Attendance

Attendance Matters

It is an expectation at The Garibaldi School that students attend 100% of the time. We have the belief that every missed session is a missed opportunity for students. Each moment of the school day is carefully planned out, with all opportunities in place so your child can succeed.

Attendance is a key factor in academic success. There are 190 school days in a year and although 90% attendance may seem acceptable it means that a child is only attending 171 of these days. If this occurred every year, they would have missed 4 months of school by the time they leave in year 11. Therefore, we are striving for children to attend at least 97% of school days a year- the equivalent of 182 days a school year (allowing for 8 days of illness, medical or other absence when necessary).

Please see our Attendance Matters, All Day, Every Day - A Parent and Carers guide that explains all our attendance procedures and FAQ's

Unauthorised Absence

Absence from school is likely to be recorded as unauthorised absence when:

  • there is no parental explanation
  • the school is not satisfied with the explanation for an absence.

In either of these situations you could face prosecution.

Head Teachers are no longer permitted to agree a Leave of Absence during term time unless in exceptional circumstances. This includes where parents decide to take their children out of school for a family holiday during term time. If a parent intends to take their child out of school for a leave of absence during term time, they must have requested this in advance and had their request agreed by the Head Teacher. Failure to do this could result in a fine or prosecution. Please find the link to our leave of absence request form below.

NEW National Framework for Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance from 19th August 2024

From Autumn term 2024, parents can be fined if their child has 10 sessions of unauthorised absence (this could be due to Term Time leave or irregular absence) in a rolling period of 10 weeks.

• The first penalty notice issued to a parent in respect of a particular pupil will be charged at £160 if paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days.

• A second penalty notice issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil is charged at a flat rate of £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 issue of the first. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within those 3 years, alternative action should be taken instead. This will often include considering prosecution, but may include other tools such as one of the other attendance legal interventions.

Click here for further information

How many days/ lessons will I miss?

Attendance A week? A Year? 5 years?
100% 0 days 0 days 0 days
95% 0.06 days/2 lessons 13 days/ 76 lessons 63 days/ 380 lessons
90%
0.1 days/ 3 lessons
19 days/ 114 lessons 95 days/ 570 lessons
85% 0.2 days/ 5 lessons 30 days/ 190 lessons
158 days/ 950 lessons
80%
1 day/ 6 lessons
38 days/ 228 lessons
190 days/ 1,140 lessons

Good attendance = Good grades

Below is a graph which shows the link between % attendance and the number of GCSE results 9-4 (A* to C)

Illness- should my child be at home?

Below is a link to a NHS document which should help you as parents decide whether to send your child to school if you require any further information.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Please note: In cases of diarrhoea or vomiting where it is a one-off occurrence, we are happy for a child to return to school the next day- at the parent’s discretion.

Punctuality

Being punctual to school is just as important as being present for the school day. Children have mentor time at the beginning of the school day which can keep them up to date with school information, teach them personal development and offer a space for them to raise any concerns or have support with their mentors.

Students who arrive late for no good reason will be issued with a mark in their character card and parents will receive a text message which informs of the lateness and the mark as a consequence. According to DofE guidelines, registers must be closed after a certain time in the morning. Therefore, if a student arrives after 9.00am, they cannot receive a late mark but have to be marked as absent for the whole morning session. If the lateness is due to a legitimate reason e.g. a medical appointment, the absence can be authorised providing we have been notified of this in advance and evidence of the appointment is seen. Otherwise, the session is marked as an unauthorised absence. A text is sent home to parents informing them of this and the fact that they could be liable for a fixed penalty notice if the child receives 10 or more unauthorised absence sessions during a 10 week rolling period.

Here are some top tips to share with your child for being punctual to school:

  • Set out your school clothes the night before.
  • Pack your lunch or make sure your lunch money is ready the night before.
  • Ensure your bag is packed and ready to go the night before.
  • Ensure all homework is completed early so that you’re not rushing to do it the morning it is due.
  • Make sure you set an alarm to wake you up.
  • Leave for school at the same time each morning- make this a target that you must meet daily.
  • Go to bed at a time which means you get 8-10 hours’ sleep before you must wake up for school.

Every minute counts... If your child is 10 minutes late to school every day, they lose 6 full days of learning time throughout the school year. This is 6 days of missed opportunities for your child and 6 days where they will be behind on their workload.

Young Carers

Young Carer’s are recognised as being vital in many families’ lives and we are here to support young people if they have caring responsibilities at home. The Garibaldi School works in close contact with Nottinghamshire Carer’s Association to ensure we are doing all we can to support these students.

If your child is missing school due to being a Young Carer or is late to school because of this please we do understand and can put in extra support for your child to help them with this. Please get in contact with Attendance Manager who is the designated Young Carer lead to discuss this further or if you would like to talk more about Young Carer’s.

If you would like further online information about Young Carer’s and what classifies as a Young Carer here are some useful links:

Nottinghamshire County Council : https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/care/adult-social-care/carers/support-for-young-carers

The following BBC video shows a day in the life of a Young Carer. You may want to watch this to see if this is something your child is currently doing. You may be entitled to some support:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdvd-R2b6YA

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