Attendance Policy
Click Here“Every Day Counts and Every Child Matters”
This policy aims to show our commitment to meeting our obligations with regards to school attendance in line with Department for Education (DfE) Statutory guidance on working together to improve school attendance (from 19 August 2024), and school attendance parental responsibility measures.
This policy is based on the Department of Education’s (DfE) statutory guidance working together to improve school attendance (from 19 August 2024), The guidance is based on the following pieces of legislation, which set out the legal powers and duties that govern school attendance:
This policy applies to all children registered at North Ealing Primary School (NEPS). It is available to all parent/carers on our website and by hard copy on request.
At NEPS we inspire and nurture all our children to become aspirational life-long learners through an inclusive, ambitious and engaging curriculum.
As a school we aim to:
• Maintain an attendance rate of 97%* and above
• Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
• Ensure every pupil has access to the full-time education in which they are entitled regardless of gender, race or sexuality – promoting equal opportunities for all
• Increase parents’ and children’s awareness of the importance of regular attendance.
• Ensure all children are given the maximum potential to achieve by attending school regularly.
• Ensure that our policy applies to Nursery and Reception aged children in order to promote good habits at an early age.
• Keep all children safe and healthy by monitoring attendance rates.
• Build strong relationships with families to make sure pupils have support in place to attend school
• Act early to address patterns of absence
• Work in partnership with parents/carers to improve attendance.
• Recognise the key role of all staff, but especially class teachers, in promoting good attendance.
* This target rate is subject to change each academic year
Good attendance is important because:
• Statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and poor attendance.
• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically.
• Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with.
• Regular attenders find learning more enjoyable and satisfying.
• Regular attenders settle into High School more easily.
Parents/Carers should:
• Ensure your child attends school regularly. Absence should only happen when your child is significantly ill, there should be a symptom, feeling ‘unwell’ is not enough.
• Telephone, email or text on the first morning by 8.30am and each subsequent morning of absence unless the school attendance officer advises otherwise, informing us of the reason for absence; ‘ill/unwell’ is not sufficient.
• Make all non-emergency medical appointments out of school hours or during school holidays. Provide evidence of these appointments and notify the school not less than 24 hours in advance.
• Provide medical evidence after the 2nd day of absence where the illness/absence is frequent or prolonged.
• Ensure we have your current contact numbers; this includes all telephone numbers, childminders and emergency contact details.
Reporting an Absence
• All absences must be reported to the school office by 8.30 am on each morning of your child’s absence.
• It is not sufficient to inform the class teacher. All parents and carers of children in all year groups including Nursery must follow these procedures.
• Please telephone the school office on: 0208 997 2653 and leave a message on the absence line stating the full reason for the absence.
• You can also email the school office at admin@northealing.ealing.sch.uk
• You can also text the school office using the School Comms app.
Following up absence
The school will follow up any absences to ascertain the reason, ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary, identify whether the absence is approved or not and identify the correct attendance code to use.
Where a child is marked absent and no reason has been provided the school will:
• Check that the child has not arrived late.
• Contact the parents/carers to ascertain the reason.
• If parent / carer cannot be contacted, notify the headteacher and safeguarding lead.
• Contact the educational social worker if the child has already been referred to the local authority.
As part of the school’s safeguarding procedures, if a child has not attended, without any parental contact or any other satisfactory information for the absence, then by the third day of unexplained absence the school will collaborate with Ealing Council’s School Attendance Officer to identify the pupil’s whereabouts. The pupil will remain on roll during this process and parents will be contacted at their last known address to advise that their child’s school place is at risk.
Walk to School
• A walk to school register will be kept for Year 5 and 6 children.
• Parents must advise the school if their children are travelling to school alone, in writing.
• We do not permit Year 5 and 6 children to bring younger siblings to school or take home.
The school will:
• Follow up unexplained absences by phone call, email, text message and letters as necessary.
• Follow up unexplained absences of children on the walk to School Register by telephone on the first day of absence no later than 10.00am.
• Telephone all listed contacts on a pupil’s records if the number one contact is unobtainable.
• If a satisfactory reason cannot be obtained for a ‘walk to school’ child by 11am the school will notify the police.
• If parents/carers fail to advise us on more than 3 occasions of a walk to school child being absent, we will remove them from the walk to school register and they will need to be escorted to and from school.
• Remind parents/carers of the importance of regular attendance and punctuality via newsletters and the school website.
• Publish each child’s attendance rate on her/his annual school report (Nursery – Y6).
• Inform parents if we have concerns regarding their child’s attendance and punctuality. Children with 90% attendance or less, whatever the reason for the absence, are classified as persistent absentees (PA).
