Co-op Academy Southfield is committed to providing a full education to all pupils that embraces the concept of equal opportunities for all. We provide a welcoming and caring environment where every pupil feels safe and valued. Regular attendance and excellent punctuality are essential in ensuring pupils make sustained academic progress and social development.

The academy works in partnership with pupils and their parents or carers to promote the importance of regular and punctual attendance. Regular and punctual attendance is vital in ensuring that all children have full access to the curriculum, as valuable learning time is lost when pupils are absent or late.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure excellent attendance for all, that maximises pupil potential. As an academy, we recognise that regular attendance has a positive impact on the motivation and attainment of pupils. As such, this policy serves to give clear guidance to all stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities; provide advice and information on statutory duties of parents / carers and the Academy and demonstrate how the Academy will work in partnership with families, the local authority and other organisations to support the best possible attendance of all pupils.

Through this policy we will demonstrate our commitment to:

Setting high expectations for the attendance and punctuality of all pupils
Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence
Ensuring every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
Acting early to address patterns of absence
Building strong relationships with families to ensure pupils have the right support to attend school

Co-op Academies Trust believes there are fundamental principles behind great school attendance. These have been laid out here in our Attendance Principles- and underpin the spirit and content of this policy. In our whole school approach to raising and maintaining excellent attendance, we aim to work with pupils and families to listen, understand, empathise and support families - whilst continuing to challenge poor attendance and maintain the highest of expectations of all of our pupils.

The Importance of School Attendance

Regular attendance at school is vital to support pupils to achieve and help them get the best possible start in life. Good attendance is central to pupils’ academic achievement and personal development.

Research shows that going to school is directly linked to improved performance which should in turn lead to further learning opportunities and better job prospects and life chances.

As well as this, going to school helps to develop:

friendships
social skills
team values
life skills
cultural awareness
career pathways

We know that 90% of persistent non-attenders do not achieve expected levels of development at KS1 and KS2 and do not gain five or more good GCSEs. Around one third achieve no GCSEs at all. At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard. At KS4, pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 in English and maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 5.2% for those achieving grade 4. The overall absence rate of pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 was twice as high as those achieving 9 to 5 (8.8% compared to 3.7%).

Young people who regularly miss school without good reason are also more likely to become isolated from their friends, to underachieve in examinations and/or become involved in anti-social behaviour. In addition, Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2024 makes clear the fact that Children Missing Education are at significant risk of being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life. For the most vulnerable pupils, research has shown associations between regular absence from school and crime (the proportion of children that had been cautioned or sentenced for any offence that had ever been persistently absent was 81% and for serious violence offence was 85%). Regular attendance is therefore one of the most important protective factors and the best opportunity for needs to be identified and support provided.

Whilst we recognise that for a small proportion of our students there are significant and complex health challenges which impact on their ability to attend school regularly, we aim to support every pupil and family to achieve the best possible school attendance.

Attendance and Punctuality - Lost Learning Hours

Attendance	Impact	Hours Lost per year	Minutes Late Each Day	Impact per year
100%	0 Days Lost	0 Hours Lost	5 minutes	3.5 Days Lost
95%	9 Days Lost	45 Hours Lost	10 minutes	7 Days Lost
90%	19 Days Lost	95 Hours Lost	15 minutes	10.5 Days Lost
85%	28 Days Lost	140 Hours Lost	20 minutes	14 Days Lost
80%	38 Days Lost	190 Hours Lost	25 minutes	17.5 Days Lost
70%	46 Days Lost	230 Hours Lost	30 minutes	21 Days Lost

Legislation and Guidance

This policy meets the requirements of the statutory guidance: Working Together to Improve School Attendance from the Department for Education (DfE), and refers to the DfE’s statutory guidance on School Attendance Parental Responsibility Measures. These documents are drawn from the following legislation setting out the legal powers and duties that govern school attendance:

- Part 6 of The Education Act 1996

- Part 3 of The Education Act 2002

- Part 7 of The Education and Inspections Act 2006

- The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 amendments)

- The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

It also refers to:

School census guidance

Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2024

Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools

Roles and Responsibilities

Trust Board

The Trust Board is responsible for:

