At Yatton Schools we believe that good attendance is important for a pupil to have the best chance to attain well and make the best possible progress. We know that for children to gain the greatest benefit from their education, they need to attend school regularly and every day the school is open, unless the reason for the absence is absolutely unavoidable. Those pupils with good attendance tend to make better progress, both academically and socially; regular absence can lead to a considerable amount of lost learning and may seriously affect a child’s progress. Poor attendance can also sometimes affect a child’s social and emotional development, including the maintaining of friendships.

We monitor attendance levels of all pupils regularly. If your child’s absence rate becomes a concern, we will contact you to remind you of the importance of good attendance; we may wish to discuss with you ways we can reduce absences and see if there is anything we can do to help. We do acknowledge that each family’s circumstances are different and that there are often very valid reasons for a child’s absence – of course, there are clearly times when a child is so poorly they should not be in school. We are just asking you to consider carefully whether your child really needs to be off school and support us in valuing good attendance. We always explore ways to work with parents/carers to encourage good attendance; however, if attendance continues to be a concern, the Education Welfare Officer may become involved and further steps taken to ensure appropriate levels of attendance are achieved.

These processes are explained in more depth in the Attendance Policy adopted by LSP schools which is on the Policies and Key Document page.

If you have any concerns or need support regarding attendance issues, please speak to your child’s class teacher or to Miss Keeble, who oversees attendance in the schools.

Informing us of a child’s absence

If a child is going to be absent, parents/carers must contact the school office by 9.15am at the latest on the day of absence, explaining the clear, specific reasons for the absence. A message can be left on the school answerphone or emailed to absence@yattonschools.co.uk. It is very important that we are made aware of why a child is absent so that we know they are safe.

Punctuality

Arriving late is really unsettling for children – it can also be highly disruptive to their learning and to the rest of the class. Please help your child to have a great start to the day by arriving on time for registration in the morning, ready to learn.  Often, important information is shared at the beginning of the school day, which when missed may cause difficulties for the child in trying to catch up. In line with our attendance policy, we closely monitor punctuality.
We would like to remind you that in the Junior School the classroom doors are opened at 8:55 ready for registration. In the Infant School, the doors are opened at 8:50 ready for registration. Please note that the gates are locked at 9:05 a.m. Any children arriving later than this will need to come through the main school entrance.

If children arrive after registration they will be marked as 'late'.

Please note that the registers are closed 45 minutes after they open - any children arriving after this time will be marked as an unauthorised absence for the morning session.

 Holidays in term time

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the Department for Education has made it clear that young people need to be in school every day. Under the Education Act 1996, it is your duty as the parent or carer to ensure your child’s regular attendance at school.  This means that your child must be in attendance every time the school is open, unless he/she is prevented from doing so by reason of illness or any unavoidable cause.

It is important to remind you that Headteachers cannot authorise any holiday in term time unless there are truly EXCEPTIONAL circumstances.  

In a letter from Gary Lewis (CEO of Lighthouse Schools) to parents in July last year regarding attendance and term holidays in particular, he stated: 

Some of you may be aware that the Department for Education (DfE) has issued new, statutory guidance for schools and local authorities entitled ‘Working together to improve school attendance’, which comes into effect from Monday 19 August 2024.  The document talks about the importance of school attendance for all children and for schools, and other partners, to work in collaboration with pupils and parents to secure good attendance.  These changes do emphasise the importance that the Department for Education is placing on regular school attendance, particularly in relation to term time holidays. These will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances as listed in the new guidance and referenced in our upcoming Attendance Policy. 

‘Exceptional circumstances could include a family member being seriously or terminally ill, a death or significant trauma in the family where it is deemed that a holiday may help the child cope with the situation.  Holidays which are taken for the following reasons, for example, cannot be authorised:

• parental work commitments;
• family gatherings;
• relatives visiting;
• cheaper holidays in England and abroad;
• family day trips;
• visiting friends/family that have different half terms or holidays;
• because a child has good attendance;
• employment restrictions during the summer holiday.

Penalty Notices

From August this year, Penalty Notices will continue to be issued for term time, unauthorised absence of five or more days but fines will also now be considered when there have been 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period (currently it is 10 sessions within a six-month period); please note that each school day contains two sessions. 

The other change relates to the recurrence of unauthorised term time absence and the severity of the consequence of this for parents.  Each local authority will publish a Local Code of Conduct for issuing fixed penalty notices as per paragraph 195 of Working Together to Improve School Attendance. The codes of conduct for North Somerset, BANES and Bristol will be linked in our policy so you can refer to the specific local authority relevant to you, but they will follow this structure: 

    If issued with a first penalty notice, the parent must pay £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days. This is per parent and per child and is for Term Time Leave or for Irregular Attendance. These are detailed in paragraph 190 of Working Together to Improve School Attendance

    If a second penalty notice is issued (within three years) to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days. This is per parent and per child and is for Term Time Leave or for Irregular Attendance.

    A third offence and any further offences within three years will result in legal steps such as the case being presented to the Magistrates’ Court. This is likely to lead to a substantial fine per parent, per child. The details of this are published at local authority level as detailed above.  

 Please be assured that any Penalty Notices already issued (either this academic year 2023-4 or in previous years) will not be included in this new framework.

Your support in not taking children out of school in term time is greatly appreciated. 

NEW THIS YEAR 2024-5 – TERM TIME HOLIDAY REQUEST FORM

If you are taking your child for a term time absence this year, you will need to fill in the form attached  below or pick up a paper copy from the office.