It is the responsibility of the parent/carer to ensure that your child attends school regularly. Should your child become ill and be unable to attend, please telephone the academy as soon as possible. There is an answering service on which you can leave a message at any time of the day or night. Please avoid unnecessary absences as the continuity of your child’s education will suffer.

If your child is going to be absent from school you must let us know before 9:30am. If we do not hear from you by this time this may result in a visit to your home for reasons of safeguarding.

The academy absence line is: 0113 212 7100. Medical or dental appointments during the school day will not be authorised unless they are urgent. If you wish your child to leave school during the day for medical or dental appointments you must provide an appointment letter in advance.

Punctuality –

The academy opens its doors at 8:45am and the door are closed at 9:00am. Once the doors are closed, children must enter the academy through the main office. Registration begins at 8:50am and ends at 9:00am. If a child arrives after this time, they will be marked as Late (L) in the register.

If children arrive after 9:30 am, they will be recorded as an unauthorised (U) which affects your child’s attendance.

Being late to school has a significant impact on the amount of learning time lost over a school year:

As you will be aware the Department of Education have published statutory guidance in relation to improving school attendance, which will apply from 19^th August 2024. 

Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know.

Every moment in school counts and days missed add up quickly. Evidence shows that pupils who have good attendance enjoy better wellbeing and school performance than those who don’t.

There are only a few circumstances where a child is allowed to miss school, such as illness or where the school has given permission because of an exceptional circumstance.

However, if your child misses school without a good reason, local councils and schools can intervene and you may be issued a fine.

We’re also introducing a new national framework which will mean all councils have the same rules in place for when they need to consider a fine. We explain more on this below.

It’s important to acknowledge that children with long-term medical or more serious mental health conditions, and those with special educational needs and disabilities may face additional barriers.

For children who face complex barriers to attendance, schools should have sensitive conversations with children and families and work with them to put support in place for their individual needs.

How much could I be fined if my child misses school?  

In the majority of cases, schools and local authorities will try and provide support to help you improve your child’s attendance first, but if this isn’t effective or the absence is for unauthorised term time holiday, parents may face paying a fine.

Currently, it’s the responsibility of the local authority to decide when to issue fines to parents, meaning the process varies from council to council.

However, 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.Money raised via fines is only used by the local authority
to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support.
Any extra money is returned to the government.

If you need to make a request for Exceptional Circumstances absence please see attachments regarding penalty notices below and complete a form by clicking this link https://forms.office.com/e/vH3TZUKtuD