Setting Trust-wide policy, ensuring that this meets statutory requirements and is adopted by all of the Trust’s academies
Setting high expectations of trust leaders in relation to student attendance
Regularly reviewing and challenging Trust-wide attendance data and holding Trust leaders to account around the application of the Trust policy

Trust Senior Leadership Team (SLT)

The Trust's central SLT is responsible for:

Promoting the importance of student attendance across the Trust
Making sure school leaders fulfil expectations and statutory duties
Holding school leaders to account for the application of this policy and the impact of this on attendance data
Reviewing and challenging attendance data on a regular basis

The Headteacher and Academy Senior Leadership Team

The Headteacher and SLT will offer a clear vision for attendance, underpinned by high expectations, the Co-op Ways of Being and our core values, which are communicated to and understood by staff, pupils and families. SLT will make sure staff, pupils and families understand that absence from school is a potential safeguarding risk and understand their role in keeping children safe in education. SLT will actively promote great attendance at all levels of the organisation to build up a culture of great attendance.

To do this, the Headteacher and all of the senior leadership team will be responsible for:

Implementation of this policy at the school
Monitoring attendance figures for the whole school and reporting these to the Trust’s SLT
Making sure staff receive adequate training on attendance so they understand:

The importance of good attendance
That absence is almost always a symptom of wider issues
The school’s legal requirements for keeping registers
The school’s strategies for tracking, following up on and improving attendance

Making sure dedicated training is provided to staff with a specific attendance function in their role, including in interpreting and analysing attendance data
Using detailed and granular data analysis to lead on all universal strategies and interventions
Supporting staff with monitoring the attendance of individual pupils
Monitoring the impact of any implemented attendance strategies
Issuing fixed-penalty notices, where necessary
Working with the parents of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
Communicating with Local Authority when a pupil with an (EHC) plan has falling attendance
Communicating the school’s high expectations for attendance and punctuality regularly to pupils

Senior Attendance Champion - Dan Foster

The senior attendance champion is the strategic lead for attendance and is responsible for leading attendance across the school including:

Leading, championing and improving attendance across the school
Setting a clear vision for improving and maintaining good attendance
Evaluating and monitoring expectations and processes
Having a strong grasp of absence data and oversight of absence data analysis
Regularly monitoring and evaluating progress in attendance
Establishing and maintaining effective systems for tackling absence robustly Quality Assuring
Liaising with pupils, parents/carers and external agencies, where needed
Building productive relationships with parents to discuss and tackle attendance issues
Creating intervention or reintegration plans in partnership with pupils and parents/carers
Coordinating the delivery of targeted intervention and support to pupils and families

Pastoral Welfare Leaders

The Pastoral Welfare Leaders are responsible for:

Working collaboratively with the Attendance Officer in identifying within key-stage attendance concerns.
Working collaboratively with the Attendance Officer to identify and address any barriers to high attendance for children within their key-stage
Working collaboratively with the Attendance Officer to identify and address and safeguarding concerns which are causing, or brought about by, poor attendance
Working collaboratively with the Attendance Officer to attend meetings and establish and maintain contact with parent/carers and external agencies where there are attendance concerns

Attendance Officer

The school attendance officer is responsible for:

Ensuring absence procedures are followed in line with this policy and the Trust Principles
Entering codes accurately and keeping the attendance register in line with legislation
Keeping records of reasons for absence for detailed analysis
Monitoring and analysing attendance data (see section 7)
Benchmarking attendance data to identify areas of focus for improvement
Providing regular attendance reports to school staff and reporting concerns about attendance SLT
Working with education welfare officers / attendance support to tackle persistent absence
Working as part of the safeguarding team to report and follow up concerns
Advising the Headteacher when to issue fixed-penalty notices

Class Teachers

Class teachers are responsible for

Recording attendance on a daily basis, using the correct codes
Recording all attendance, accurately, on ARBOR (MIS)
Recording registers in a timely manner
Giving attendance a high profile and emphasising the importance of school attendance
Making pupils feel welcome and supporting them after an absence or when late to school
Helping pupils catch up on missed subject content after absences
Attending meetings and making and maintaining parental contact regarding attendance
Establishing and maintaining contact with pupils where there is a long term absence

School Office Staff

School office staff may be responsible for taking calls from parents/carers and pupils about absence on a day-to-day basis and recording it accurately. They will also transfer calls from parents/carers and pupils to the correct pastoral staff, attendance officers or SLT in order to provide them with more detailed support on attendance. They will ensure that late students and students leaving during the day are accounted for and that the Attendance Officer is informed. Office staff work closely with the attendance and safeguarding team.

