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 a goal of 100% attendance for all children. 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. 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

In February 2024, the Department for Education published Working together to improve School Attendance. Within this document it does give a full overview to the changes to penalty notices  https://tinyurl.com/4xnck5wk

The changes to the law are introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and will come into effect from the 19th August 2024. This means that any unauthorised leave taken after this date will be dealt with under the new regulations. The changes to these regulations are significant and it is important that

you understand them so that you are aware and can consider the consequences before leave in term time is taken.

Penalty notice limit

The three year rolling period starts for parents when the first penalty notice is issued to parents after the 19 th August 2024.

The first Penalty Notice for leave in term time will increase to £160 per parent, per child but can reduce to £80 perparent, 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.

Please be aware if a holiday is booked now to take place after the 19 th August 2024, it will be dealt with in line with when the actual unauthorised leave from school occurs, not the date of booking. As an example, if the holiday was booked in June 2024, but does not take place until October 2024, it will be dealt with under the new guidance. If the penalty notice is not paid within the given period, the county council will prosecute for the original offence to which the notice applies.

National threshold for issuing penalty notices

The new 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

Attendance Bulletin: Autum Term 2023DCC Letter to parents & carersMr Done's letter to parents & Carers RE: Attendance