• We will meet half termly with the Local Authority School Attendance Officer to discuss attendance that is a cause for concern.
When attendance becomes a concern the school will:
• In the first instance the school will send ‘Amber Warning Attendance Letters’ via email to all pupils whose attendance drops below 95%. If attendance does not improve and falls below 90% we will send, via email, ‘Red Warning Attendance Letters.’
• If the attendance does not improve then we will make an immediate referral to the Local Authority Attendance Officer to highlight the child’s attendance concerns.
• We will make reasonable enquiries which may include home visits.
Persistent Absence (PA)
Once a child’s attendance falls to 90% for whatever reason, they are automatically defined by the Department for Education (DfE), irrespective of the reason for absence as a Persistent Absentee. Persistent absence is a serious problem for pupils. Much of the work they miss when they are off school is never made up; these gaps in their learning leave children at a considerable disadvantage for the remainder of their school career. Statistics show a direct link between poor attendance and under-achievement particularly at GCSE. (appendix 1)
Persistent absence is well below our expectations and as such, the school will work in partnership with the parent to improve matters. In some cases, parents might be invited to agree a ‘Parenting Agreement/Contract/Attendance improvement’ plan with the school as a way of managing improvement.
Authorised Absence
• Some absences are allowed by law and are known as “authorised absences”. For example: if a child is ill and the school has been notified.
• Where a family has suffered a bereavement within the extended family, 2 days will be authorised leave and any subsequent days will be recorded as unauthorised, unless an arrangement has been made with the school.
• Other authorised absences such as for a family bereavement or for religious observance are classed as exceptional leave and a form must be completed for the absence to authorised.*
• In addition to the exceptional leave form, the school will require copies of documentation to support your application of exceptional leave e.g. copies of flight tickets, medical letters etc.
Exceptional Leave – Term time leave of absence
Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time for holidays. Leave of absence is only granted in exceptional circumstances (e.g. if there is an emergency) at the discretion of the Head teacher and in accordance with the school policy as agreed by the governing body. There is no entitlement to time off during term time.
*If you wish to apply for exceptional leave you will need to request a form from the school office via email and provide evidence for the exceptional absence.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ABSENCE TAKEN WHICH HAS NOT BEEN AUTHORISED COULD BE LIABLE FOR A PENALTY NOTICE/ FINE BY THE LOCAL AUTHORITY AND THAT EXTENDED ABSENCES WITHOUT PERMISSION MAY PUT YOUR CHILD’S PLACE AT NORTH EALING PRIMARY SCHOOL AT RISK.
Unauthorised Absence
There are times when children are absent for reasons which are not permitted by law. These are known as “unauthorised absences”.
Examples of unauthorised absence are:
• Waiting for a delivery or repair
• Going for a family day out/going shopping
• Interpreting or supporting a parent at a meeting
• Sleeping in after a late night
• It is your child’s birthday
• A sibling is unwell
• Term time holiday
• Parent’s illness (other than in an emergency)
• Where there is no explanation for an absence or the school considers the reason given for the absence unsatisfactory.
• Absence following or prior a period of school closure or authorised leave unless satisfactory evidence to justify has been provided
Unauthorised Absences are reported to the Local Authority. The School Attendance Service may contact you where unauthorised absence continues to be a problem. The school will then work in partnership with you until matters improve.
Legal Sanctions
The headteacher (or someone authorised by them), local authority or the police can fine parents for unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age, by issuing a penalty notice.
The school will check with the local authority before issuing a penalty notice.
Before issuing a penalty notice, the school will consider the individual case, including:
• Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions 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 further support, a notice to improve or another legal intervention would be a more appropriate solution
• Whether any obligations that the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate.
Each parent/carer who is liable for the pupil’s offence(s) can be issued with a penalty notice, but this will usually only be the parent/carer who allowed the absence.
The payment must be made directly to the local authority, regardless of who issues the notice.
If issued with a first penalty notice, the parent must pay £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days. 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, 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 issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken such as court fines up to £2500.
Please note:
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 on that day).
Notices to improve:
If the national threshold for attendance has been met and support is appropriate, but parents do not engage with the offers of support, the school may offer a notice to improve to give parents a final chance to engage with support.
Notices to improve will be issued in line with the processes set out in the local code of conduct for the local authority area in which the pupil attends school.
They will include:
• Details of pupil’s attendance record and of the offences
• The benefits of regular attendance and the duty of parents under section 7 of the Education Act 1996
• Details of the support provided so far
• Opportunities for further support, or to access previously provided support that was 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.
