us know the reason for absence as soon as possible. We encourage parents to inform us of their child's absence as soon as possible, on the first day of absence, by telephoning the school - 01952 386230 - and selecting option 2 and leaving a message on our absence answerphone. You are invited to leave your child's name, class and reason for absence. If the absence persists for more than one day, we ask that you contact us daily to keep us updated.

Please do not report your child's absence via ClassDojo.

If no message is received by closure of registration a member of our office staff will telephone to understand why the child has not arrived at school. Regular and punctual attendance is an important part of a child’s educational development and our high attendance figures are a result of strong parental support and rigorous procedures to ensure its monitoring.

Please see below detail on the actions we follow for attendance falling below 96% after the first half of Autumn Term each year:

Attendance below 96% - a letter may be sent to you informing you of your child's current level of attendance. This is an initial acknowledgement that the attendance falls below our school target.
Attendance remains below 96% - A second letter may be sent informing you that the attendance rate is not improving.
Attendance still remains below 96% (but more than 93%) - After a further four weeks, if the attendance still remains below 96% a meeting with our Inclusion Manager and Educational Welfare Officer will take place. The reason for continued absence will be discussed in addition to actions being agreed to support better attendance in the future.
Attendance goes below 93% - Following continued intervention and support a referral may be made to the Attendance Support Team in the Telford and Wrekin Local Authority.

Exceptional Appointments:

Whilst we discourage appointments during the school day, if your child does have an unavoidable appointment during the school day, a member of the school office team should be informed by an e-mail or phone call in advance of the absence. Your child will need to be collected from and returned to the school entrance, where you will be asked to sign your child out. This is necessary to ensure the safety of your child at all times.

If your child returns to school before completing a course of prescribed medication this can be handed in to the school office for administering. Our Office Team will discuss the purpose of the medicine, and refer where required, to guidance given by the Public Health Agency.

Is my child too ill to be in school?

If you are unsure if your child should be in school, you are always welcome to call our office team for support or advice.

Our school follows guidance given by the Public Health Agency on infection control and appreciates the support of parents and carers with this.

Click here to read advice on whether your child should be in school.

Leave of Absence:

Where possible parents are encouraged to take leaves of absence during the scheduled school holiday periods in order to cause the least amount of disruption to their child’s education and attendance.

10 days absence would mean 95% attendance - half an afternoon off a week!
19 days absence would mean 90% attendance - half a day a week!
29 days absence would mean 85% attendance. - three quarters of a day off a week!
38 days absence would mean 80% attendance - one day off a week!
47 days absence would mean 75% attendance - a quarter of the school year missed!

However, we do understand that there are exceptional circumstances when this may not be possible and in such circumstances we ask that a Request for Holiday in School Time form be filled out and submitted to the school office well in advance. Our Headteacher, Mr Piatczanyn, will then consider the request. You will receive his decision in writing

Click here to download a Leave of Absence Request in School Time.

From August 19^th 2024 the Government have introduced a new ‘national framework for Penalty Notices’. (in Telford & Wrekin the changes apply from 1^st September 2024). There are significant changes that parents need to be aware of:

If your child has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10 school week rolling period, you may be issued with a Penalty Notice. These 10 sessions may include any unauthorised absence, including leave in term time and do not have to be consecutive.
Penalty Notices are increasing to £160 from September 2024. This can be reduced to £80 but only for the first Penalty Notice issued, if paid within 21 days – this reduction does not apply to any subsequent Penalty Notice.
Any 2^nd Penalty Notice, to the same parent for the same child, issued within three years of the date of the first Penalty Notice will be charged at a flat rate of £160
A third Penalty Notice will not be issued within a three year rolling period, to the same parent for the unauthorised absence of the same child, - alternative action or legal measures will be utilised for subsequent offences.
If in an individual case the local authority believes a Penalty Notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. For example, when a parent purposefully tries to avoid a Penalty Notice by taking their child out of school when there is only four pupil days in school and the fifth day is for example a PD day or bank holiday attached to that week.
In some circumstances a ‘Notice to Improve’ may be issued – However, a Notice to Improve will only be used in cases where support is appropriate. They will not be issued in cases of unauthorised leave in term time for holidays, where information for parents is included on schools website or a simple warning by the school that a Penalty Notice could be issued if unauthorised leave in term time is taken will suffice.