Parents/carers

Parents/carers are expected to:

Make sure their child attends every day on time
Call the school to report their child’s absence before 9am on the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence, and advise when they are expected to return
Provide the school with more than one emergency contact number for their child
Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day
Keep to any attendance contracts that are made and accept support when it is offered
Inform the right people, as early as possible, if there are any challenges around attendance.
Provide a medical note as evidence of any illness or absence reason, when requested

Pupils

Pupils are expected to:

Attend school every day on time
Let school staff know if there are any difficulties at school or home to allow school to support
Engage in attendance initiatives within school
Uphold school expectations on school transport
Engage in any return to school discussions following an absence
Talk to a trusted adult on any worries or anxieties about school
Engage in any contract of expectations that is agreed regarding attendance

Reporting Absence

Parents/Carers will be expected to provide an acceptable reason for every absence and will be able to report an absence on the day by contacting:

The Attendance Officer before 9am to explain the reason for absence.

Parents/carers are requested to make contact on each day of absence even where pupils are absent for consecutive days, unless otherwise agreed with the Attendance Officer.

If absence reasons are medical, evidence will need to be provided such as a stamped medical card, appointment text message, hospital letter or prescription in order for the absence to be authorised. We will mark absence for physical or mental illness as authorised unless we have a concern about the authenticity of the illness. If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents will be notified of this in advance or at the time.

For a full list of authorised and unauthorised reasons for absence please see section 7.

Where communication is not made with the Academy about the reason for pupil absence this will be deemed as ‘unauthorised absence’. The parent/carer will receive contact from the Academy to ascertain reasons for absence. Calls will be made from the beginning of the school day and will be completed by 11 am on the same day. Follow up will be based on the following timescales:

If a pupil is absent without communication, the attendance team will attempt to contact parents. You will receive a telephone call or text message after morning registration to request that you contact school to report the reason for your child’s absence. If you do not report your child’s absence following this text, you will receive a phone call from a member of the attendance team. If the attendance team is unable to contact you, you will likely receive a home visit - even if it is the first day of absence in order to check that both you and your child are ok
When a pupil is absent without the school being provided with a reason, and the first day calls and texts have failed to establish a reason, a member of the attendance team will conduct a home visit on day one of the absence. Home visits from the attendance team are supportive and intended to establish if any actions need to be put in place in order to support a child’s return to school.
If, after home visits and phone calls, the attendance team is still unable to get a reason for absence, the attendance team will request the Safer Schools Officer to carry out a ‘safe and well’ home visit. We may also contact childrens’ social services and/or the police.
For extended periods of absence without reason, we may also contact the Child Missing Education Team at the Council and/or sibling schools to support with enquiries about the whereabouts of the child.
If a child is absent from the Academy for 20 days (or 10 days after an authorised holiday) and their whereabouts are unknown or they are reported to have left the area, a referral will be made to the Child Missing Education Team and the school will liaise closely with the SEN Team.

Reporting and Requesting Planned Absences

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment. This should be done by contacting the Attendance Officer so that the absence can be correctly recorded. However, we encourage parents/carers to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary by returning promptly to school following their appointment and also attend prior to appointment if not first thing in the morning. The appointment should be made at the start/end of the academy day to minimise disruption to learning.

The pupil’s parent/carer must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence. Go to section 7 to find out which term-time absences are authorised.

Recording Absence

Attendance register

By law, all schools are required to keep an attendance register. The academy uses an electronic system (ARBOR) to accurately record attendance and punctuality to every lesson on a daily basis.

There is a tutor session at the start of every day, during which pupils receive their morning registration mark. Any pupils arriving late (after 9.00am) will be given an ‘L’ code added to Arbor. Afternoon attendance is recorded during lesson 4.

The attendance register marks whether every pupils is:

Present
Attending an approved off-site educational activity
Absent
Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

By law, all schools are required to close their register 30 minutes after they open, and are required to record a U code for any pupils arriving after this point.

