Attendance

Mission Statement

We are committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all students and endeavour to provide an environment where all the students feel valued and welcome.  Parents and students play a part in making The Pingle Academy successful.  Every child has a right to access the education to which he/she is entitled. Parents/carers and teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all.

It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve 100% attendance for all children and we have an ambitious target of 97% attendance for every child  . Every opportunity will be used to convey to students and parents/carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance.

For our students to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered it is vital that students are in school. The routines children develop around attendance and punctuality at school are the same expectations an employer would have in the world of work.  High attainment, confidence with peers and staff, and future aspirations depend on good attendance.

Good attendance is important because:

• Statistics show a link between under-achievement and absence below 95%

• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically

• Regular attenders find learning more satisfying

• Regular attenders are more successful in transferring between primary, secondary and higher education, employment and training.

If your child is ill, please ensure you take appropriate medical advice. The NHS website offers practical advice on whether or not  to keep your child off school.

Please refer to our attendance policy.

Working Together to Improve Attendance

Holidays in Term Time

The academy is not allowed to grant leave of absence in term time, except in exceptional circumstances.  Exceptional circumstances do not include family holidays and are considered on an individual basis.  If you wish to apply for a leave of absence, please complete the form below.  If you do not have exceptional circumstances for a leave of absence, the absence will be marked as unauthorised and parents or carers may be issued with a fixed penalty notice (a fine).

Penalty Notices

Under the government’s Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024,  any unauthorised leave or unauthorised absence could result in a penalty notice.  It is important that parents and carers understand the information below and consider the consequences before leave in term time is taken or students are kept away from education without valid reason.

There is a three year rolling period for parents which starts when the first penalty notice is issued.

The first Penalty Notice for leave in term time is £160 per parent, per child but can reduce to £80 per parent, per child, if paid within 21 days.  If a second penalty notice is issued within three years of the first penalty notice, then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent per child, with no reduction for early payment.  A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three – year period; therefore, the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court.  If a parent is found guilty, the potential fine is up to £1000.

The national threshold for issuing penalty notices has been set at 10 sessions, this is 5 full school days, of unauthorised absence in a period of 10 school weeks.  However, the local authority retains the right to issue penalty notices even if the national threshold has not been met.  For example, if the local authority believes that a parent is deliberately avoiding the 5 day threshold by taking several term time holidays that last less than 5 days i.e. long weekends.  This could also be for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events.  The school has a legal duty to inform the local authority of all unauthorised absences and also when any threshold or penalty notice has been met.

You may wish to refer to the Department of Education website for further information on holidays in term time: 

Department of Education: School & holiday dates