"Parents should always apply to the Headteacher for any request for leave in term time by completing a request form available from school. (DfE guidance states schools should not authorise leave retrospectively so any leave in term time taken without a request being submitted will be unauthorised absence)’. In developing and publishing the new national framework, the Government has renewed appeals to parents not to take their children out of school during term time. The Governors and Headteacher of this school support this and students will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances. The DfE Guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance (Feb 2024) states that: Generally, the DfE does not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. (Paragraph 38.) Each application for leave in term time will be considered and if it is agreed and authorised the Headteacher will determine the duration of any leave. However, if the application is not agreed and the absence occurs the dates will be unauthorised. Parents will be notified of any decision in writing. This notification may be hand delivered directly to the parent or posted to the parents’ home address. As a school we are asked to inform you that in line with Telford and Wrekin Council Policy, if your child is absent for 10 school sessions within a 10 week rolling period and that absence is unauthorised, you may be subject to a Penalty Notice fine, criteria is as detailed above.

There is no formal definition offered for exceptional circumstances, at present, by the Department for Education (DfE). From discussion with the DfE and professional associations, however, it is suggested that exceptional leave would be:

Rare
Significant
Unavoidable
Short
Click here to download our Attendance Policy

Lates:

As we similarly encourage excellent attendance, so too do we consider punctuality as significant to your child's learning, in addition to developing a necessary life skill.

5 minutes of lateness every day = 3 days of school lost a year.
10 minutes of lateness every day = 6.5 days of school lost a year.
15 minutes of lateness every day = 10 days of school lost a year.
20 minutes of lateness every day = 13 days of school lost a year.
30 minutes of lateness every day = 19 days of school lost a year.

Classroom doors close at 8.50am. From this point, you are asked to bring your child or children to the school office to register them as in school.

Please see below detail on the actions we follow for lateness. These are progressive and will be reviewed on a weekly basis.

Concern Stage 1 - 3 lates following a review - a member of our office team will call to acknowledge the lates and offer support. This will be recorded in our safeguarding records.
Concern Stage 2 – further lates have occurred since Concern Stage 1 -a letter will be sent informing you of your child's lates and requesting an improvement in punctuality. The letter will acknowledge the phone call made previously.
Concern Stage 3- a meeting with our Inclusion Manager will be requested. Reasons for lateness will be discussed, in addition to actions to support punctuality in the future agreed. Non-attendance will result in a meeting with the child on their own and another named adult in school.
Concern Stage 4 - a meeting with the Phase Leader will be requested. Reasons for lateness will be discussed, in light of reasons detailed previously, in addition to new/additional actions to support punctuality in the future agreed. Non-attendance will result in a meeting with the child on their own and another named adult in school.
Concern Stage 5 - a meeting with the Deputy Headteacher will be requested. Reasons for lateness will be discussed, in light of reasons detailed previously, in addition to new/additional actions to support punctuality in the future agreed.
Concern Stage 6 - a referral will be made to the Educational Welfare Officer.

At each stage, an improvement window of 5 days will be set. Where improvements are not seen, the following stage as detailed above will commence.

Celebrating Attendance

It is important to acknowledge and celebrate excellent attendance. We celebrate attendance in the following ways:

Best Attendance Trophy – in our weekly Celebration assembly, we congratulate the classes who have had the highest weekly attendance. Their class name is called out and their trophy attendance awarded. If the winning class achieves an attendance of 97% or above, they get to spin the wheel and receive an extra special prize.
Motivating Prizes - each term, a prize is awarded if a whole school attendance or above, from the start of the school year, is achieved.
Attendance Award – on an annual basis, all children who met or exceeded the school’s attendance target will receive a certificate.
Amazing Attendance Week – annually we celebrate the reasons and benefits of excellent school attendance with special prizes and competitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

If I take my child out of school for a holiday, will I automatically get a Penalty Notice (PN) fine?

This will depend on if the holiday is authorised or not. Parents or carers must request the leave from the school in plenty of time for our Headteacher to be able to consider the request and respond. If they think the request is an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and choose to authorise it, you will not get a fine. If the holiday is not authorised, the school will refer the case to the local authority when the child returns to school. The Department for Education are very clear that children should not be missing lessons from school and that any family holiday or absence for any leisure activity is not an exceptional circumstance. It is our duty to adhere to Department for Education legislation and your respect for this is appreciated.