Any amendment to the attendance register will include:

The original entry
The amended entry
The reason for the amendment
The date on which the amendment was made
The name and position of the person who made the amendment

We will also record:

Whether the absence is authorised or not
The nature of the activity if a pupil is attending an approved educational activity
The nature of circumstances where a pupil is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

Lateness and punctuality

The statutory register of the academy closes at 9:30am daily. After this point, a pupil arriving late without prior notice or a reasonable explanation, will receive an L mark.

A pupil who arrives late:

Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code (L)
After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code (U)

If a pupil arrives:

After 9 am, they will sign in at the main campus reception. Parents will be asked for a reason for lateness.

Persistent lateness

It is not acceptable for pupils to persistently arrive late to school (whether before or after the register has closed) as this not only hinders their progress but also disrupts the learning of others. The pupil support and attendance team will monitor late arrivals and follow this up through:

Letters home
Discussion and meetings with parent/carers
Punctuality Panels
Multi-agency support to ascertain any medical or SEND reason to be regularly late

Pupils need to arrive at the academy on time in order to be ready for the day ahead.

All lates and conversations with parents will be logged centrally by the academy.

If a pupil is persistently late to school and has two parent meetings across a half term, they are to be referred to a Pastoral Welfare Leader. A home/school agreement to be signed to inform us that parents will support punctuality and be at the forefront of any improvement. A staff mentor will work with pupils and families regarding punctuality and attendance.

If all the above are unsuccessful, the Academy will use legal channels in accordance with the local authority policy. This may mean that court action is taken. Every U code counts as half a day unauthorised absence and may result in fixed penalty action or prosecution.

Recording Attendance at off site provision / dual registered pupils

Pupils will be given a ‘B’ code on Arbor when they have attended external alternative provision. Any absences will be recorded using the appropriate absence code.
Some provisions, as well as managed moves, are used on a dual-registration basis -The Attendance Officer will oversee this and will give the pupil the appropriate enrolment status. In these cases pupils will be given a ‘D’ code when they are on roll with the provision for all periods where the pupil is expected to attend the other provision/school.
Pupils who are Guest Pupils at another school will remain as ‘single registration’ at Co-op Academy Southfield. Where the pupil has attended the other school, a ‘B’ mark will be recorded. All absences will be logged with the appropriate code.
Attendance Officers from the Academy will conduct home visits where appropriate.
Once a placement is set up, pupils must attend. Failure to do so will carry the same consequences as non-attendance within the Academy.
Attendance Officer to request regular attendance certificates for pupils attending dual-registration provisions/schools.

Reporting to parents/carers

Parents and carers will receive regular, half termly updates about their child’s attendance. This will be in the form of attendance certificate of achievements, telephone calls, meetings, text messages and/or telephone calls.

Authorised and Unauthorised Absences

Medical and Illness

Children should attend school on every possible day they can. Mild illnesses such as colds and coughs should not prevent a pupil from coming to school. Guidance for school leaders on authorising absence for mild illnesses, or mild anxiety, from the chief medical officer can be found here and details when parents or carers should make sure pupils attend.

Approval for term-time absence

The Government’s amendments of the Education Regulations 2006 removed the right of Headteachers to authorise family holidays and extended leave. The academy policy, therefore, reflects this legislation.

The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request. Any request should be submitted, in writing, as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 4 weeks before the absence. Leave of absence forms can be found on the academy website: https://www.southfield.coopacademies.co.uk/attendanceandabsence . The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence including plane tickets; medical evidence; letters from authorities.

Valid reasons for authorised absence include:

Illness (including mental illness) and medical/dental appointments
Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong. If necessary, the school will seek advice from the religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart. The academy authorises up to two days for a religious absence per academic year and one day per religious event
Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision

Fines and Sanctions

The school or local authority can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. The school is obligated to pass information about unauthorised absence to the local authority. This can lead to a fixed penalty notice issued from the authority. If issued with a fine, or penalty notice, each parent/carer must pay £80, per pupil within 21 days or £160 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority. Fines are issued per pupil and per parent so in a family of four, you could receive up to four fixed penalty notices.

Penalty notices can be issued by a headteacher, local authority officer or the police.

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice may take into account:

Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions / 5 days of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks)
Whether a penalty notice is the best available tool to improve attendance for that pupil
Whether support, a notice to improve or other legal intervention would be more appropriate
Whether any obligations the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate

A penalty notice may also be issued where parents allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, during the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion (where the school has notified the parents that the pupil must not be present in a public place).

