Attendance at Chesterton Primary

Chesterton Primary School and The Active Learning Trust, in partnership with the Local Authority, expect attendance to be 100%, unless there are exceptional or unavoidable reasons for absence, which will then be authorised.

Attending school regularly and punctually is essential if your child is to make the most of educational opportunities available to them. The law says that parents must ensure that their child attends school regularly.

  • At Chesterton Primary School, children are expected to arrive in school at 8:30am, and no later than 8:45am.
  • Arrivals between 8:45am and 9:15am will result in a ‘Late Before Registers Closed’ (L) mark on the register.
  • Arrivals after 9:15am will result in a ‘Late After Registers Closed’ (U) mark.

Arriving on time – why is this important?

  • Learning starts in classrooms at 8:40am
  • Children will be settled and ready to start the day together as a class.
  • Time can be given to any emotional or other needs the children have.
  • Children who arrive late miss learning activities and instructions.

If you are late please go to the school office so that your child can be marked as present. The reason for lateness will be recorded, and this will be monitored by the Head of School and Family Liaison Officer.

Arriving on time is important. However, never stay away because you are late – it is always better to come to school.

What to do if your child is ill

  • On the first day of absence, and before 9:00am, parents/carers must make contact with the school to explain the absence.
  • This is so that we know that your child is safe at home with you.
  • We will then code the absence as ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’ according to the reasons given.
  • Parents/carers must keep school informed of a child's continued absence by contacting us each day.
  • We will make a home visit on day 3 of the absence to ensure your child is safe.
  • A doctor's certificate may be requested for an absence of 5 days or more.

To contact the school when your child will be absent, you can...

Authorised Absence

The following types of absence will be authorised by the school.

  • Illness.
  • Medical or dental appointments where they cannot be made out of school time.
  • Days of religious observance.
  • Exceptional circumstances such as a family funeral.

An illness must be of a certain level of severity before an absence will be authorised for it. As a rule of thumb, if your child has diarrhoea, has vomited, has a temperature, or is otherwise physically incapable of going to school, the illness is severe enough to stay off of school and will be authorised.

Unauthorised Absence

The school will not authorise absence for:

  • Minor coughs and colds
  • Shopping trips
  • Bad weather
  • Birthdays
  • Holidays
  • Unwell siblings
  • When there is a pattern of persistent absence

If you do not let us know why your child is not at school the absence will be marked as unauthorised so always contact us to let us know why your child will not be in school.

Please note: Parents whose children have unauthorised absences may be subject to a Penalty Notice and/or prosecution. This penalty notice could be as much as £160 per parent, per child absent.

Term Time Absence

Amendments to The Education Regulations 2006 came into force on 1 September 2016. These amendments make clear that Headteachers and Heads of School will not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. This means very few requests for leave will now be authorised.

If you believe your circumstances are exceptional, you should fill in the below Absence of Leave Request Form and return it to the school office, either physically or via email, at least 28 days before the absence commences. The Head of School will notify you of their decision by letter.

If you do not complete a Request Form, or if it is turned down, and you still take your child out of school, then the absence will be marked as unauthorised.

Please note: Parents whose children have unauthorised absences may be subject to a Penalty Notice and/or prosecution. (£80 fine per pupil, per parent/carer, if paid within 21 days, rising to £160 if not paid within 28 days.)

Updated: 19/11/2024 567 KB

Penalty Notices

The Local Authority has amended the Penalty Notice code of conduct to take into account the Supreme Court Judgement (Isle of Wight v Platt). Penalty Notices and/or prosecution through the Magistrates court may now be issued for single event absences of at least 5 consecutive school days or more, where these absences are unauthorised.

Please note: Parents whose children have unauthorised absences may be subject to a Penalty Notice. This consists of a £80 fine per pupil, per parent/carer, rising to £160 if not paid within 28 days. A second Penalty Notice will be a fine of £160 per parent/carer, per pupil. If a third offence is committed this may lead to prosecution, resulting in a maximum sentence of a £2,500 and 3 months in prison.

Monitoring

The Head of School and the Family Liaison Officer review attendance regularly so that children whose attendance is below the expected level are identified. The parents/carers of these children will be contacted by the school.

Promoting Attendance at Chesterton

At Chesterton Primary, we share class attendance figures in our Monday assemblies. If a class achieves 100% attendance for the previous week, they get to roll the dice! When they roll the dice, they move their game piece around the Attendanceopoly board and win a prize!