Attendance

"St. Benedict's expects that each child will record attendance of at least 97%."

St. Benedict’s staff are united in their belief that regular school attendance enables children to maximise the educational opportunities available to them. Excellent attendance helps children to become emotionally resilient, confident and able to realise their full potential; utilising their God-given talents.

St. Benedict’s Catholic Primary School values all children. We work with families to identify the barriers to achieving and maintaining excellent attendance and offer the right services, at the right time, to resolve difficulties. The Senior Leader Responsible for Attendance (Mrs. McAlpine) and Attendance Officer (Mrs. Thexton) monitor attendance daily and use attendance data to identify any patterns of concern, whilst also celebrating success.

Attendance concerns will be raised with parents (when reasons are not known by the school, e.g. recovery from an operation). This information may also be shared with the Local Authority. Where we have concerns, or there is a lack of engagement from families to improve attendance, we will follow the school’s staged approach to improving attendance.

St. Benedict’s staged approach is child-centred and prioritises support and developing strong working relationships with families. We will use the Early Help process to provide support prior to escalation and consider how we can work with families to enable children to access their right to education.

Should I keep my child off school guidance

A Staged Approach

At St. Benedict’s, we implement a staged approach to promote excellent attendance for every pupil. Our staged approach is underpinned by six principles:

1. Expect: a culture where all children can, and want, to be in school.
2. Monitor: analyse attendance data weekly to identify patterns of poor attendance or areas of concern.
3. Listen and Understand: working alongside parents to understand their barriers to attendance; work together to remove them.
4. Facilitate Support: empower parents by supporting them to access external support to overcome barriers outside of school.
5. Formalise Support: this could include formalising support through a Parenting Contract of Education Supervision Order.
6. Enforce: statutory intervention or prosecution to protect the child’s right to an education. This stage will only be implemented when all previous stages of the approach have been exhausted and there is no other option.

Forest Attendance Adventure

At St. Benedict’s, we use our Forest Attendance Adventure to help children understand their attendance journey in a meaningful and engaging way.

Each layer plays a vital role in keeping the forest healthy and thriving.

We use this beautiful natural structure to support children in understanding their attendance journey through a series of forest layers, each representing a stage of growth and development. As attendance strengthens, children move upwards through the layers, building confidence, resilience, and strong habits that help them thrive.

Just like a real woodland, every layer is important and valued. With your support, we can help every child grow strong “roots” of positive attendance and reach their full potential.

Our Forest Layers:

• Forest Guardians – 100% attendance
• Woodland Wanderers – 97–99%
• Flourishing Flora – 95–96%
• Sapling Growers – 93–94%
• Guided Gatherers – 90–92%
• Root Builders – Below 90%

 Understanding Attendance and Absence

Absence from School - Persistent and severe absence
Any child with attendance of 90% or below (regardless of the reason for any absences) is considered to be a persistent absentee by the government. This equates to missing ½ a day of school every week. A child with attendance of 50% or below is considered a severe absentee.

Medical Appointments

All routine appointments should be booked outside school hours. If your child is absent for medical reasons, the school may ask to see ‘medical evidence’ (e.g. copy of a prescription, medicine packaging with a label or appointment card). If you are unable to provide this, the school might not authorise the absence.

Illness

If your child is too unwell to attend school, please contact the school office before 9:00am. You can do this by leaving a message on the Absence Line (Option 1) or by reporting the absence via ParentMail (Absence tab). Please inform us of the reason for your child’s absence. This procedure should also be followed for each subsequent day your child is absent.

If you do not contact the school or the Headteacher is not satisfied that the absence could not be avoided, it may be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

Holiday Absence
The Headteacher will not authorise absence for family holidays during term time.

 Punctuality and Lateness

 Arriving late to school can be unsettling for your child and disruptive to both their teacher and classmates. It is therefore important that your child arrives on time each day. If your child arrives after the start of the school day, this will be recorded in the register as late (L). If they arrive significantly late, this may be recorded as an unauthorised absence for the morning session (U).

A late mark (L) is given when a child arrives after registration has closed, and any arrival after 9:00am will be recorded as an unauthorised absence (U).

Our school day begins promptly at 8:40am, and registration closes at 8:50am. 

Ensuring regular and punctual attendance will:

• Give your child the best possible start in life
• Help your child make the most of educational opportunities
• Instill your child with good time keeping habits
• Prepare your child for the world of work

Please do everything possible to help your child attend school and support their learning. Shopping trips, birthdays, waiting for a delivery, outings, visits to/from relatives are NOT acceptable reasons for missing school.

It is important that children arrive at school on time. This encourages habits of good time keeping and lessens classroom disruption. 

Do you know what your child’s attendance percentage is? 

Your responsibility
You have a legal duty to ensure your child receives a regular education at school, which will help give them the best possible chance of success in life. If your child is of compulsory school age and registered at a school, but absent without good reason, the school may choose not to authorise any of those days.

This could result in the local authority taking action against you for each child absent, including:
   • A fine (penalty notice)*
   • Attendance Prosecution through the Magistrates’ Courts which could lead to a fine of up to £2,500 or a parenting order being issued.
   • An Education Supervision Order (ESO) through the Family Courts.

* Your child’s school may apply for the local authority to issue a penalty notice to you if:
   • Your child goes on holiday without the headteacher’s permission.
   • Your child is absent or late without a suitable explanation, or none is provided.

You may receive a penalty of £160 for each child’s absence if paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. If a second penalty is issued in a 3 year rolling period the fine is £160 with no option to pay the reduced rate. A third penalty cannot be issued in a rolling 3 year period and therefore you may face prosecution in the Magistrates’ Court which could result in a maximum fine of £1,000.