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice.

If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, within a three year period, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days.

A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, schools will have to consider prosecution in a magistrates court and a potential fine of £2500 - as well as a possible criminal record for the parent.

Notices to improve

If the national threshold has been met and support is appropriate, but parents do not engage with offers of support, Co-op Academy Southfield may offer a notice to improve to give parents a final chance to engage.

Notices to improve are issued in line with processes set out in the Bradford Attendance Guidance. They will include:

Details of the pupil’s attendance record and of the offences
The benefits of attendance and duty of parents under section 7 of Education Act 1996
Details of the support provided so far
Opportunities for further support, or previously provided support not engaged with
A clear warning that a penalty notice may be issued if attendance doesn’t improve within the improvement period, along with details of what sufficient improvement looks like, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis
A clear timeframe of between 3 and 6 weeks for the improvement period
The grounds on which a penalty notice may be issued before the end of the improvement period

Promoting and Supporting Attendance

The Academy recognises that poor attendance can be an indication of difficulties in a child’s life. This may be related to problems at home and/or in school. Parents should make school aware of any difficulties or changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s attendance and or behaviour in school, for example, bereavement, divorce/separation, incidents of domestic abuse. This will help the school identify any additional support that may be required.

Co-op Academy Southfield also recognises that some pupils are more likely to require additional support to achieve excellent attendance, for example, those pupils with special educational needs, those with physical or mental health needs, and looked after children.

Part of promoting and supporting great attendance at Co-op Academy Southfield is to ensure that the pupils receive the best possible experience on a day to day basis - to ensure that they are excited to attend, feel a sense of belonging and are supported to experience success in their learning. As a school, we ensure that each and every day, pupil’s feel warmly welcomed into the academy - and that they are offered a broad and exciting curriculum. Part of our universal offer is also to provide access to a trusted adult during the day; high quality teaching; a fair and proportionate policy for positive behaviour and regular communication with parents. In addition, to support and encourage pupils who might find attendance at school more difficult, we also implement a range of strategies:

Weekly meetings with pupils who have had more than two unauthorised absences in a half term
Half termly communication home about their child’s attendance in relation to the school
Daily check-ins with pupils who need it to help them attend more often
Attendance support plans for pupils who need extra support
Regular 1:1 attendance mentoring for identified groups of pupils
Information published weekly on exciting events and opportunities for the following days
Bespoke support and further signposting for pupils with barriers to attending
Regular attendance panels to understand further reasons for absence and act accordingly
Bespoke (full time) timetables for limited time periods where appropriate

As a very last resort - and only in exceptional circumstances, the Academy may implement a part time timetable to support regular attendance. This would only be as a very last resort, for as short a time as possible and with regular, weekly reviews between school and home.

Rewarding Attendance

Recognising strong attendance is key and celebrating improvements in attendance is important. We do, however, recognise that for the vast majority of our pupils, given their disabling conditions, their attendance is often not entirely in their own power and is dependent on the right support around them from parents, carers and other partner agencies. We therefore recognise and reward attendance in a range of ways, including parental recognition at various points throughout the academic year.

Attendance Monitoring

The Academy will monitor attendance and absence data weekly, half-termly, termly and yearly across the school and at an individual pupil level. Through this analysis we will Identify whether or not there are particular groups of children whose absences may be a cause for concern

Pupil-level absence data will be collected each term and published at national and local authority level through the DfE's school absence national statistics releases. The underlying school-level absence data is published alongside the national statistics. The school will compare attendance data to the national average, and share this with the academy community council and Regional Director.

Analysing attendance

The school will analyse attendance and absence data regularly to identify pupils or cohorts that need additional support with their attendance, and use this analysis to provide targeted support to these pupils and their families. We will look at historic and emerging patterns of attendance and absence, and then develop strategies to address these patterns. See Appendix 3 for how we use attendance data.

Using data to improve attendance

The school will provide regular attendance reports to form tutors and class teachers and to school leaders, to facilitate discussions with pupils and families and use data to monitor and evaluate the impact of any interventions put in place in order to modify them and inform future strategies.