SEND children
Identified pupils with specific medical, therapy or Special Educational needs, who have a high level of absence, will be supported by the following strategies:
• Weekly monitoring of attendance and absence
• Working with the Local Authority to record such absences as authorised to reflect attendance as good as can be expected for these pupils and the school
• Provide home visits where appropriate
• Recognise that some pupils are not ‘available for learning’ and work with the LA and other agencies to allocate appropriate provision which may not be within our school.
Children Missing Education
In accordance with the DfE Children Missing Education Statutory Guidelines 2024: Schools must monitor pupils’ attendance through their daily attendance register. Schools should agree with their local authority the intervals at which they will make a return to the local authority (an ‘attendance return18’) with the details of any pupil of compulsory school age who has failed to attend regularly (excluding where they were out of school and attending an approved educational activity covered by codes D, K, V or B), or has been absent for a continuous period of ten school days where their absence had been recorded with one or more of the codes statistically classified as unauthorised (G, N, O and/or U). . Schools should monitor attendance closely and address poor or irregular attendance. It is important that pupils’ poor attendance is referred to the local authority.
Where a pupil has not returned to school for ten days after an authorised absence or is absent from school without authorisation for twenty consecutive school days, the pupil can be removed from the admission register after making ‘reasonable enquiries’, to establish the whereabouts of the child. This only applies if the school does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend because of sickness or unavoidable cause.
Monitoring attendance is an essential part of safeguarding children at North Ealing. In accordance with the Child Protection Policy 2023, we shall notify Social Care if there is an unexplained absence of more than two days of a pupil who is on the child protection register.
Strategies used to promote pupil attendance:
• Weekly attendance awards for the best attending class, rewarded with the Attendance Cup or the
• Termly and Yearly 100% awards
• Attendance discussed at parents’ evenings
• Attendance leaflet handed out to parents at meetings (see Appendix 2)
• Use of SIMS data to generate reports and letters
• Meetings between the SLT and parents to discuss low attendance
• Discussion of attendance at Pupil Progress Meetings
• SLT and attendance officer meet termly with the link Attendance Officer from the Local Authority
Attendance Monitoring
Pupil-level absence data is 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. We compare our attendance data to the national average, and share this with governors.
The school collects and stores attendance data and use it for internal purposes to track the attendance of individual pupils, identify whether or not there are particular groups of children whose absences may be a cause for concern, and to monitor and evaluate those children identified as being in need of intervention and support.
Lateness and Punctuality
Arriving on time is a great start to the day, putting children in the right frame of mind to make the most of the day’s learning. Good punctuality is linked to good attendance which we know leads to better outcomes for children. Arriving on time sets good habits for high school and adult working life.
School Times
The school delivers a school week of 32.5 hours.
The gates to the playgrounds open at 8.45 am. You need to ensure your child is coming through the school gates by 8.50 am at the latest. The register will be taken promptly at 8.55 am. Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole class and often embarrassing for your child. We take the view that there are no late children, only late parents.
Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole class and often embarrassing for your child. We take the view that there are no late children, only late parents.
Start arrangements
All classes are invited into class for soft start from 8.45 am
Registers taken at 8:55 am
The school day starts at 9.00 am
Nursery Classes
Morning: 8.45 am – 11.45 am
30 hour nursery: 8.45 am – 3.00 pm
Afternoon Registration: 1.15 pm
Reception
8.45 am – 3.15 pm
Afternoon Registration: 1.15 pm
Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2
8.45 am – 3.15 pm
Afternoon Registration: 1.15 pm
Late Arrivals
From 8.45am the pedestrian gates will be staffed by a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) – any pupil who is late will be sent to the school office to sign in there.
Children who are not in class on time for the register will be marked late. (L code) All gates will be closed at 8.55am.
Late arrival after registration closes at 9am, without an acceptable reason will be marked as ‘unauthorised absence’ (U code). Parents remain responsible for their child’s punctuality. Arriving late to school on a consistent basis can have longer-term academic effects. Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole class and often embarrassing for the child.
Monitoring punctuality
Stage 1 – Where monitoring shows a child has been late on several occasions in the previous half term a reminder letter is sent to the parent/carer advising them that their child’s punctuality must improve and a text messages will be sent if their child is late again.
Stage 2 – Where a child’s punctuality shows no improvement, the parent/carer will be invited to meet with a member of SLT who will set a target for improvement. The meeting will include agreeing any support that the parents/carers need to help ensure their child attends school on time.
Persistent lateness will be referred to the Local Authority Attendance Officer. A meeting may also be arranged with a member of SLT.
Collection from School
Please collect your child promptly at the end of the school day or from any after school activity. If your child is not collected on time they will be taken to the school. The administrative team in the School Office will contact the parents by telephone. If other contacts are given, they will be contacted.
Your child may be taken to the After School Club if you arrive very late and a charge is incurred.
