1. Aims

We are committed to meeting our obligation with regards to attendance through our whole-provision culture and ethos that values good attendance, including:

• Promoting good attendance 
• Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence

1. Ensuring every pupil has access to education to which they are entitled

• Acting early to address patterns of absence
• Building strong relationships with families to ensure pupils have the support in place to attend
• We will also promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.

2. Legislation and guidance 

This policy meets the requirements of the working together to improve school attendance from the Department for Education (DfE), and refers to the DfE’s statutory guidance on school attendance parental responsibility measures. These documents are drawn from the following legislation setting out the legal powers and duties that govern school attendance:

     Part 6 of The Education Act 1996

     Part 3 of The Education Act 2002

     Part 7 of The Education and Inspections Act 2006

      The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (and 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 amendments)

        The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

         It also refers to:

        School census guidance

        Keeping Children Safe in Education

        Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools

3. Roles and responsibilities 

3.1 The advisory board

The advisory board is responsible for:

Promoting the importance of provision attendance across the provision’s policies and ethos

Making sure provision leaders fulfil expectations and statutory duties

Regularly reviewing and challenging attendance data

Monitoring attendance figures

Making sure staff receive adequate training on attendance

3.2 The Provision Manager

The Provision Manager is responsible for: 

Implementation of this policy at the provision 

Monitoring absence data and reporting it to advisory board

• Supporting staff with monitoring the attendance of individual pupils
• Monitoring the impact of any implemented attendance strategies 

Working with the On Roll School / Local Authority issuing fixed-penalty notices, where necessary

3.3 The designated senior leader responsible for attendance

The designated senior leader is responsible for:

Leading attendance 

• Offering a clear vision for attendance improvement
• Evaluating and monitoring expectations and processes
• Having an oversight of data analysis
• Devising specific strategies to address areas of poor attendance identified through data
• Building relationships with parents/carers to discuss and tackle attendance issues
• Creating intervention reintergration plans in partnership with pupils and their parents/carers
• Delivering targeted intervention and support to pupils and families 

The designated senior leader responsible for attendance is Lauren Collin and can be contacted via 01245 982888

3.4 The attendance officer

The attendance officer is responsible for: 

• Monitoring and analysing attendance data (see section 7)
• Benchmarking attendance data to identify areas of focus for improvement
• Providing regular attendance reports to school staff and reporting concerns about attendance to the designated senior leader responsible for attendance and the headteacher 

Working with education welfare officers to tackle persistent absence

The attendance officer is Nicholas Price and can be contacted via 01245 982888

3.5 Tutors / Mentors 

Tutors are responsible for recording attendance daily, using the correct codes, and submitting this information to The Provision Manager. The Provision Manager will then cascade this onto roll schools or the Local Authority on the same day.

3.6 Provision Admin Staff

Provision Admin staff will:

Take calls from parents/carers and pupils about absence on a day-to-day basis and record it on the provision management system. 

3.7 Parents/carers 

Parents/carers are expected to:

Make sure their child attends every timetabled session on time.

Call the provision to report their child’s absence before 9am or 1pm (depending on session start time) on the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence), and advise when they are expected to return

Provide the provision with more than 1 emergency contact number for their child

Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day

3.8 Pupils

Pupils are expected to:

Attend every timetabled session on time 

Call the school to report their absence before 9am or 1pm (depending on session start time) on the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence

4. Recording attendance

4.1 Attendance register 

We will keep an attendance register and place all pupils onto this register.

We will take our attendance register at the start of the first session of each day and once during the second session. It will mark whether every pupil is:

• Present
• Attending an approved off-site educational activity
• Absent
• Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
• Any amendment to the attendance register will include:
• The original entry
• The amended entry 
• The reason for the amendment
• The date on which the amendment was made 
• The name and position of the person who made the amendment
• See appendix 1 for the DfE attendance codes.

We will also record:

• Whether the absence is authorised or not
• The nature of the activity if a pupil is attending an approved educational activity
• The nature of circumstances where a pupil is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
• We will keep every entry on the attendance register for 3 years after the date on which the entry was made.
• Pupils must arrive in school by 9.15am or 13.00pm on each day they are timetabled in for.
• The register for the first session will be taken at 09.30 and 13.15 and will be kept open for 15 minutes.

4.2 Unplanned absence 

The pupil’s parent/carer must notify the provision of the reason for the absence on the first day of an unplanned absence by 9am or 1pm or as soon as practically possible by calling the main office (see also section 7).

We will mark absence due to physical or mental illness as authorised unless the provision has a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness.