Identifying and supporting Persistent and Severely Absent Pupils

Persistent absence is where a pupil misses 10% or more of school, and severe absence is where a pupil misses 50% or more of school. Research shows that missing 10% or more of school dramatically reduces a pupil’s ability to go on to get great qualifications and to be a healthy and happy individual. The academy will work with parents/carers, staff, agencies and pupils to prevent children from falling into either of these categories.

The school will use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence. We will hold regular meetings with the parents/carers of pupils and all adults who are listed as holding parental responsibility, who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable, or are persistently or severely absent, to discuss attendance and engagement at school. We will provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance.

Pupils with attendance of less than 85% will be identified by the attendance team and referred to the Academy Attendance Improvement Officers (AIO) for more intensive casework. Preventative intervention work will be done to avoid pupils reaching PA status.

In order to prevent pupils from falling into Persistent Absence category, the following strategy will ensue:

Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence
Consider potential safeguarding issues and, where suspected or present, address them in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education
Hold regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable or at risk of persistent or severe absence, or who are persistently or severely absent, to:

o Discuss attendance and engagement at school

o Listen, and understand barriers to attendance

o Explain the help that is available

o Explain the potential consequences of, and sanctions for, persistent and severe absence

o Review any existing actions or interventions

Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance, in conjunction with the local authority, where relevant
Consider alternative support that could be put in place to remove any barriers to attendance and re-engage these pupils. In doing so, the school will sensitively consider some of the reasons for absence

If, after all the above processes are unsuccessful and pupil attendance drops further, we will consider the legal sanctions. If there is another, underlying cause of absence, we will refer to other agencies e.g the SEND team; Educational psychology; Children’s social work services; CAMHS; Early Help. We always aim to work with families to improve attendance and through all of the interventions in place. Where families are not engaging with the support we will have to take more punitive actions including:

Formal Casework
Referral to educational welfare officers
Referral to Bradford Council for legal work

Reintegration after significant absences

Every effort will be made to re-integrate pupils successfully back into the Academy following long periods of absence. This might include:

Phased returns and reduced timetables, in exceptional circumstances
Bespoke timetables
A ‘catch up’ plan with teachers to support with accessing missed curriculum
Morning check-ins and welcomes and end of day check-ins
Mentoring from the pastoral team
An attendance support plan agreed with pupils and Parents
Identified safe space and trusted adult
Weekly reviews on progress

Identifying and supporting Children Missing in Education

We recognise that a child going missing from education is a potential indicator of abuse or neglect. A pupil is counted to be ‘Missing in Education’ if they have been absent for 20 consecutive days from the academy (with no reason for absence given) or if they have not returned for 10 consecutive school days after returning from an authorised absence. Where a child is identified as missing education we will comply with our statutory duty to inform the local authority of any pupil who falls within the reporting notification requirements outlined in Children Missing Education – Statutory guidance for local authorities (DfE September 2016).

School and college staff members must follow the Bradford Children’s Services Protocols

Contact: 01274 438877 or CME@bradford.gov.uk

Children who are absent, abscond or go missing during the school day are vulnerable and at potential risk of abuse, neglect, CSE or CCE including involvement in county lines. Academy staff members must follow the academy’s procedures for dealing with pupils who are absent/go missing, particularly on repeat occasions, to help identify the risk of abuse and neglect including sexual abuse or exploitation and to help prevent the risks of going missing in future.

Links with other Policies

This policy links to the following policies:

Academy Safeguarding Policy
Behaviour policy
Exclusions Policy
Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy
Children with health needs who cannot attend school Policy
Co-op Academies Trust Attendance Principles

Appendix 1 - Coding

The following codes are taken from the DfE’s guidance on school attendance.

