In Blackpool we want the best for all of our children and young people. Good school attendance creates valuable learning opportunities. Attending school every day and on time is really important if children are to achieve their full potential at school and learn skills both academically and socially.
Good attendance
Families should aim for 100% attendance at school.
School attendance falling below 95% is a concern.
90% attendance may seem like an acceptable level of attendance but the reality of this is half a school day missed each week in an academic year. Pupils with this level of attendance are referred to as being in the category of persistent absence.
Poor attendance
50% attendance means that half of the child’s education has been missed. Pupils with this level of attendance are referred to as being in the category of severe absence.
Pupils within these categories are highlighted as a concern and the school or provision that they attend will initially make contact with their parent/carers to discuss the reasons behind this.
Your child or children that live with you
We know that the reasons for absence are complex.
Whilst parents are responsible for ensuring their child goes to school every day, support is available. At all stages of improving attendance, schools and partners should work with pupils and parents to remove any barriers to attendance by building strong and trusting relationships.
If you have concerns about your child’s attendance, contact the school and ask for help. There may be a reason why your child doesn’t want to go to school.
The school may have staff who work to support attendance or they may ask for help from the pupil welfare service.
The pupil welfare service are a team who support schools’ in managing school attendance and it may be that school make a referral into this service for additional support. If you are referred to the pupil welfare service it is important that everyone works together.
Improving attendance
You can prevent unnecessary time off school and missed learning opportunities.
Where possible, medical appointments should be arranged before or after school hours. Where this isn’t possible, children should attend school before and/or following the appointment.
Every school will have their agreed arrival and start time. You should be aware of this and ensure your child is at school on time. Being late to school may seem trivial however being regularly late lead to missed learning, poor routines and other difficulties at school. A child arriving after the register has closed will receive an unauthorised absence for the morning session.
You are strongly advised not to book holidays during term time. The Department For Education does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance. There are 190 school days in an academic school year and 175 days of non school days allowing plenty of time for a holiday.
How to help improvate attendance
Further guidance on improving attendance is available on the Gov.uk website.
Legal responsibilities
Schools and Blackpool Council work in partnership referring to the framework of the Working Together to Improve School Attendance Guidance
Where parent/carers decide to have their child registered at school, they have a legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of authorised circumstances such as being too ill to attend, with medical evidence, or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.
Penalty notices and protocol
Penalty notices may be issued in response to poor school attendance and unauthorised leave (holidays during term time) resulting in a fine and/or legal proceedings under Section 444(1) or 444(1)(A) in a magistrates court. Please be aware that the maximum sentence for this offence is a fine of £2,500 and/or up to three months imprisonment.
Blackpool Council share a joint local code of conduct for issuing penalty notices with Blackburn with Darwen and Lancashire County local authorities. It was developed in accordance with the National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence issued by the Department For Education.
From 19 August 2024:
- Penalty notices issued for offences that take place after 19 August 2024 will be charged at a new rate of £160 per parent per child. This can be paid at £80 if paid within 21 days
- Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days with no option for a discounted rate
- The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years
- A maximum of two penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution)
- Only penalty notices issued for absences taking place after 19 August 2024 will count towards the above thresholds
Contact
If you are a parent/carer who is concerned about school attendance please contact your child’s school in the first instance.
If you are concerned about a child that you believe may not be attending school, please contact the pupil welfare service with whatever details you have and the matter will be looked into.