Our Attendance Policy can be found here: Attendance Policy
Children who attend school achieve more, make greater progress and build good relationships and routines. This in turn provides positive mental health for your child. The expectation at Stanbridge is that all children should have 97%+ attendance across the year.
If your child’s attendance falls below this level it will be monitored and you may receive a letter to remind you that attendance is important. If your child’s attendance continues to cause concern, you will be asked to meet with the Family Liaison Officer to discuss the barriers to attending school in more detail. If there continues to be limited improvement, you will be asked to meet with the headteacher and may receive a fine or a referral to the Education Welfare Officer.
We want to educate your children and do the best we can for them. We listen, understand and empathise with families offering support, always with a view to improving attendance, but we do not tolerate non-attendance at school. Please have the same expectation and ensure your child’s attendance is maintained across the year.
No holidays will be authorised in term time. If there are circumstances where you need to take your children out of school for exceptional reasons, please can you speak to me about this or alternatively fill in the attached form and return it to the school office. All leave applications in term time must be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance. The Head Teacher will then consider your request and advise you if this is authorised. If the request is unauthorised and you still choose to take your child out of school the absences will be recorded as unauthorised on your child’s school attendance record. Unauthorised absences are illegal and will lead to parents being issued with fixed penalty notices.
Updates from the Government regarding Parent Fines for missing school from August 2024:
- Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
- From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days. This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.
- In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
- Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
- If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.
- For more information, please follow the link: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/02/29/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know