At St John’s school we have a target of all children achieving ‘at least 97%’ attendance. We feel that this target, despite ambitious is achievable but does require all parents/carers to work with the school to ensure their child is in school.

It is the legal duty of all parents or legal guardians to ensure that their child receives an education.

Being in school is vital for children to make progress, interact socially with their peers and fulfil their true potential. It is impossible for children to make progress if they are not in school. Below is a document that shows how much education is lost through poor attendance.

If a parent/carer would like to know their child’s current up to date attendance please contact the office for this information.

Since the global pandemic school attendance, nationally, has declined and as a result a new National Framework for School Attendance came into effect from 19^th August 2024. The purpose of the framework is to ensure all schools in England must comply to the same rules and make it clearer for parents/carers to understand the regulations.

The school policy for attendance can be found in the Key Information / Policies / Safeguarding Policies on the school website.

Below are some facts of the changes the framework will bring in:

First Offence:

• Penalty notices have increased from £60 to £80 if paid within 21 days. This will increase to £160 from day 22 – 28. Post 28 days could lead to prosecution.  
• Penalty notices are issued to each parent regardless if they are separated or together.
•  Penalty notices are issued to each child who is on the school’s register.
• Penalty notices will be issued when 10 register marks (2 register marks are available per day) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period.
• The 10 school week period can span different terms or school years.

Second Offence:

• The period for a second offence to take place is within 3 years of the first offence.
• The same 10 register marks over the 10 week period apply but the fine increases to £160 per child per parent, to be paid within 28 days of issue.

Third Offence:

• If a third offence occurs within 3 years there will be no penalty notice issued. Instead, the Local Authority will look to other means and this could be prosecution in Magistrate’s Court. This could lead to a fine of £2,500, a criminal record and show on future DBS certificates as ‘Failure to safeguard a child’s education’ if found guilty

Leave of Absence

A leave of application form must be completed and returned to the school office before the leave commences. A copy of the form is available below.

Administering Medicine

We understand that some parents work and might not be able to give their child medicine during the school day due to their work commitments. We do have an Administering Medicine Policy and before bringing medication to school please read this policy. The policy can be found in the Key Information tab / Policies / Safeguarding section.

We do have a separate fridge in the office for medicines that require to be kept in a fridge. 

For all medication received by the office we must have a form fully completed before it can be accepted. A copy of the form can be found below. 

Sickness

We understand that children do get ill and will miss school as a result of being unwell. However, under the new National Framework for Attendance, the new guidelines have provided more stringent guidelines for ad hoc sickness days.

The school is now required to submit to the Local Authority pupils who have missed 15 register marks for sickness.

If your child is sick, it is your duty to inform the school of their sickness and state exactly what is wrong with them before 9:15am on the first day of the sickness. The school hold the right to call you back if it is not clear why they are sick.

Please see below two documents from the NHS to help you ascertain if a child should be off school or not.