Attendance
By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a proper full-time education. You are responsible for making sure this happens by registering your child at school or by making other arrangements which provide a suitable education. Please see the
Parent and Carers Guide to School Attendance.
Regular school attendance
If your child does not want to attend school, you should ask them if anything is worrying them. If you are unable to resolve any problems it is important that you ask their school for advice and support. Below are some simple suggestions to encourage attendance.
Your child
- Be prepared - make sure your child is ready and prepared for school with the correct uniform, books and equipment needed
- Be careful about breakfast - children of all ages need a nutritious breakfast. Snacks, sweets and drinks that are high in salt, sugar or additives are not a good start to the day
- Be interested - make time to talk to your child about school each day and find out what homework needs to be done. Your child is more likely to attend school if they feel supported and their anxieties are heard
- Be positive - problems in school may occur with bullying or with the work. Reassure your child you and the school will work together to provide help and support
- Be firm - unless your child is too ill to attend then he or she should be in school. Make sure your child understands you do not approve of absences
- Be knowledgeable - keep a copy of your child’s timetable. This may help to avoid any issues. For example, have they got their PE kit
The school
- Be clear with the school - if your child is too ill to attend school then contact the school on the first day of absence and keep them informed
- Be aware - you should not take your child out of school for a holiday during school term time
- Be available - let the school know where you can always be contacted and provide emergency telephone numbers
- Be supportive of the school - make sure your child follows their rules and that you are clear about the school’s expectations, policies and procedures. For example; behaviour, uniform and attendance
- Be informed - keep a record of absences and compare with the school record if you become concerned. Schools will provide attendance records on request
- Be involved - speak regularly to your child’s tutor and attend parents’ evenings
If you are concerned your child may be missing school you could take them each day and ensure they arrive. Or, you could contact the school daily to check they have received their registration mark.
Education Welfare Officers (EWOs)
Each Local Authority (LA) has a duty to ensure parents and carers carry out their legal responsibility of making sure children attend school. EWOs are employed to help do this and may become involved if your child has irregular attendance.
EWOs will carry out school attendance and exclusion sweeps (formally known as truancy sweeps) working alongside the police and raising awareness of good attendance throughout the community.
EWOs will advise and support the school to help promote attendance and address any absences. EWOs work closely with schools and families to resolve attendance issues and may attend school meetings or arrange home visits.
The LA seeks your cooperation with the EWO to make sure your child overcomes attendance problems and receives the education to which they are entitled.
Why regular attendance is important
- A good education helps give your child the best possible start in life
- Irregular attendance makes it harder to keep up with work, school life and events
- Erratic appearances at after school clubs and social events can affect their feeling of belonging and, for some children, their ability to sustain friendships
- They may miss letters home or information in need of a response.
This can affect their ability to feel part of the school community
Every lesson in school matters and if children are frequently absent it results in gaps in their learning. This may interrupt the continuity of their education and affect their progress. Issues of reliability may also affect them in future employment.
Research has shown that children who are not in school are most vulnerable and are easily drawn into crime or anti-social behaviour. Children who play truant are more likely to offend than those who do not.
Children who you think should be at school
If you regularly see a child who is of school age but does not appear to be attending school then we would be grateful if you tell us. We take
children missing from education extremely seriously. Please download our
referral form and call or email for further information.
Telephone: 01245 436741
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