Attendance and Absence

“Being in school every day gives children the knowledge, confidence and friendships they need to thrive.” ^{The Importance of Regular School Attendance} ^{Every day in school matters. Attending regularly and on time gives children the best chance to learn, make progress and build strong friendships.} ^{By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a full-time education. Once your child is registered at our school, it is your legal duty as a parent or carer to make sure they attend punctually and consistently.} ^{We understand that children can sometimes be unwell or face challenges that make attendance difficult, and we’re here to help. However, if a child’s absence becomes persistent without good reason, this may lead to formal action, including a penalty notice or legal proceedings.} ^{Low attendance can have a lasting effect on your child’s:} ^{Learning and Progress} ^{❌Missed lessons mean missed knowledge.} ^{Friendship and Confidence} ^{❌Regular absences can make it harder to stay connected.} ^{Future Opportunities} ^{✔️Good attendance builds the habits that support success in later life.} ^{Our aim is always to work with families to overcome any barriers to attendance so that every child can achieve their full potential.} Contact Us	^{Every Day Counts} ^{While a 95% attendance rate may not raise a parent's immediate concern, it actually means that a child is:} ^{‼️Missing half a day of school every fortnight} ^{‼️Missing around two full weeks of school each year} ^{‼️Potentially missing the equivalent of three-quarters of a school year over their time in education.} ^{Regular attendance really does make a difference — every lesson builds on the last, helping your child to make progress, grow in confidence and enjoy friendships.} "Every day in school is a building block—miss one, and the whole structure is weaker." ^{We kindly ask all parents and carers to prioritise attendance and work with us to ensure that every child can thrive both academically and socially. If you ever have any concerns or need support around attendance, please contact Mrs Hughes, our Pastoral Manager, via the school office — we’re here to help.} ^{Together, we can make sure your child enjoys the very best educational experience at St John’s – learning today for a brighter tomorrow.}

“Being in school every day gives children the knowledge, confidence and friendships they need to thrive.”

^{The Importance of Regular School Attendance}

^{Every day in school matters. Attending regularly and on time gives children the best chance to learn, make progress and build strong friendships.}

^{By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a full-time education. Once your child is registered at our school, it is your legal duty as a parent or carer to make sure they attend punctually and consistently.}

^{We understand that children can sometimes be unwell or face challenges that make attendance difficult, and we’re here to help. However, if a child’s absence becomes persistent without good reason, this may lead to formal action, including a penalty notice or legal proceedings.}

^{Low attendance can have a lasting effect on your child’s:}

^{Learning and Progress}

^{❌Missed lessons mean missed knowledge.}

^{Friendship and Confidence}

^{❌Regular absences can make it harder to stay connected.}

^{Future Opportunities}

^{✔️Good attendance builds the habits that support success in later life.}

^{Our aim is always to work with families to overcome any barriers to attendance so that every child can achieve their full potential.}

^{Every Day Counts}

^{While a 95% attendance rate may not raise a parent's immediate concern, it actually means that a child is:}

^{‼️Missing half a day of school every fortnight}

^{‼️Missing around two full weeks of school each year}

^{‼️Potentially missing the equivalent of three-quarters of a school year over their time in education.}

^{Regular attendance really does make a difference — every lesson builds on the last, helping your child to make progress, grow in confidence and enjoy friendships.}

"Every day in school is a building block—miss one, and the whole structure is weaker."

^{We kindly ask all parents and carers to prioritise attendance and work with us to ensure that every child can thrive both academically and socially. If you ever have any concerns or need support around attendance, please contact Mrs Hughes, our Pastoral Manager, via the school office — we’re here to help.}

^{Together, we can make sure your child enjoys the very best educational experience at St John’s – learning today for a brighter tomorrow.}

Medical Appointments and Religious Observance

^{We understand that children may occasionally need to attend medical appointments. Wherever possible, we ask parents and carers to arrange these outside of school hours to minimise any disruption to learning.}

^{If an appointment during the school day is unavoidable, please ensure your child attends school both before and after the appointment where possible. We kindly ask that you provide advance notice, along with a copy of the appointment letter or a written explanation.}

^{For absences due to religious observance, please let us know in writing as early as possible so that we can make the necessary arrangements.}

Absence Due to Illness

^{If your child is too unwell to attend school, please notify us at the earliest opportunity so that we can update our registers accordingly. Parents and carers can report a child's illness via Tapestry - our main home-school communication system - or by telephoning the school office.}

Late Arrival

^{Reception children are expected to arrive at school for registration at 8:50am. Reception children arriving between 8:50am and 9:20am are marked 'late' in the register. If a Reception child arrives after 9:20am, they will not receive an attendance mark for the morning session.}

^{Year 1 to Year 6 pupils are expected to arrive at school for registration at 9:00am. Children arriving between 9:00am and 9:30am will be marked 'late' in the register. If a pupil from Year 1 to Year 6 arrives after 9:30am, they will not receive an attendance mark for the morning session.}

^{The school gates open at 8:45am and close at 9:00am.}

Unauthorised Absence

^{Unauthorised absence from school includes holidays as well as other absence that has not been agreed such as truancy, arriving late after the register has closed and failing to provide reasons for absence.}

^{Unauthorised absences may lead to formal action, including a penalty notice or legal proceedings.}

^{Government legislation stipulates that a threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions, no matter the reason, (equivalent to 5

school days) within a rolling 10 school week period will trigger immediate consideration for a penalty notice. This legislation means that parents taking children out of school for five days or more for a family holiday will be issued a penalty notice. A penalty fine is £80 per parent, per child if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days of being issued. If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80. If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them.}

Requesting Absence

^{The Head Teacher will determine what constitutes an exceptional circumstance on an individual basis. If parents/carers need to request a Leave of Absence, they must inform the school via TAPESTRY or letter FAO – Pastoral Team. It should be noted that if any application is declined and absence occurs of a consecutive 5 or more unauthorised days, then school may request to the Local Authority for an Education Penalty Notice to be issued to each parent/carer.}

^{The following will not be deemed to be exceptional circumstances:

• Family holiday

• Availability of less expensive holiday

• Availability of holiday accommodation

• Parent/carer’s working commitments

• Holiday pre-booked by another family member}

LSJP School Attendance Policy

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