New attendance guidance

You may be aware that the Department for Education has recently announced national changes to penalty notices issued for unauthorised absence in term time. These changes will came effect on 19 August 2024.
The changes to be aware of are:

• Penalty notices issued for offences that take place after 19 August 2024 will be charged at a new rate of £160 per parent per child. This can be paid at £80 if paid within 21 days.
• Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days with no option for a discounted rate.
• The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period1. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.
• A maximum of 2 penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions).
• Only penalty notices issued for absences taking place after 19 August 2024 will count towards the above thresholds.

Attendance

It is important to help your child to get the most from their education by making sure that they attend school every day and arrive on time. At Castercliff Primary Academy we expect children to attend school every day, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so. If your child has been sick and cannot attend, it is important that you let us know between 8.30am and 9.00am on the first day of absence by telephone. Let us know your child’s name, class and the reason why they are not in school. When it is a good reason like illness, it will be authorised.

The school offers termly reward incentives to children and families who have good attendance and perfect punctuality.

Children can access school from 8.45am and are expected to be in class for registration at 9.00am. The school day ends at 3.15pm. This totals 31.25 hours per week or 32.5 hours should your child arrive for 8.45.

Children who arrive between 9.00am and 9.30am will receive a late mark. Being just 30 minutes late each morning is the same as having 20 days or 4 weeks off school each year.

Appointments must be made outside of academy session times wherever possible.  We do understand that there may be times when you need to take your child for an emergency appointment, but generally children should not miss sessions due to appointments.

Absences may be authorised (if the academy have agreed with the reason for absence) or unauthorised (if the academy have not agreed with the reason for absence, or have not been given a reason). A succession of unauthorised absences may lead to action being taken to ensure that your child’s attendance improves. 

The academy’s Senior Leadership Team regularly monitors the attendance of all children. We work closely with the Local Authority Attendance Officer to improve attendance.

Requests for absence in Term Time

There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school to go on holiday. Requests for absence in term time must be made in writing using an Application for Absence from School in Term Time Form, which is available on request in the office.