Code	Definition	Scenario
/	Present (am)	Pupil is present at morning registration
\	Present (pm)	Pupil is present at afternoon registration
L	Late arrival	Pupil arrives late before register has closed
Attending a place other than the school
K	Attending education provision arranged by the local authority	Pupil is attending a place other than a school at which they are registered, for educational provision arranged by the local authority
V	Attending an educational visit or trip	Pupil is on an educational visit/trip organised or approved by the school
P	Participating in a sporting activity	Pupil is participating in a supervised sporting activity approved by the school
W	Attending work experience	Pupil is on an approved work experience placement
B	Attending any other approved educational activity	Pupil is attending a place for an approved educational activity that is not a sporting activity or work experience
D	Dual registered	Pupil is attending a session at another setting where they are also registered
Absent – leave of absence
C1	Participating in a regulated performance or undertaking regulated employment abroad	Pupil is undertaking employment (paid or unpaid) during school hours, approved by the school
M	Medical/dental appointment	Pupil is at a medical or dental appointment
J1	Interview	Pupil has an interview with a prospective employer/educational establishment
S	Study leave	Pupil has been granted leave of absence to study for a public examination
X	Not required to be in school	Pupil of non-compulsory school age is not required to attend
C2	Part-time timetable	Pupil is not in school due to having a part-time timetable
C	Exceptional circumstances	Pupil has been granted a leave of absence due to exceptional circumstances
Absent – other authorised reasons
T	Parent travelling for occupational purposes	Pupil is a ‘mobile child’ who is travelling with their parent(s) who are travelling for occupational purposes
R	Religious observance	Pupil is taking part in a day of religious observance
I	Illness (not medical or dental appointment)	Pupil is unable to attend due to illness (either related to physical or mental health)
E	Suspended or excluded	Pupil has been suspended or excluded from school and no alternative provision has been made
Absent – unable to attend school because of unavoidable cause
Q	Lack of access arrangements	Pupil is unable to attend school because the local authority has failed to make access arrangements to enable attendance at school
Y1	Transport not available	Pupil is unable to attend because school is not within walking distance of their home and the transport normally provided is not available
Y2	Widespread disruption to travel	Pupil is unable to attend because of widespread disruption to travel caused by a local, national or international emergency
Y3	Part of school premises closed	Pupil is unable to attend because they cannot practicably be accommodated in the part of the premises that remains open
Y4	Whole school site unexpectedly closed	Every pupil absent as the school is closed unexpectedly (e.g. due to adverse weather)
Y5	Criminal justice detention	Pupil is unable to attend as they are: · In police detention · Remanded to youth detention, awaiting trial or sentencing, or · Detained under a sentence of detention
Y6	Public health guidance or law	Pupil’s travel to or attendance at the school would be prohibited under public health guidance or law
Y7	Any other unavoidable cause	To be used where an unavoidable cause is not covered by the other codes
Absent – unauthorised absence
G	Holiday not granted by the school	Pupil is absent for the purpose of a holiday, not approved by the school
N	Reason for absence not yet established	Reason for absence has not been established before the register closes
O	Absent in other or unknown circumstances	No reason for absence has been established, or the school isn’t satisfied that the reason given would be recorded using one of the codes for authorised absence
U	Arrived in school after registration closed	Pupil has arrived late, after the register has closed but before the end of session
Administrative codes
Z	Prospective pupil not on admission register	Pupil has not joined school yet but has been registered
#	Planned whole-school closure	Whole-school closures that are known and planned in advance, including school holidays

Appendix 2 - Removing Barriers Flowchart

(from Working Together to Improve School Attendance)

Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively in partnership with, not against families. All partners should work together to:

Expect

Aspire to high standards of attendance from all pupils and parents and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school.

Monitor

Rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance (at individual and cohort level) as soon as possible so all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

Listen and understand

When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

Facilitate support

Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

Formalise support

Where absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through an attendance contract or education supervision order.

Enforce

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention: a penalty notice in line with the National Framework or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

Appendix 3 - Data monitoring and analysis

Frequency	What is analysed	Reported by	Reported to
Daily	Daily whole school percentage Each year group percentage Number of U codes	Attendance Officer	Senior Deputy Headteacher
Weekly	YTD attendance 3 week trend Demographic attendance Y group attendance Code analysis (root cause) Weekly attendance patterns Weekly unauthorised Current PA and PSA figure Top 20 attendance concerns Significant improvements	Attendance Officer	Senior Deputy Headteacher
Weekly	YTD attendance Last week / this week Y group attendance Significant group attendance Significant improvements	Attendance Officer	Senior Deputy Headteacher
Fortnightly	Two week trends decline Two week trends improvement Individuals 3 or more O codes	Attendance Officer	Senior Deputy Headteacher
Half termly	YTD attendance Trend over half term Demographic attendance Cohort attendance Code analysis (root cause) Current PA and SA Patterns and improvements Number of Home Visits	Head teacher	ACC

