Why is attendance important?

Field House Infant and Nursery School is part of Embark Federation. Embark’s shared vision is to create schools that stand out at the heart of their communities. Our purpose is to enable everyone to Love Learning and Love Life, underpinned by the core beliefs of Family, Integrity, Teamwork and Success.

A child's regular attendance is essential to their education, safeguarding, wellbeing, friendships, belonging and long-term outcomes. If a child misses just two weeks of school across the year, they are missing 65 hours of learning and it can be very difficult to catch up.

Attendance is one of the clearest expressions of Embark’s collective commitment to inclusion. We want every child to feel welcome, known, listened to, valued, supported and that they belong within their school and within the Embark family. Our attendance work is therefore rooted in high aspirations, relational practice, timely support, professional curiosity and a shared responsibility to remove barriers to attendance. 

How attendance works

The school day is split into two sessions, with two registration marks per day - one for the morning and one for the afternoon. Attendance is recorded per session; this means that if your child is unwell in the morning but feels better in the afternoon it is beneficial to bring them into school. Their attendance will be boosted and, more importantly, so will their education.  

Key timings

8:45am School starts

8:50am The gates close and the school day begins (entry via main entrance only after this time). A child arriving after this time would be marked as late (L)

9:15am The registers close and any children arriving after this time would be classed as having an unauthorised absence (U)

3:15pm School ends

If a child arrives late 10 or more times during a rolling 10 school-week period, it can result in a penalty notice being issued. 

Illness

Parents and carers must contact the school as early as possible on the first day of absence and on each subsequent day unless an alternative arrangement has been agreed. 

There are 2 ways you can do this:

• Dojo message Mrs Price or Mrs Gillott in the main school office (not class teachers) by 8.30am on each day of absence.
• Call 0115 932 4526.

Where a pupil is absent without explanation, the school will make same-day contact with the family as soon as reasonably practicable after registers have been checked. The purpose of contact is to establish the reason for absence, confirm that the pupil is safe and well, identify the correct attendance code, and offer support for return where appropriate. 

Where contact cannot be established, where the explanation is not satisfactory, or where the pupil is vulnerable or there are safeguarding concerns, the school must escalate in line with safeguarding procedures. 

Leave of absence requests during term

Leave of absence requests are very rarely authorised and the following information must be considered:

• An absence request form must be completed and received by school before the first requested day of absence. 
• Parents must receive written authorisation before the pupil is absent form school. 
• If there are extremely exceptional circumstances, evidence must be provided to help the authorising process. 
• Penalty notices are issued for unauthorised absence, poor attendance or reoccurring lateness.  
• Penalty notices will be issued even if attendance has previously been good. 
• For holidays or poor attendance the fine could be £160 per child, per parent or carer.
• Leave of absence requests for family holidays will not be authorised (in accordance with government regulations).
• Penalty notices that are repeated or unpaid may result in legal prosecution.

Should you still decide to take your child out of school for a holiday, we still require you to complete an Application for Leave of Absence Form, which is available from the school office or to download at the bottom of this page. You can return the form to school or email it to enquiries@fieldhouse.derbyshire.sch.uk

Attendance and punctuality procedures  

We will use the following procedure to keep families as informed as possible about attendance queries and punctuality concerns. This is also a good opportunity to share any difficulties with our team so that we can explore ways in which we can offer support:

        1.If a child’s attendance drops below 93%, with concerns for frequency or reasons for absence, we will: 

• Send a Parental Responsibility letter sent to all parents with day-to-day responsibility for the child. 
• Obtain the Child’s voice and reason for their absences. 
• Offer voluntary support, working in partnership to identify and tackle barriers to attendance.

        3. Following a set period, the attendance improvement plan will be reviewed:   

• If improved, praise will be given and the process starts again. 
• If there is no or little improvement, a legally binding education supervision order, penalty notices and prosecution could follow.

When school feels difficult: Supporting attendance and wellbeing 

We understand that school can be a difficult or overwhelming experience for some children and that morning routines can be challenging. With this in mind, we are keen to offer support to families whose children are reluctant to attend. Please contact us so we can explore how we can help.

We have many examples of where collaboration between school and families has had a lasting positive impact on attendance and engagement.

Further information

For further information, please use this link link to access our policies page, where you will find our most up-to-date Attendance Policy, or view the documents listed below: