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For Parents and Carers
Please see our attendance policy for further details relating to our attendance procedures at St Paul's CE Primary.
If your child attends school, then you have a legal duty to ensure your child attends school every day unless your child is absent and the school has given you permission for your child to be absent. You are breaking the law each time the school records an unauthorised absence against your child. If your child continues to record unauthorised absences, we will take action against you, which can include:
We can request a penalty notice (fine) if:
From August 2024, The fine is £80 per parent, per child if you pay within 21 days of receiving the notice. If you don’t pay the fine within 21 days, but pay it within 28 days, the cost will rise to £160. If you don’t pay at all, we may take legal action. Should you receive 2 or more penalty notices, you will receive a higher fine, and may be prosecuted via the magistrates court instead of receiving a fine
You may also be taken to court If your child’s attendance falls below 80% or if you don’t pay a penalty notice. If you are taken to court, you could be fined up to £1,000. But if you are taken to court more than once, the result could be a fine of up to £2,500, or up to three months in prison, or both.
We must also remind parents that school starts at 8.30am each day. Children must arrive at school at least 5 minutes before the start of the school day, wearing their correct school uniform.
Registers close at 8.35am. Any child who arrives in school after this time will be given a late mark.
For children who are persistently late (even if it is only 5/10 minutes each day) then a member of school staff will contact the parents/carers to obtain the reasons why. This may involve an interview with the Headteacher.
A child who arrives in school after 9:00am will be issued with an absent mark for the morning session. This of course will then affect the child's attendance figure, which will then result in the above penalty notice procedure been followed.
If a child needs to attend a medical appointment, parents should always try to make this outside of the school day, or make it for mid morning so that children can be given their registration mark at the start of the school day, and be back in school before lunch.
Legislation does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child on holiday during term time. Any application for leave must be in exceptional circumstances and the Headteacher must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the granting of leave.
By law, parents whose children are of compulsory school age and registered at school are responsible for ensuring that their children attend school regularly. If they fail to do this they are guilty of an offence and will be given a penalty notice or prosecuted under section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
Absence due to unauthorised leave taken during term time is a significant issue for all Bradford schools. Children in Bradford are twice as likely to be absent due to unauthorised leave during term time than the average child in England.
Absence due to unauthorised leave during term time covers a variety of reasons for absence, including holidays during term time and travel to other countries to visit family and attend celebrations and events. Currently schools can request a penalty notice from Bradford Council for each child, and each parent, where unauthorised leave takes place. Despite this, absence due to unauthorised leave during term time continues to take place, with a significant number of families taking more than one period of absence during an academic year, or taking a period of leave of four weeks or more.
Requests for leave during term time are never taken lightly and we will always consider the social, emotional and cultural reasons for the leave, whether the leave is exceptional, as well as your child’s overall level of attendance, academic attainment and the impact any leave may have on your child’s learning during their time away.
It will be for schools to define 'exceptional circumstances' and you will receive written notification of the decision made.
Headteacher's will determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.
Our focus is on developing a school culture and climate that fosters a sense of connection and belonging to ensure all children can attend school and thrive. This approach ensures we prioritise building solid relationships with our families to then be able to identify and offer any support children, parents or carers may need throughout their time at St Paul’s C.E. Primary School. This approach ensures we identify triggers early that can lead to poor attendance issues such as mental health issues, financial pressures, communication and relationship breakdowns and ensure the correct support is put in place to allow our school community to succeed.