Attendance Matters!

At St Margaret’s, we believe in developing good patterns of attendance and set high expectations for the attendance and punctuality for all our pupils from the outset. It is a central part of our school’s vision, values, ethos, and day to day life. We recognise the strong connections between attendance, attainment, safeguarding and wellbeing.

Reporting an Absence

Please telephone or email the school office by 9:00am if your child is going to be absent. The absence must be reported by a parent/carer/guardian. Unless we have received a leave of absence form in advance, please update the office every day that your child is absent. If we haven’t heard from you after two days or we are concerned about your well being after a long absence we will make a well being home visit.

Planned Absence / Holidays

Leave of absence forms must be completed at least 4 weeks in advance.

Term time leave will only be granted in “exceptional circumstances” at the Headteacher's discretion, and in line with Government regulation. Family holidays are generally not considered to be exceptional. Each request for absence will be considered on a case by case basis and school policy will be applied fairly and consistently.

Medical Appointments

Where medical appointments fall in school hours, please notify the office as far in advance as possible providing proof of the appointment. Proof can be a letter, email or screenshot of the appointment. We appreciate your cooperation with helping us keep our records up to date.

Persistent Lateness

Our school day begins at 8.45am with the gates opening at 8.40am. Registration is 8.50am. Any child who arrives after 8.50am, once the register has been taken, will be marked as late using the appropriate code (L). Register stays open for 30 minutes. Any child who arrives after 9.15am once the register has closed, will be marked as absent using the appropriate code(U). This counts as an unauthorised lateness for the morning session. A pattern of unauthorised lateness can be grounds for a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Every minute counts!

When your child misses just…	That equals…	Which is…	And therefore from Reception to Year 12, that is…
10 minutes per day	50 minutes of learning each week	Nearly 1.5 weeks per year	Nearly half a year of learning
20 minutes per day	1 hour & 40 minutes of learning	Nearly 2.5 weeks per year	Nearly a year of learning
30 minutes per day	Half a day of learning per week	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1.5 years of learning
1 hour per day	1 whole day of learning each week	8 weeks per year or 1 term	Over 2.5 years of learning

Every day counts!

When your child misses just…	That equals…	Which is…	And therefore from Reception to Year 12, that is…
1 day each fortnight	20 days per year	4 weeks per year	Nearly 1.5 years of learning
1 day each week	40 days per year	8 weeks per year	Over 2.5 years of learning
2 days each week	80 days per year	16 weeks per year	Over 5 years of learning
3 days each week	120 days per year	24 weeks per year	Nearly 8 years of learning

Give your child every chance to succed!

ATTENDANCE TARGETS

St Margaret’s attendance target is for every child to achieve a minimum of 95% attendance each term.

Is my child too ill for school?

It can be hard to decide whether your child is too ill to attend school, especially if you are rushing in the morning! Please be reassured that we will contact you if your child is unwell and request that you collect them if there are too unwell. You can find more help and advice on the NHS Is my child too ill for school page.

Please note that the school will administer prescription and over the counter mediciines to your child, in line with the school's policy, if you have completed a medicines form.

New Link

Holidays, Term-Time Absence & Persistent Absence – What Parents/Carers Need to Know

It is your responsibility to read this information:
Taking your child out of school during term time, whether for holidays or other reasons, can disrupt their education and may lead to unauthorised absences. If your child misses 10 or more sessions (5 days) without agreement, this could result in a penalty notice from the Local Authority. This applies to both term-time holidays and persistent non-attendance without a valid reason. Please speak to the school if you're unsure or need support with attendance.

As part of our commitment to maintaining high levels of school attendance, we would like to inform you about some important changes regarding holidays/leave of absences in Term Time. These changes align with the Department for Education (DFE) updated guidance on improving school attendance, effective from 19th August 2024 in collaboration with the Local Authority.

The DFE emphasises that term-time holiday/leave of absences should be avoided. Absences during this time can significantly impact your child’s education. We kindly request that you plan holidays/leave of absences during school holidays to minimise disruption in learning. Any such absences will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

If you believe there are exceptional circumstances that require a term-time holiday/leave of absence, please submit a written request to the school as soon as possible. We will assess each case individually and provide guidance accordingly. However, if we determine that the circumstances do not qualify as exceptional, we will notify you in writing, indicating that you may be subject to a penalty notice issued by the local authority, which could result in legal action, please see below.

