AttendaNCe & Reporting Absence
At Cotham Gardens Primary School, we believe that our community is stronger together, with all of our pupils in school, on time, every day. We are building life skills, life-long friendships and preparing your child for future success.
We know that sometimes our pupils cannot come to school because they are really unwell - and that's the right thing to do for them and other students. Medical advice is clear however that children with mild illness will often be well enough to attend - for example if they have a cough, or cold, without a temperature. The NHS guidance Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) is designed to support parents in their decision making about mild illness.
Illness:
If your child is going to be absent from school, please call the school office before 9.00am on 0117 3772610 option 1 and leave a short message to explain the reason for their absence.
Please repeat on each day of absence.
Alternatively you can email absence@cothamgardens.co.uk
Diarrhoea and / or vomiting:
Children who have had an episode of diarrhoea and / or vomiting MUST NOT return to school until 48 hours after the last episode has passed. Your child will be marked absent for the full 48 hours and you will not need to report their absence on the 2nd day of illness.
Medical Appointments:
Parents should try to make appointments outside of school hours wherever possible. Where appointments during school time are unavoidable, the pupil should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment.
It is not acceptable for a child to miss a whole day’s schooling for an appointment, unless absolutely necessary, in which case the school will need an explanation as to why this is. If a pupil must attend a medical appointment during the school day, they must be collected from the school office by the parent or another authorised adult, and signed out. No pupil will be allowed to leave the school site without parental confirmation.
Advance notice is required for medical or dental appointments, unless it’s an emergency appointment, and must be supported by providing the school with sight of, or a copy of, the appointment card or letter – only then will the absence be authorised.
Punctuality:
Please ensure your child arrives on time for school.
When a child arrives late to school, they miss important events like assembly, teacher instructions and introductions. Children often also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late. The table below indicates how frequent lateness can add up to a considerable amount of learning being lost.
Gates close at 8.55am and children should be in class, ready for registration at 9am. Children arriving after the gate closes should be signed in late via the screens in the school office entrance.
If your child arrives after 9.30am, the morning session will be marked as unauthorised.
Absence Requests:
Leave of absence for holidays will not be authorised nor will any other request for absence unless there are exceptional circumstances. If a parent wishes to request a period of absence, they are required to complete the Request for Leave of Absence Form at least two weeks in advance.
Please note, the school will refer cases of unauthorised absence that meet the threshold for a Penalty Notice.
Further information can be found in our Attendance Policy.
Penalty Notices:
Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school on a regular basis. It is a criminal offence under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996 to fail to secure regular attendance of a registered pupil at the school. This applies to both resident and non-resident parents who may both be subject to legal sanctions if their child fails to attend school regularly. It also applies to others who may not be the parent but may have day to day care of the child.
Unauthorised absence from school can result in a number of different outcomes for parents and children. Each case is considered individually.
Under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, if a child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school, fails to attend regularly at the school his/her parent(s) are guilty of an offence. Parents with more than one school aged child need to be aware that each child’s irregular attendance is dealt with as a separate matter.
The school will refer cases of unauthorised absence that meet the threshold for a Penalty Notice to the Local Authority for legal action unless there are reasonable grounds for not doing so. The outcome of a referral to the Local Authority may be a Penalty Notice or Prosecution.
Penalty Notices are intended as a sanction for low level offences and a tool to support improved school attendance for example in circumstances associated with an unauthorised holiday taken during term time. They are an alternative to prosecution and may not be issued if prosecution is considered to be a more appropriate response to a pupil’s irregular attendance
A pupil's unauthorised absence from school could result in one of the following:
1. A Penalty Notice
The penalty is £80 per parent, per child payable within 21 days, rising to £160 per parent, per child if paid between 22 and 28 days. (Failure to pay will result in prosecution.) If a second Penalty Notice is issued within a rolling 3-year period the penalty is £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days. There will be no option to pay a lower amount.
2. Prosecution
Prosecution could lead to fines up to £2500 and /or up to 3 months imprisonment. (See DfE’s statutory guidance on School attendance parental responsibility measures for more information and Bristol City Council’s Penalty Notice Code of Conduct, available here).
Further information can be found in our Attendance Policy and in the Penalty Notice Leaflet from Bristol City Council.