Attendance

Good attendance is vital if your child is to achieve and make good progress.

We monitor attendance daily. Term time holidays are not authorised and could result in fines being issued.

Children are expected to attend school for the full 190 days of the academic year, unless there is a good reason for absence. There are two types of absence:

• Authorised (where the school approves pupil absence)
• Unauthorised (where the school will not approve absence)

Parent(s)/carer(s) are expected to provide an explanation on the first day that the absence occurs. This can be by letter, telephone, personally at the office or by appointment.

Where concerns are raised about the level of an individual child’s attendance the following procedure will be followed:

• Parents will be contacted by letter, informing them of the concerns
• Following the letter, there will be four weeks’ monitoring of the child’s attendance
• If there is no improvement, at this point, a further letter may be sent and parent(s) / carer(s) invited to meet with the Principal
• After four weeks’ monitoring, parent(s) / carer(s) are informed that we will refer to the Education Welfare Service.
• If attendance does not improve a final warning letter may be considered appropriate at this point

Rudheath Primary Academy supports the Fast Track Prosecution System in co-operation with the Education Welfare Service. Cheshire West and Chester County Council, in conjunction with schools, may issue Fixed Penalty Notices for non attendance.

Leave of absence during term time

The Principal may in exceptional circumstances grant leave of absence during term time. The application must be made in advance and parents should request a meeting with the Principal to discuss the request. The Principal must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the leave.

If your child misses school without permission it could result in the issuing of a Fixed Penalty Notice (Fine) or other legal action being taken against you.

What can parent(s) / carer(s) do to help?

Let the school know as soon as possible why your child

• Send a note when your child returns to school
• Try to make appointments outside school time
• Do not allow your child to have time off school unless it is really necessary

Our gate opens at 8.45 a.m. Any child arriving after 8.55 a.m. is considered to be late. Children arriving after 9.05 a.m. will be recorded as late in the register, and arrival after 9.35 a.m. is recorded as unauthorised absence.

Parents who arrive late in the morning will be asked to sign our Entry system at the main entrance. Frequent lateness will result in parents being invited to a meeting with the Principal.

Lessons begin at 8.55am and all pupils are expected to be in school for registration at this time.
Pupils who are consistently late are disrupting not only their own education but also that of others.
Where persistent lateness gives cause for concern further action may be taken.

Where any attendance or non-attendance issue triggers a cause for concern linked to a child protection or safeguarding issue the Principal should be informed immediately.  The principal will then choose the most appropriate course of action taking advice, where necessary, from the LA Child Protection team.

Please click here to see the Attendance Policy and the Attendance letter from Focus Trust.

Letter from Helen Rowland - CEO (Spetember 2024)

Dear Families

Thank you for choosing to send your child to one of our Focus-Trust schools.

We are a family of fifteen schools who work together to achieve our vision of ‘Great schools at the heart of our communities’ and provide your child with a great education.

We hope you are well and have had an enjoyable Summer. Thank you for your wonderful support last year in bringing your child/ren to school on time every day they were well enough. Our Trust wide efforts to improve attendance and punctuality have seen some great improvements in attendance and punctuality. Excellent attendance and punctuality help your child with their learning and socially and emotionally. Please send them in every day and school will contact you if they’re too poorly to be in school.

The purpose of this letter is to share with you the procedures in place for dealing with attendance in your child’s school. These procedures have been agreed by the schools that are part of the Focus-Trust in line with DfE Guidance from September 2024. Schools in England open for 190 days per year and this means that families have 13 weeks each year when they can arrange family holidays.

Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Every request for leave of absence will be considered on a case by case basis. However, we take this opportunity to remind you that holidays in term time and extended leave are not classified as exceptional circumstances and will not be

authorised.

Where children have unauthorised absence, school may request that a fixed penalty notice be issued by the Local Authority. If your child is absent for more than twenty days, there is also the strong possibility that your child will be removed from roll and they may lose their school place.

Please see our Trust Attendance Policy 2024 for more information.

Thank you for your support in making sure that your child has excellent attendance and punctuality. We want them to do their very best and develop good habits by attending regularly and on time. I hope this year is a happy and positive one for you and your family.

Helen Rowland

Chief Executive Officer of Focus-Trust