Here at Hall Green Primary School, attendance is a key focus. We believe in developing good patterns of attendance and set high expectations for attendance and punctuality for all our pupils from the outset.  It is a central part of our school’s vision, values, ethos and day to day life.  We recognise the strong connections between attendance, attainment, safeguarding and wellbeing.

Our whole school attendance target is 95%

Meet the attendance Team 

Senior Attendance Champion

       

 

 

 

Mrs Anne Taylor anne.shipley@hallgreenprimary.co.uk 

Attendance Support

 

 

 

   

 Mrs Sue Guttridge  susan.guttridge@hallgreenprimary.co.uk

 

 

 

 

Mrs Michelle Plose-joyce michelle.plose@hallgreenpirmary.co.uk

Governor for Attendance

 

 

 

Mr Dave Westbury 

Helping to create a pattern of regular attendance is the responsibility of parents, pupils and all members of school staff.

To help us all to focus on this, we will:

• Submit a daily attendance return to the Department of Education, in line with the legal expectations placed on all schools;
• Build strong relationships and work jointly with families;
• Give parents/carers details on attendance in our newsletters;
• Promote the benefits of high attendance;
• Accurately complete admission attendance registers and have effective day-to-day processes in place to follow-up absence as required by law;
• Celebrate excellent attendance by displaying and reporting individual and class achievements;
• Reward excellent or improving attendance;
• Report to parents/carers regularly on their child’s attendance and the impact on their progress;
• Contact parents/carers should their child’s attendance fall below the school’s target for attendance.
• Support children and families, where attendance has fallen, and work together to improve the attendance and any barriers that prevent the child coming to school.

Absence Procedures

Think, is my child too ill for school? Please refer to the guidance below.

 

If your child requires a day off school for illness or exceptional circumstances, parents/carers need to do the following:

• Contact the school on 0121 588 2080 on the first day of absence before 9.30am;
• The school has an answer phone available to leave a message if nobody is available to take your call, or you may call into school personally and speak to the office staff. Please be aware that, if you leave a voicemail to report your child’s absence, you may receive a call from the school so that we may discuss the absence before making a decision as to whether the absence is to be recorded as authorised; 
• Contact the school on every further day of absence, again before 9:30am
• Ensure that your child returns to school as soon as possible, and you provide any medical evidence, if requested, to support the absence. Medical evidence may be requested where your child is having multiple periods of absence which are reported as being due to medical reasons. When determining whether a child is too ill to attend school, both parents and school staff can consider the advice contained within the NHS and Sandwell Council Guidance on School Absence and Childhood Illness (see above).

Doctor and Dentist appointments should be arranged outside of school hours. 

If your child is absent we will:

• Telephone or text you on the first, and every subsequent day of absence, if we have not heard from you.  However, it is your responsibility to contact us;
• If we are unable to make contact with parents by telephone, we will telephone emergency contact numbers, send letters home and a home visit may be made, in the interests of safeguarding;

If absence continues we will:

• Write to you if your child’s attendance is below 95% and causing concern, and/or where punctuality is a concern; (Stage 1)
• Arrange a meeting so that you may discuss the situation with our Senior Attendance Champion (Stage 2)
• Create a personalised action/support plan, such as an attendance contract, to address any barriers to attendance and make clear each person’s role in improving the attendance patterns of your child;
• Offer signposting support to other agencies or services, if appropriate;
• Refer the matter to the Local Authority for relevant legal sanctions if attendance deteriorates following the above actions. (Stage 3)

Lateness

Poor punctuality is not acceptable and can sometimes lead to irregular school attendance patterns. Good time-keeping is a vital life skill which will help children as they progress through their school life and out into the wider world.

How we manage lateness:

• The school day starts at 8.45am, when children can begin to come into school; 
• Registers are taken between 8:45am and 9am;
• Children arriving after 9am are required to come into school via the late door (3/4 door), the child’s adult accompanying them to school will be asked for the reason of lateness and this will be recorded.
• At 9.15am the registers will be closed. In accordance with the Regulations, if your child arrives after that time, they will receive a mark that shows them to be on site – ‘U’, but this will not count as a present mark and it will mean that they have an unauthorised absence;
• The school may contact parents/carers regarding punctuality concerns;

Unauthorised lateness could result in the school referring to the Local Authority for sanctions and/or legal proceedings.  If your child has a persistent lateness record, you may be asked to meet with Mrs Taylor, but you can approach us at any time if you are having difficulties getting your child to school on time.  We expect parents and staff to encourage good punctuality by being good role models to our children and, as a school, we celebrate good class and individual punctuality.

Leave of Absence

Term time holidays will not be authorised

Leave of absence must be for exceptional circumstances only. This will be decided by the head teacher and looked at on an individual basis. Parent/carers must submit a leave of absence form in advance of the absence; you can get a leave of absence form on this page (see below) or at the school office. 

Where absence is unauthorised, it could lead to further action being taken including a penalty notice being issued.

Local Authority attendance support services

The Schools Attendance Support Service works strategically by offering support to schools, to reduce persistent absence and improve overall attendance.

Our Local Authority Support Officer is: Laura Gough

Parents are expected to work with the school, and local authority, to address any attendance concerns.  Parents should proactively engage with the support offered, aiming to resolve any problems together. This is nearly always successful. If difficulties cannot be resolved in this way, the school may consider more formal support and/or refer the child to the Local Authority. If attendance does not improve, legal action may be taken in the form of a Penalty Notice or prosecution in the Magistrates Court.

National Framework for Penalty Notices

There will be a single consistent national threshold for when a Penalty Notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period.

These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence.

The 10-school week period can span over different terms and school years. 

Penalty Notice Fines will continue to be issued per parent per child. For example: 2 parents with 3 children would receive a total of 6 Penalty Notices

First Offence

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for a Term Time Holiday or Irregular School Attendance the Penalty Notice will be charged at:£160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days. Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.

(Unpaid Penalty Notices after 28 days may result in a prosecution)

Second Offence

(within 3 years of the First Offence)

Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second Penalty Notice to the same parent for the same pupil within 3 years of the first notice, the second Penalty Notice will be charged at:

£160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.

(Unpaid Penalty Notices after 28 days may result in a prosecution)

Third Offence and any further Offences

(within 3 years of the First Offence)

The third time that an offence is committed for either a term time holiday and/or Irregular attendance, a Penalty Notice will not be issued, the case may be proceeded straight to prosecution under the Single Justice Procedure.

If found guilty of the offence of ‘failure to secure their child’s regular attendance at a school’ the Magistrates can impose a fine up to £1,000 and you will have a criminal record

What we do to promote school attendance

Golden £5 

A child is selected at random every week during celebration assembly to win a Golden £5. The child must have been in school everyday and on time for the previous week

Class Trophy

Every week during celebration assembly, the class with the highest attendance the previous week gains the trophy

Attendance Tracker

Each class has an attendance tracker, every time the whole class is in school the class gains a star, for every 5 stars the whole class receives a reward

100% Certificates

Every half term, all students with 100% for that half-term receives a certificate

Family Rewards

Every half-term, all students with 100% for that half-term go into a raffle for a family prize (selected at random).

100% day

Every term, all children who receive 100% for that term have a special reward for the afternoon. 

Attendance Clinics

Every Thursday afternoon (2-3pm), there is a drop in session for parents to discuss their child's attendance with Mrs Taylor.

Arbor

An app for parents/carers to enable them to track their child's attendance.

 

We are here to support children and their families with school attendance; should you need any advice or support please contact us through the school office or attend an attendance clinic.