Where the absence is longer than 5 sessions or there are doubts about the authenticity of the illness, the provision will ask for medical evidence, such as a doctor’s note, prescription, appointment card or other appropriate form of evidence. We will not ask for medical evidence unnecessarily.

If the provision is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents/carers will be notified of this in advance.

4.3 Planned absence 

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the provision in advance of the appointment.

Parents contact the main office to discuss appointments with the Provision Manager. 

However, we encourage parents/carers to make medical and dental appointments out of scheduled sessions where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out for the minimum amount of time necessary.

The pupil’s parent/carer must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence. Go to section 5 to find out which term-time absences the provision can authorise. 

4.4 Lateness and punctuality 

A pupil who arrives late:

Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code

• After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code
• On Roll school or The Local Authority will also be notified. 

4.5 Following up unexplained absence

Where any pupil we expect to attend the provision and does not attend, or stops attending, without reason, the provision will:

Call the pupil’s parent/carer on the morning of the first day of unexplained absence to ascertain the reason. If the school cannot reach any of the pupil’s emergency contacts, the provision may contact the On Roll school or The Local Authority. 

Identify whether the absence is approved or not

Identify the correct attendance code to use and input it as soon as the reason for absence is ascertained – this will be no later than 5 working days after the session

Call the parent/carer on each day that the absence continues without explanation to ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary. If absence continues, the provision will consider involving allocated professionals associated with the young person. 

4.6 Reporting to parents/carers

The provision will regularly inform parents/carers about their child’s attendance and absence levels via written half termly reports. 

5. Authorised and unauthorised absence 

5.1 Approval for term-time absence 

Futures-Essex cannot approve any term time absences due to their status as an unregistered Alternative Provision. All approvals must be discussed with the on roll school or The Local Authority. The headteacher/local authority will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 2 weeks before the absence.The headteacher/local authority may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence. 

Valid reasons for authorised absence include:

Illness (including mental illness) and medical/dental appointments (see sections 4.2 and 4.3 for more detail)

Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong. If necessary, the school will seek advice from the parents’/carers’ religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart

Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision

5.2 Legal sanctions 

The on roll school or local authority can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. Futures-Essex Ltd does not fine parents/carers.

If issued with a fine, or penalty notice, each parent/carers must pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority.

Penalty notices can be issued by a headteacher, local authority officer or the police. 

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice may take into account:

The number of unauthorised absences occurring within a rolling academic year 

One-off instances of irregular attendance, such as holidays taken in term time without permission

Where an excluded pupil is found in a public place during school hours without a justifiable reason

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice. 

6. Strategies for promoting attendance 

Futures-Essex Ltd promotes positive attendance by ensuring students are aware of how these impacts on overall outcomes/ Futures Essex Ltd works with students. Parents, carers and other professionals to ensure attendance remains high. 

7. Attendance monitoring

7.1 Monitoring attendance

We will monitor attendance and absence data half-termly, termly and yearly across the provision and at an individual pupil level

Identify whether or not there are particular groups of children whose absences may be a cause for concern

If required, Pupil-level absence data will be collected each term and published at national and local authority level through the DfE's school absence national statistics releases.

7.2 Analysing attendance

The provision will:

Analyse attendance and absence data regularly to identify pupils or cohorts that need additional support with their attendance, and use this analysis to provide targeted support to these pupils and their families

Look at historic and emerging patterns of attendance and absence, and then develop strategies to address these patterns 

7.3 Using data to improve attendance

The provision will:

Provide regular attendance reports to pupil, parents/carers, and other professionals who are working with the pupil, to facilitate discussions with pupils and families

Use data to monitor and evaluate the impact of any interventions put in place in order to modify them and inform future strategies

7.4 Reducing persistent and severe absence

Persistent absence is where a pupil misses 10% or more of available sessions, and severe absence is where a pupil misses 50% or more of available sessions.

The provision will:

Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence

Hold regular meetings with the parents/carers of pupils who the provision (and/or local authority/on roll school) considers to be vulnerable, or are persistently or severely absent, to discuss attendance and engagement at school

• Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance

8. Monitoring arrangements 

This policy will be reviewed as guidance from the local authority or DfE is updated, and as a minimum annually by Mrs Lauren Collin. At every review, the policy will be approved by the advisory board. 

9. Links with other policies 

This policy links to the following policies:

1. Child protection and safeguarding policy
2. Behaviour policy

Appendix 1: attendance codes 

The following codes are taken from the DfE’s guidance on school attendance.