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Attendance & Absence

Our attendance, for the Autumn Term 2025, was 95.06%. 
We must do better:  The national average is 96.5%

Belonging – Working Together to Improve Attendance  

Attendance is important to us!  As a school we strive to achieve the national average, but we are not there.

We understand that there may be times when your child’s attendance may fall below this but if you feel you may need support with your child’s attendance then please ask to speak to a member of our family support team.

Below are some of the ways in which we will work to achieve this.

We will ask you to attend a meeting with the attendance champion / headteacher if your child’s attendance is not satisfactory.
We will contact you if your child is absent from school and we have had no explanation from you.  So please contact us if you know your child is too unwell to attend.
We may involve the school nurse if we feel the need to resolve medical absences.
We will request support from the Local Authority where we have concerns about attendance.
We will continue to recognise and reward those pupils who attend regularly and punctually.

Reducing Illness Days


When a child has a day off we must be notified by a parent or carer as to why.  This can be via the phone.  If we do not receive notification and are unable to contact you a home visit will be completed.  A child returning to school after an absence will be marked as unauthorised absence until we receive a valid explanation.
If your child is saying they do not feel well and you are unsure about whether it warrants a day off please send them to school.  If they are truly ill we will ring you.
If your child has to have a medical or dental appointment in school time please do your best to have it outside of school time.  These can be made for after school or during school holidays.  If your medical practitioner does not work after this time then please make appointments for after 2pm and then your child can have their registration mark for the afternoon before you pick them up. If it needs to be a morning appointment please try and bring them to school first to get their mark and then return them to school afterwards.
Please be aware that if you child arrives after 9.15am (when registers close) this will be marked as an unauthorised absence and this will have a detrimental effect on your child’s attendance

‘Leave’ in school time


If you need to request ‘leave’ in term time there has to be exceptional reasons as to why the leave needs to be taken then.  Please do not book a holiday and then ask permission. School will not grant permission if the reason is ‘cost’ as it is the same for everyone.  
Please note that both parents have responsibility for children’s attendance along with anyone else who has parental responsibility (anyone who has responsibility for ensuring your child is in school such as parent’s partners).  If leave is requested both parents will be informed of the outcome of the request.
There are 190 statutory school days in one year. That means there are 175 days (weekends & school holidays) available to use for holidays.
A 2 week holiday in school time means your child has approximately 50 hours of missed work to catch up on.
If you take your child on a 2 week holiday in term time, attendance for the year immediately drops to 95%.

Punctuality

Poor punctuality or leaving before the end of the school day is not acceptable.
School data shows a link between poor attendance & under-achievement.
Pupils who arrive late and/or leave early also disrupt lessons, which can be embarrassing for the child and can in turn, encourage absence. It is also extremely disruptive for the rest of their class.
How you can help: Aim for 10 hours sleep a night for your child. This will make the following day at school easier for them to cope with. Develop a night time routine that involves checking their homework, reading and bed. Get their school bag ready the night before.

What does 96% actually mean?

It means 7.5 days of school have been missed. 90% means that 19 days have been missed! How many lessons? How many hours?  
Did you know that in a 1.5 form entry school, like St Wilfrid's, with an overall attendance of 96%, 2,508 days of education have been lost in a year!  

Leave of Absence taken in the Academic Year 2025-26

The law relating to Penalty Notices changed with effect from 19 August 2024. Therefore, Penalty Notices issued for Leave of Absence will now be issued in accordance with the updated legislation.A penalty notice will be issued in accordance with legislation.

Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child (for example 2 children and 2 parents means each parent will receive 2 invoices - 4 in total)

First Leave of Absence Offence: The amount of £160 to be paid within 28 days, this is reduced to £80 each child if paid within 21 days. 
 
Second Leave of Absence Offence within a 3-year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice): The amount of £160 paid within 28 days. No reduced amount. 
 
Third Leave of Absence offence within a 3-year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice). A Penalty Notice will not be issued and the matter will be referred to Legal Services to consider instigating criminal prosecution proceedings under S444 of Education Act 1996. 

Attendance Policy Visual

Our Executive Headteacher Mrs Miller, is the Senior Leader for Attendance

Mrs Sharon Hellier, is St Wilfrid's Senior Attendance Champion

Reporting an Absence

Unplanned Absence

You must notify the school of the reason for the absence on the first day of an unplanned absence by 09:00 or as soon as practically possible by calling the School Office.

We will mark absence due to physical or mental illness as authorised unless we have a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness.

Where there are doubts about the authenticity of the illness, we 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 we are not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents/carers 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 or carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment.

However, we encourage parents and carers 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. (for example if a dental appointment is at 11:30am, it is expected your child will be in school prior to the appointment and every effort is made to ensure your child returns to school.) If an appointment is at 9:30am, if possible, bring your child to school first. to support your child's attendance)

The pupil’s parent or carer must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence.

Lateness and Punctuality

Lateness and Punctuality

A pupil who arrives late, after the register has closed, will be marked as late, using the appropriate code.

Being frequently late for school adds up to lost learning:

  • Arriving 5 minutes late every day = 3 days lost each year.
  • Arriving 15 minutes late each day = absent for 2 weeks a year.
  • Arriving 30 minutes late every day = absent for 19 days a year.

Please help your child reach their full potential and get them here on time and ready to start their learning.

Following Up Unexplained Absence

Following up Unexplained Absence

Where any pupil we expect to attend school does not attend, or stops attending, without reason, we will: 

Call the pupil’s parent or carer on the morning of the first day of unexplained absence to find out more about the reason. Identify whether the absence is approved or not

Call the parent or carer on each day that the absence continues without explanation to ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary.

If absence continues, the school will consider involving Multi- Agency Safeguarding Services.

Note:  If the school cannot reach any of the pupil’s emergency contacts, the school will make a Home Visit (consisting of two members of school staff). If they are not able to make contact with the parent or child at the home address or via telephone, the Police will be contacted and a request will be made for them to complete a ‘Safe and Well Check’

Leave of Absence

Leave of Absence

The law states a leave of absence may only be granted by a school if an application is made in advance and if it considers there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.

Please see our Attendance Policy for more information.  Please note, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance.

Reducing Persistent and Severe Absence

Reducing Persistent and Severe Absence

Persistent absence is where a pupil misses 10% or more of school, and severe absence is where a pupil misses 50% or more of school.

We will:

Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence

Hold regular meetings with the parents and carers of pupils who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable, or are persistently or severely absent, to discuss attendance and engagement at school

Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance

Communicate persistent or severe absence concerns with parents every half term. This may be via a written letter or invitation to attend an in-person meeting, dependent on the context behind each absence.

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