Attendance and absence

Please ring the office before 8:45 a.m. to report an absence on 01773 717647.

Your child needs to have above 96% attendance. Anything below this is a cause for concern. 

 Is your child poorly? See below for advice:

Is my child too ill for school?   

At Marlpool federation of schools, we offer a supportive approach to attendance and encourage our families to contact us should there be any barriers to a child arriving at school on time every day. To help you to understand the new rules around attendance, please read the following and review any holiday plans during term-time you may have as a family.

New Attendance Rules Parents Need to Know for September 2024:

You will know that if a child misses just one day of school, that is one day’s worth of education lost. If it’s more than one day, those losses will be cumulative and the effect on long-term prospects could not be more damaging. Prior to Covid, absenteeism had been on the decline, but since the lockdowns, it appears that attitudes towards attendance have changed and we are now seeing a steep increase in absenteeism once again - around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently off school last year than the year before. This does not take into account the number of children not attending school due to SEND/SEMH.

Ministers have now published guidance on managing school attendance that became mandatory from September 2024. Here's what you need to know:

£80 fines and Improvement Notices:

Absence fines charged to parents will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days for the first fine. Any notice thereafter will automatically be charged at £160. From Autumn term 2024, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. A third penalty notice will not be given. Instead your case will be taken straight to court. Parents will also receive "improvement notices", where they are informed that this is their last opportunity to engage with education and improve their child's attendance before a fine is issued.

National fine thresholds:

From September, schools will have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (Each morning and afternoon is a separate session. Therefore, 10 sessions = 5 whole days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. They should “not have a blanket position of issuing or not issuing penalty notices”. The threshold can be met with “any combination of unauthorised absence”. (For example, four sessions missed plus six instances of arriving late.)

 Long-Term Sickness to be Flagged with Local Authorities:

Schools will have to give councils the name and address of sick pupils who they believe will miss 15 consecutive or cumulative days. Schools will also be “expected to inform a pupil’s social worker and/or youth offending team worker if there are unexplained absences from school”.

Mental Health  Awareness:

All schools should now be particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or their special educational needs and/or disabilities and provide them with additional support.

The guidance acknowledges “many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, examinations or variable moods”. But it is “important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly”.

Leave of absence:

A leave of absence must be applied for before your child will be absent and will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

Your child’s headteacher has the final say over whether to approve the request. Their decision will be made after considering the specific facts and circumstances behind your request. Where a leave of absence is not approved, the absence will be unauthorised and you may be referred for a penalty notice resulting in a fine.

Click here for our Leave of Absence form 

There is more information about school attendance available on the Education Hub:

Attendance information for parents