2025-26
This policy aims to show our commitment to meeting our obligations with regards to school attendance, including those laid out in the Department for Education’s (DfE’s) statutory guidance on working together to improve school attendance (applies from 19 August 2024), through our whole-school culture and ethos that values good attendance, including:
- Setting high expectations for the attendance and punctuality of all pupils
- Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
- Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence
- Ensuring every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
- Acting early to address patterns of absence
- Building strong relationships with families to make sure pupils have the support in place to attend school
We will also promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.
To see our Attendance Policy please use this link.
Government Guidelines on School Attendance and Absence
Please click on the picture link to access the website.
Is my child too ill for school?
It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school or nursery when they're unwell. There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.
Nursery Opening Hours
From September 2024, the NEW hours will be 8.45am - 12.00pm 5 days a week (Monday - Friday) Children will stay for lunch and will be collected at 12pm. Parents who are eligible for 15 hours will be able to claim these and there is currently no additional cost for the extra 1.5 hours per week.
School meals cost £2.50 per day but parents maybe eligible for free school meals. Please contact Oldham LA on benefitsfsm@oldham.gov.uk to find out if you are eligible.
School Opening Hours and Punctuality
The length of St Anne's RC Primary School week is 32.5 hours.
Children are expected to be present on the school premises five minutes before school starts in both morning and afternoon. Parents are asked to ensure, if possible, that their children do not arrive on the premises before 8.30 am.
Our opening hours:
Nursery (5 mornings)
Mon - Fri 8:45am - 12pm
Reception (EYFS)
8.45am - 11.30am
11.30am - 1.00pm
1.00pm - 3.15pm
Key Stage One (KS1) - Years 1 and 2
8.45am -12.00 noon
12.00 noon - 1.00pm LUNCH
1.00pm - 3.15pm
Key Stage Two (KS2) Years 3 to 6
8.45am - 12.30pm
12.30pm - 1.15pm LUNCH
1.15pm - 3.15pm
Attendance Register
We will keep an electronic attendance register, and place all pupils onto this register.
We will take our attendance register at the start of the first session of each school day and once during the second session. It will mark, using the appropriate national attendance and absence codes from the School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024, whether every pupil is:
- Present
- Attending an approved off-site educational activity
- Absent
- Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
Any amendment to the attendance register will include:
- The original entry
- The amended entry
- The reason for the amendment
- The date on which the amendment was made
- The name and position of the person who made the amendment
See Appendix 1 for the DfE attendance codes.
We will also record:
- Whether the absence is authorised or not
- The nature of the activity, where a pupil is attending an approved educational activity
- The nature of circumstances, where a pupil is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances
We will keep every entry on the attendance register for 6 years after the date on which the entry was made.
The school day starts at 08.45am and ends at 3.15pm.
Pupils must arrive in school by 08.45am on each school day.
The register for the first session will be taken at 8.50am and will be kept open until 9.10am. The register for the second session will be taken at 1pm and will close at 1:05pm for Reception and KS1 and will be taken at 1.15pm and close at 1:20pm for KS2.
Where a pupil arrives late after the register closes a U code will be used. This code is classified as an unauthorised absence
Unplanned Absence
The pupil’s parent must notify the school of the reason for the absence on the first day of an unplanned absence by 9am or as soon as practically possible, by calling the school who can be contacted via 0161 770 5401. Absences can only be authorised by school and cannot be authorised by parents.
We will mark absence due to physical or mental illness as authorised, unless the school has a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness.
Where the absence is longer than 3 days, or there is a continued decline in attendance, or there are doubts about the authenticity of the illness, the school will ask for medical evidence, such as a doctor’s note, prescription, appointment card or other appropriate form of evidence. We will not ask for medical evidence unnecessarily.
If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents will be notified of this in advance
Planned Absence
Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent notifies the school in advance of the appointment by bringing the appointment card/information.
However, we encourage parents to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary.
Absences for medical appointments will reduce attendance.
School are unable to authorise siblings being taken out of school when they do not have an appointment. These absences are unauthorised.
The pupil’s parent must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence
Lateness and Punctuality
A pupil who arrives late:
- Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code
- After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code
Persistent Lateness Procedure
When a child is persistently late, the school will write to the family to highlight the concern and offer support. If there is no significant improvement, parents/carers will be invited to a formal meeting with the Headteacher and/or Attendance Officer to discuss the issue and explore further support options.
If punctuality issues continue despite these efforts, a "Notice to Improve" letter may be issued. Ongoing concerns will also be reported to the Local Authority (LA) in line with our attendance procedures.
School regularly conducts late gates to raise the profile of attending school on time and try to reach hard to reach families on the door.