Where late collection is persistent and/or significantly late, the school is obliged to take any uncollected pupil to a place of safety i.e. the local police station. We will share concerns with other agencies including the Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service (formally Social Services).
If you are running late or unavoidably obtained, please keep the school office informed.
Pick Up Arrangements
Please inform the school at the start of the school day if there are any changes to your regular pick up arrangements, this can be done verbally, written directly into your child/ren’s contact book, via email or text.
Please only contact the school office if your arrangements have been changed in an emergency. This minimises the disruption caused to the children’s learning as all new arrangements have to be telephoned through to the class on the day.
Leavers
If your child is leaving our school (other than to go to High School) parents are asked to:
• Complete a Leavers Form available by request via email from the school office or available on the school website. This asks for comprehensive information about new school details, address details and a leaving date.
When pupils leave and we do not have information about where they have gone, then your child is considered to be a ‘Child Missing Education.’ This means that the Local Authority has a legal duty to carry out investigations, which will include liaising with Ealing Children’s Integrated Response Service, the Police and other services to try and locate your child. By giving us the above information, these investigations can be avoided.
Legal Note
Parents have a legal duty to ensure the regular and full time attendance at school of registered pupils (Education Act 1996). This policy is based on the law and on Best Practice guidance produced by the DfE (Department for Education) and the Local Authority. The School Attendance Service aims to work with schools and families to promote good attendance and avoid legal action. However in some cases, parents are prosecuted (taken to court) or have to pay a Fixed Penalty (fine) if these absences continue.
We value your support in helping us to maintain the high standards to which we always aspire.
Regular Attendance
Regular attendance is defined to be in accordance with the rules prescribed by the school. (Supreme Court Ruling April 2017)
Regular attendance is attendance at school on each day the school is open for the pupils unless there is an authorisable reason to be absent;
(Registration regulations 2006 (amended). Section 444 of the education act 1996). “If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his/her parent is guilty of an offence.” A pupil’s Unauthorised Absence is an offence for the parent.
Part-Time Attendance
North Ealing Primary School does not promote part-time attendance unless prescribed by an ECHP.
Roles and responsibilities
The governing body
The governing board is responsible for monitoring attendance figures for the whole school on at least a termly basis. It also holds the headteacher to account for the implementation of this policy.
The headteacher and SLT
The headteacher is responsible for ensuring this policy is implemented consistently across the school, for monitoring school-level absence data and reporting it to governors and issuing any penalty notices. The headteacher and SLT support other staff in monitoring the attendance of individual pupils, corresponding with parents and arranging parent meetings.
The Administration Officer for Attendance
• Monitors attendance data at the school and individual pupil level
• Reports concerns about attendance to SLT
• Works with parents – making calls, sending texts, emails and letters
• Works with Local Authority to tackle persistent absence/Lateness
• Arranges calls and meetings with parents/carers to discuss attendance issues
• Advises the headteacher when to issue penalty notices
Class teachers
Class teachers are responsible for accurately recording attendance on a daily basis and submitting this information to the school office. Reporting any unusual absence or lateness to the school office or SLT.
Office/reception staff
Office/reception staff are expected to take calls from parents/carers about absence and record these on the school system. They are also responsible for making call when children are unexpectedly absent or late.
“Every day counts and Every Child Matters!”
• Article 28 (right to education)
• Every child has the right to an education.
Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.
Appendix 1: Impact of attendance and punctuality
School Attendance in ‘real terms’ In line with the new guidance from the DfE, schools are encouraged to ‘regularly inform parents about their child’s attendance and absence levels.
| Percentage Attendance | Real terms | Missed lessons |
| 95% | Attendance of 95% for the year equals 10 days that your child has been absent, that is 2 full school weeks of your child’s learning missed for that year. | 50 missed lessons |
| 90% | If you have a 90% attendance record, it means that you are absent from lessons for the equivalent of one half-day every week. A 90% attendance rate means that you have missed the equivalent of four whole weeks of lessons in the school year. | 100 missed lessons |
| 85% | Attendance of 85% for the year equals 29 days that your child has been absent per, that is almost 6 school weeks missed | 150 lessons |
| 80% | Attendance of 80% for the year equals 38 days absent per year that is over 7 school weeks missed | 200 lessons |
| 75% | 48 days from school | 250 lessons |
| Punctuality | Arriving 5 minutes late every day adds up to over 3 days lost each year | 20 lessons |
| Arriving 15 minutes late every day adds up to 2 weeks absence a year | 55 lessons | |
| Arriving 30 minutes late every adds up to 19 days absence a year | 123 lessons |
Policy to be approved by the Governors
October 2025
Policy / Document due for review
October 2026