Why is my child's attendance so important?

  • Regular attendance at school means that your child can make the most of their education, improving their opportunities later in life. 
  • School can also help your child to develop their social skills such as making and maintaining friendships. 
  • If your child regularly misses school it will affect their confidence.  
  • A regular and punctual attendance pattern will help your child when they enter the world of work. 
  • When your child misses school, it disrupts their routines and makes them feel vulnerable on their return to school. 
  • If your child is persistently absent without a valid reason, it may lead to you, as the parent/carer, facing legal consequences which could lead to a fine. 

For children to gain the greatest benefit from school they need to be in school, on time, every day unless there is an exceptional reason for the absence which is unavoidable. 

Taking a day here and there can disrupt several weeks of learning over time. If a child has an attendance rate of 90% this equates to 4 weeks of education missed in one year, if this continued over the 12 years of a child’s education it would amount to a whole year of missed learning.   

What to do if your child is absent from school

If your child is absent from school, you must:

  • Contact the school: either by telephone or email on the first day of absence before 9.00am when our register closes: enquiries@tealby.lincs.sch.uk  or 01673 838330
  • Contact the school on every further day of absence, again before 9.00am
  • Ensure that your child returns to school as soon as possible

Understanding types of absence

Any absence affects the routine of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning journey and ability to progress. Any pupil’s absence or late arrival also disrupts teaching routines and may affect the learning of other pupils. Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is a parental responsibility and allowing absence from school, without a good reason, creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.

 

Every half-day absence from school must be classified by the school (not by the parent), as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required. Each half-day is known as a ‘session.’ Absence will not be authorised unless parents have provided a satisfactory explanation, and it is accepted as such by the school. The decision to authorise absences is at the discretion of the Headteacher.

 

The school defines ‘absence’ as:

  • Arrival at school after the register has closed
  • Not attending school for any reason

Unauthorised absences are those which are not considered reasonable and for which no ‘leave’ has been granted such as:

  • Parents keeping children off school unnecessarily or without reason e.g. because they had a late night or for non-infectious illness or injury that would not affect their ability to learn
  • Absences which have never been properly explained
  • Arrival at school after the register has closed
  • Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays
  • Day trips and holidays taken during term-time, not deemed ‘for exceptional purposes’, including any arranged by other family members or friends.
  • Leaving school for no reason during the day.
  • Any other absence in term time which has not been agreed.

This type of absence can lead to the Local Authority issuing penalty notices and/or legal proceedings.

Illness 

Unless your child is seriously unwell or suffering sickness and diarrhoea we suggest you send them in to school and notify their class teacher or the school office of any concerns. Your child's wellbeing is our highest priority and if they are struggling we will always call you to come and collect them. The NHS has very helpful guidance to help you decide if your child is well enough for school, the guidance can be found at Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) 

Holidays 

Please think carefully about the hours of learning lost before booking holidays during term time. We will not authorise family holidays during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Medical appointments 

Please make every effort to schedule routine medical or dental appointments out of school hours or during the holidays. If you cannot avoid an appointment in school time, please make sure you let us know about it in advance.

Concerns about attendance

If you have any concerns about your child's attendance please speak to your child's class teacher or come and see us in the school office. We will help to make an appointment to speak with the appropriate members of staff.