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    • Attendance

    New attendance guidance

    You may be aware that the Department for Education has recently announced national changes to penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence in term time. These changes came into effect on 19 August 2024.
    The changes to be aware of are:

    • Penalty notices issued for offences that take place after 19 August 2024 will be charged at a new rate of £160 per parent per child. This can be paid at £80 if paid within 21 days.
    • Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days with no option for a discounted rate.
    • The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period1. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.
    • A maximum of 2 penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions).
    • Only penalty notices issued for absences taking place after 19 August 2024 will count towards the above thresholds.

    Attendance

    It is important to help your child get the most from their  education by making sure that they attend school every day and arrive on time.  If your child has been sick and cannot attend, it is important that you let us know between 8.30am and 9.00am on the first day of absence by telephone.

    The school offers termly reward incentives to children and families who have good attendance and perfect punctuality.

    Appointments must be made outside of academy session times wherever possible.  We do understand that there may be times when you need to take your child for an emergency appointment, but generally children should not miss academy sessions due to appointments.

    Absences may be authorised (if the academy have agreed with the reason for absence) or unauthorised (if the academy have not agreed with the reason for absence, or have not been given a reason). A succession of unauthorised absences may lead to action being taken to ensure that your child’s attendance improves. 

    The academy’s Senior Leadership Team regularly monitors the attendance of all children. 

    School hours

    School hours are 8:50am - 3:10pm.  

    In a typical week this amounts to 31 hours and 40 minutes per week.  Each day includes a 15-minute morning playtime and 45-minute lunch break each day, learning time amounts to 26 hours and 40 minutes per week.  

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