Appendix 4 - Thresholds and Interventions

	YTD Present	Action
Serious concern: <85%	0.00%	Pastoral Welfare leaders will support children in key stages and lead on initiating parent contracts and have half termly meetings to review this. Follow attendance flow chart stage 1 and stage 2 intervention process.
Attendance action group: 85-56.9%	85.00%	Arrange meetings in school with families to discuss barriers to attendance - follow stage 1 letter 2 process of attendance flow chart; set 3 weekly monitoring period. Intervenor to support student in class implement an attendance chart with if appropriate. Pastoral welfare leaders to initiate support from intervenors.
Quick fix group: 87-89.9%	87.10%	If moved down in this group phone call and attendance meeting booked in school with families to discuss barriers to attendance - follow stage 1 letter 1 process of attendance flowchart; set 3 weekly monitoring period. Intervenor to support student in class implement an attendance chart with if appropriate. Pastoral welfare leaders to initiate support from intervenors.
Eyes on group: 90-92.9%	90.20%	If moved down into this group, phone call with potential attendance meeting. Phone call script one. Teacher to also call home. If moved up in the group message/ phone call script 6. Welfare leaders to initiate incentives.
Good Attenders: 93-94.9%	93.00%	If moved down into this group text message 4 and phone call. If moved up into this group text message 5 and phone call; recognition in assemblies.
Excellent Attenders: 95-97.9%	95.00%	If moved down into this group text message 2 and phone call. If moved up into this group text message 3 and phone call; recognition in assemblies.
Top 2%: 98-100%	98.00%	When new students enter this group text message 1 to congratulate; recognition in assemblies.

Appendix 5 - Legal Interventions

Education supervision order:

Either local authority can apply for an education supervision order, but it will usually be the Home LA that acts as the ‘designated LA’ and therefore both local authorities should discuss and agree before proceeding.

Penalty notice:

A penalty notice must be issued in line with the National Framework and local code of conduct for the area in which the child goes to school, and if issued by a local authority, it must be the School LA. The National Threshold for issuing penalty notices is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the Summer Term and a further 8 within the Autumn Term) and different schools.

Prosecution:

Either local authority has the power to prosecute, but in general it should be the School LA that takes forward prosecutions under section 444(1) and (1A) of the Education Act 1996. It is, however, good practice for the School LA to inform the Home LA that legal action is being taken.

Parenting orders:

Where a prosecution leads to a Parenting Order, the Court will specify a responsible officer in line with section 372(5) of the Sentencing Act 2020. Both local authorities should discuss and agree who is most appropriate to act as responsible officer in advance of seeking the Order, within the statutory requirements. The most appropriate officer will often depend on the reason for absence.

School Attendance Orders (SAOs):

Where it appears a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education, either at school or otherwise than at a school (such as unsuitable home education), that local authority (the Home LA) is responsible for serving a notice and if necessary a SAO in line with sections 437 to 442 of the Education Act 1996. Likewise, if prosecution for breaching the SAO is deemed necessary, it should be taken forward by the Home LA.

Appendix 6 - Template Letters

Example Absence Letter

Dear Parent/Carer

RE: Your Child’s Attendance Matters to Us

Your child’s attendance is x %

This means they have missed x school days

This was xxxxx lessons

This year, xxxxx has missed over 11 days of learning. Our aim is for all students to have 100% attendance. This would mean missing no days of school. Our minimum expectation of 96% means that we would expect children to miss no more than two days per term (or 6 in a year).

We know that when students miss school they fall behind. Just missing five days a year of school could decrease your child’s chances of achieving well by 10% – whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised. Pupils who attend school regularly on average also feel better connected, develop superior social skills and have higher self-esteem and confidence. Not being in school means your child is missing out on the essentials they need to be successful.

Our purpose is to support every child to achieve their very best. In order to do this, we would like you to ensure xxxxx attends school on every day possible so that they can achieve better attendance this year and therefore maximise their chances of success. An extra 6 days of school could make all the difference.

If you need any support regarding your child’s attendance please contact the school to speak to a member of the pastoral team. We are here to help and want to see xxxxx in school, every day.

Thank you for supporting xxxx’s progress by ensuring they are in school, every day and on time. You could have a big impact on their attendance.

Yours sincerely

Head of School

Attendance Policy