Attendance

Children of school age who are on roll at a school must, by law, attend that school regularly and punctually.

Regular attendance is important, not just because the law requires it but also because it is the best way of ensuring children make the most of the educational opportunities available to them.

When a child is absent from school he or she misses not only the teaching provided on the days when absent, but is also less prepared for the lessons on their return. This will lead to a risk of underachievement, which Headteachers and parents will both wish to avoid.

There may be occasions when a child has to miss school – for example, if unwell. Any other absences should be kept to an absolute minimum. In particular, parents should avoid taking children out of school during term-time in order to go on holiday.

Absence reporting

In routine matters of absence, we would be grateful if parents would contact the school before 8.30am on EACH DAY of absence if a student is going to be away.  If your child has a medical appointment that interrupts their school day, please ensure that we are made aware of this also.

Please report absence either via the Study Bugs App or email attendance@sandhurstschool.org.uk

If we do not have a reason for a pupil’s absence, under our First Day Response system, contact will be made with home.

Notes and Guidance Before Completing Leave of Absence Form

Application for Leave of Absence During Term Time

Letter to Parents Explaining Changes to Absences - sent July 2024

School Attendance: Penalty Notice Fines

Report an absence on Study Bugs 

What the law says

The regulations make it clear that parents do not have any automatic right or entitlement to take a child out of school. Indeed, it is likely that in most cases Headteachers will refuse to authorise the absence.

The regulations state that Headteachers cannot grant a leave of absence to a pupil except where an application has been made in advance and the Headteacher considers there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.

How Headteachers deal with requests for absences during term time

Holidays are fine, just not in term time!

If the absence request is not authorised by the school and the absence is still taken, this will remain unauthorised.

Should leave be granted but the child remain absent for longer than agreed, then this extra time will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Should a child fail to return to school on the agreed date consideration may be taken to remove them from the school roll. Parents would then be responsible for reapplying for a school place with no guarantee of a place back at the same school.

Any leave of absence that has not been authorised may be referred to the Education Welfare Service. This may result in the issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution proceedings.

A fixed Penalty Notice will be issued to each parent of each child of statutory school age and carries a maximum penalty of £160. (E.g. Two parents with two children could incur a total cost of £640.) If the matter proceeds to court this carries a maximum penalty of £1,000 per parent per child and a criminal conviction, which may affect your current and/or future employment.

There are 365 days in a calendar year. Your child is expected to attend just 190 days AT SCHOOL.

This means there are 175 days for holidays, birthday treats, special events with families, and non-urgent appointments.

If you choose to take your child out of school for 10 days during term time, your child can achieve no more than 94.7% school attendance for the academic year. This figure is lower than we expect for all pupils in Bracknell Forest – we aim for higher!

NB – Throughout this article reference to parent(s) should be understood to include carer(s).

Further information: www.education.gov.uk