What happens if the leave I request is not for a holiday?

You will need to be very clear with the school when completing the leave of absence form. If our Headteacher thinks the request is an ‘exceptional circumstance’ and chooses to authorise it, you will not get a fine. It is only the school that can determine whether your circumstances are exceptional. If you have evidence to support your request, then you should make it available for the school to see. If the school do not authorise the absence, they will refer the case to the local authority when the child returns to school.

How much absence will trigger a penalty notice?

Under the Department for Education's attendance framework, 10 sessions of any unauthorised absence over a 10 week rolling period will mean you have met the criteria for a fine. Each school day is 2 sessions. They do not need to be consecutive school days. However, the local authority also has the discretion to issue a penalty notice with less than 10 sessions, if for example, a parent is trying to avoid meeting the threshold when there are only four days in the school week (for example when there is a PD day or Bank Holiday). This discretion is detailed in the local authority's Code of Conduct.

How much will I have to pay if I receive a PN?

Under the new framework the PN has increased to £160, however, if it is the first penalty notice you have received from the start of the new school year in September 2024 the penalty can be reduced to £80 if you pay it with 21 days. You will then have a further 7 days to pay but it will be at £160. If you receive a second penalty notice, it will be charged at a flat rate of £160.

If I receive any further penalty notices, will they all be at a rate of £160?

Under the new framework, each parent will only receive 2 penalties over a three year rolling period (for the same child). As penalty notices are meant as a deterrent, subsequent unauthorised absence after a parent has received 2, shows it has not worked and will mean the local authority will look at alternative legal action.

When might I receive a ‘Notice to Improve’ instead of a Penalty Notice?

Under the new framework, when a child has accumulated 10 sessions of unauthorised leave over 10 weeks, there is an expectation that the school will work with a family to support improved attendance. The school may ask the local authority to issue a ‘Notice to Improve’ which allows between 3 and 6 weeks to show an improvement, the parent/pupil will then work in partnership with the school. If attendance does improve then a penalty notice will not be issued. However, if the unauthorised absence continues then a penalty notice will be issued (the school do not have to wait the full 6 weeks to refer back to the local authority if it is clear immediately that absence continues).

Can I take my child off roll to Electively Home Educate (EHE) and then put them back on roll?

Every parent has the right to remove their child from a school roll, but the parent is then taking full responsibility to provide a suitable, full time education for their child and this is monitored by the EHE Advisors for the local authority. School places in the Borough are limited and there are waiting lists for most schools, so once you take them off roll it will be very difficult to get them back into the same school (unless their EHE is deemed unsuitable and the child always returns to the school they were withdrawn from). Removing a child from a school roll is often detrimental for their progression, they will miss out on all the social side of school, as well as the learning opportunities.

I am a single parent but have a partner who is not the children’s natural parent, why have they received a penalty notice?

If the natural parents partner lives with the family they will have the same responsibilities as the natural parent under the Education Act 1996 Section 576 which defines parent to include;

All natural parents, whether they are married or not
Any person who although not a natural parent, has responsibility for a child or young person
Any person who although not a natural parent, has day to day care of a child or young person

My child has Special Needs/Anxiety/Autism/Illness and cannot cope in busy times like in school holidays, why won’t the school authorise the leave in term time so we can go on Holiday whilst it is much quieter.

It is a common request from parents of children with Special Needs that they wish to take them on holiday in term time. However, holiday resorts in the UK and abroad are busy all year round – airports, planes, coaches, cruises etc are never quiet and usually the cost of the holiday is in fact the driving force in booking holidays in term time. School will know the family and use their knowledge and experience to manage any requests of this type.

I cannot afford a holiday when the school is closed, it would cost thousands more!

It is common for parents to say they cannot afford a holiday when school is closed, and they want some quality time with their children. However, the cost should be looked at as missed lessons for the children. All school staff, including TAs, lunchtime supervisors, cleaners etc have to take their holidays when school is closed. Schools cannot be responsible for what holiday companies charge. If all families stopped booking holidays during term time eventually the holiday companies would see the impact and start to reduce the cost when schools are closed.