Following up Unexplained Absence
Where any pupil we expect to attend school does not attend, or stops attending, without reason, the school will:
- Text or call the pupil’s parent on the morning of the first day of unexplained absence to ascertain the reason. If the school cannot reach any of the pupil’s emergency contacts, school may conduct a home visit school.
- Identify whether the absence is approved or not
- Identify the correct attendance code to use and input it as soon as the reason for absence is ascertained – this will be no later than 5 working days after the session(s) for which the pupil was absent
- Call the parent on each day that the absence continues without explanation, to make sure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary. If absence continues, the school will consider involving an education welfare officer
- Where appropriate, offer support to the pupil and/or their parents to improve attendance
- Identify whether the pupil needs support from wider partners, as quickly as possible, and make the necessary referrals
- Where support is not appropriate, not successful, or not engaged with this can lead to a notice to improve, penalty notice or other legal intervention
Approval for Term Time Absence
The headteacher will allow pupils to be absent from the school site for certain educational activities, or to attend other schools or settings.
The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if the request meets the specific circumstances set out in the 2024 school attendance regulations. These circumstances are:
- Taking part in a regulated performance, or regulated employment abroad
- Attending an interview
- Study leave
- A temporary, time-limited part-time timetable
- Exceptional circumstances
A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.
We define ‘exceptional circumstances’ as circumstances reviewed on a individual basis and a meeting/advice can be sought through school attendance officer: Mrs Holt or headteacher, Mrs Wainwright
Leave of absence will not be granted for a pupil to take part in protest activity during school hours.
As leave of absence is only granted in exceptional circumstances, requests for holidays during term time will not be authorised.
The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant background context behind the request.
Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 6 weeks before the absence, and in accordance with any leave of absence request form, accessible via the school office The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.
Other valid reasons for authorised absence include (but are not limited to):
- Illness (including mental-health illness) and medical/dental appointments
- Absence will be authorised for religious observance where the day is exclusively set apart for this purpose by the religious body to which the pupil’s parent(s) belong(s). If necessary, the school may seek confirmation from the relevant religious body. A maximum of two days per academic year will be authorised for this purpose. Although these absences are authorised, they will still affect the child’s overall attendance percentage.
- Parent(s) travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision
- the pupil is currently suspended or excluded from school (and no alternative provision has been made)
Other reasons the school may allow a pupil to be absent from the school site, which are not classified as absences, include (but are not limited to):
- Attending an offsite approved educational activity, sporting activity or visit or trip arranged by the school
- Attending another school at which the pupil is also registered (dual registration)
- Attending provision arranged by the local authority
- Attending work experience
- If there is any other unavoidable cause for the pupil not to attend school, such as disruption to travel caused by an emergency, a lack of access arrangements, or because the school premises are closed
Penalty Notices and Notice to Improve
The headteacher (or someone authorised by them), local authority or the police can fine parents for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age, by issuing a penalty notice.
If the school issues a penalty notice, it will check with the local authority before doing so, and send it a copy of any penalty notice issued.
Before issuing a penalty notice, the school will consider the individual case, including:
- Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks)
- Whether a penalty notice is the best available tool to improve attendance for that pupil
- Whether further support, a notice to improve or another legal intervention would be a more appropriate solution
- Whether any obligations that the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate
A penalty notice may also be issued where parents allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, during the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion (where the school has notified the parents that the pupil must not be present in a public place on that day).
Each parent who is liable for the pupil’s offence(s) can be issued with a penalty notice, but this will usually only be the parent/parents who allowed the absence.
The payment must be made directly to the local authority, regardless of who issues the notice. If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice.
If issued with a first penalty notice, the parent must pay £80 within 21 days, or £160 within 28 days.
If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days.
A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, alternative action will be taken instead.
Free Breakfast Club
Breakfast club is free of charge to all children from Reception - Year 6. Doors open at 8.15am and close promptly at 8.25am. Any child arriving after this time will not be admitted and will need to stay with an adult until the start of school at 8.40am. When dropping your child off at breakfast club please ensure that you bring your child into the school through the main office area. Please do not walk through the car park. Also, ensure the door is closed after you leave so we can keep our children safe.
Medical Appointments
Where possible, please make medical appointments outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary. Please provide school with a medical card or letter. A medical appointment DOES reduce your child’s percentage attendance.
Please also be aware we are not able to authorise siblings being taken out of school when they do not have an appointment. These absences will be unauthorised.
Religious Observance
School encourage and support our children and their families to celebrate religious events, however children are expected to be in school every day leading up to religious festivals and back in school immediately after. If parents keep their children off school for longer than is entitled these days will not be authorised. School will only authorise the date of the festival, a maximum of 2 days per academic year.
Educational Neglect
School have adopted the Local Authority ‘Educational Neglect Policy. This policy links the effects of poor attendance to educational neglect and means that for those children whose attendance is particularly poor, a referral to children’s social care may be made.