Attendance
At Eastfield Primary Academy, we take a proactive approach towards school attendance – we want everyone to achieve their full potential! For children to achieve their full potential, they need to be in school – this is something that we are passionate about!
We monitor for signs of poor attendance to prevent any child falling behind. We believe in identifying triggers early on so that we can encourage families/children to become more engaged with improving their attendance - we have our own Attendance Welfare Officer that works relentlessly to get our children into school – we understand the importance of developing strong links with our local community… attendance is a team effort between school and home.
Attendance Champion is Mrs Kerry Thompson
Attendance Welfare Officer is Mrs Caroline Pell
Attendance below 95%:
Within an academic year, the government’s benchmark is for any child’s attendance to remain above 95% - this equates to having no more than 9 days absence in an academic year.
Attendance below 90%:
If your child has particularly poor attendance, the government classes this as persistent absence. Once a child’s attendance drops below 90%, this is classed as persistent absence & your child becomes a ‘Persistent Absentee’ – Persistent Absentees are monitored by the government; this is regardless of whether the absence is authorised or not.
At the end of an academic year, attendance below 90% means that your child has missed 19 or more days during the academic year. This is roughly equivalent to your child missing 1 day or more every 2 weeks, or around 6 days each term.
Monitoring Attendance:
We follow a very clear system when monitoring attendance:
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Penalty Notices & Prosecution:
As part of government legislation, all schools are required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons. From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country changed:
• First Penalty Notice within a 3 Year Period:
o Each parent will be issued a separate penalty notice, for each child who is absent.
o The fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days, reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
o For example, 2 parents and 3 children - each parent will receive 3 penalty notices for £160 each, with a fine total of £960, if this is paid within 28 days. However, if this is paid within 21 days, the fine amount would be reduced to each £480.
• Second Penalty Notice within a 3 Year Period:
o The next time an offence occurs, within 3 years of the date the first penalty notice is issued, the fine amount will be £160 per parent, per child with no reduction.
o For example, 2 parents and 3 children - each parent will receive 3 penalty notices for £160 each, with a fine total of £960.
• Further Offences within a 3 Year Period:
o The number of Penalty Notices that can be issued to a parent in respect of an individual child will be limited to 2 Notices within any 3-year period. Further offences will need consideration on whether alternative action is required including a prosecution in the Magistrates’ court.
For any further information please see the Attendance Policy or contact the Office to speak to our Attendance Officer.