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Attendance

North Crescent Primary School recognises that positive behaviour and good attendance are central to raising standards of pupil attainment. Regular attendance is essential for pupils to get the most out of their school experience, including their attainment, wellbeing, and wider life chances.

For all children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and be at school, on time, every day that the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning.

Click here for REPORTING an ABSENCE

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Understanding different types of absence
Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by the parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required, and is a legal requirement.

Term Time Holidays

There is no entitlement in law for pupils to take time off during the term to go on holiday.
The law specifies that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are "exceptional circumstances". The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 state that “the need or desire for a holiday” is not considered an exceptional circumstance.

The Department for Education has a statutory framework that all schools in England must follow. 

  • There is now a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence, including lateness.

Penalty Notices - for unauthorised absence

  1. The first will attract a fine of up to £160 per pupil, per parent (£80 if paid within 21 days);
  2. A second offence in three years will attract a fine of £160 per pupil, per parent.
  3. A third penalty notice cannot be issued in 3 years. Prosecution is highly likely.
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