Penalty notices and Prosecution.
A Penalty Notice issued for unauthorised absences is 5 days (10 sessions) with in a 10 week period.
A Penalty Notice can be issued under the following legislation:

Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 places upon parents a duty to ensure that their child receives efficient full-time education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise
Where a child is a registered pupil at a school and the parent fails to ensure that child’s regular attendance at school the parent is liable to be prosecuted for a criminal offence under Section 444 of the Education Act
In cases where this duty is not being fulfilled Section 444B of the same Act empowers the Local Authority to issue a Penalty

See below for further information:

Penalty Notice	Details
First Notice in a 3 year period:	Issued to each parent. Charged at £80 if paid within 21 days £160 if paid within 28 days.
Second Notice in a 3 year period:	Issued to each parent. Charged at a flat rate of £160 if paid within 28 days.
Third Notice in a 3 year period:	Alternative action should be taken, for example prosecution or other attendance legal interventions. Fines per parent are capped at two within any three-year period. If a parent is prosecuted for their child’s non-attendance, they could face a magistrates court appearance and a fine of up to £2,500 and/or prison. Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on a Parents future DBS certificate, due to failure to safeguard a child’s education.

It is important to note that fines are a last resort, and parents are offered support from the school regarding attendance concerns and are discouraged from taking holidays in term time. It is also important to note that if there are also attendance concerns, then further action can be taken in the form of Penalty Notices for persistent/non-attendance unauthorised absences. Please refer to our attendance policy (below) for more information.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring that your child’s education remains a priority. If you have any questions, or you would like any support with the attendance of your child, feel free to contact the Headteacher.

Supporting good school attendance

A range of factors may affect a child's attendance at school. As a school we will seek to identify any barriers to good attendance and work with the child and their family to find solutions. This may include:

Early Help Assessments
Working through the Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA) pathway
Identidifcation of and support for children with SEND

Attendance and Absence

Welcome to the Attendance and Absence section of our website. On this page you will find information on how to report an absences, termly class attendance, and key documents relating to attendance and absence.

My child is absent. What do I do?

· Contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence, this needs to be before 9.00am;

· Absence must be reported directly to the school office by the pupil’s parent(s)/Carer(s) and/or Guardian(s). Messages sent by a friend or neighbour will not be accepted as an Authorised Absence;

· Send a note in on the first day they return with an explanation of the absence – you must do this even if you have already telephoned us;

· Or, you can call into school and report to reception, who will arrange for a member of staff to speak with you

My child returns to school after absence. What do I do next?

· Upon the return to school of a child, from the time of absence, parents/carers/guardians are to provide a written explanation, email of reasons or telephone contact to explain. We are planning to be away from school. What is procedure?

· Leave of absence forms (see Attendance forms below or paper copies available from the school office) are to be requested and completed in advance. Please note leave of absence will only be granted under exceptional circumstances and is at the discretion of the head teacher.

My child has a medical appointment. What should I do?

· Other planned absences/appointments must be notified before the absence is taken. Proof of appointments such as copies of appointment cards / letters will be requested.

Fixed Penalty Notices, Frequently Asked Questions.

Please read some FAQ's on Pixed Penalty Notices below which may or my not be relevant in your requesting time off from school. We have included an attached from Lincolnshire County Council on this issue further down the webpage.

Do I need to issue a fixed penalty notice before I consider prosecution for persistent absence?

As long as the absence meets the persistent absence criteria you can proceed straight to legal proceedings without first issuing a fixed penalty notice. They are two distinct procedures for dealing with non- attendance.

What does 15% absence look like?

Using a 6 week period, 15% absence is approximately 4.5 days. Where a holiday falls between a 6 week period, it is possible to issue a fixed penalty notice using unauthorised absences that occurred at the end of the previous term and beginning of the new term.

Whose responsibility is it to issue a fixed penalty notice?

It is the local authority's responsibility to issue a fixed penalty notice based on the information provided by the school. However, it is at the head teacher's discretion as to whether they authorise or unauthorise the period of absence requested and then request a FPN. The head teacher would need to explain to the parent why they, as a school, have decided not to authorise attendance. The Department of Education have issued guidance on this in an attempt to reduce authorised term time absences which currently runs higher than the national average for Lincolnshire. Therefore the school is accountable for the decisions made, not the local authority.

Can the school request to issue a FPN for persistent lateness?

The lateness must show as unauthorised absence on the register and fulfil the requirement of 15% absence (over a 6 week period). The school would need to be clear of their close of registration time and that the lateness is coded correctly. Parents have informed the school that the holiday was booked over a year ago.

How does the school deal with this case?

Parents should first have asked permission for leave during term time which now would only be granted in exceptional circumstances. In this case, the school would need to use their discretion as to whether they have given parents sufficient warning to a change of policy.

What are exceptional circumstances?

Exceptional circumstances cover a range of reasons distinct to an individual family. Each request for absence should be look at on a case by case basis by the head teacher. The school needs to be consistent in their approach and ensure parents are made aware of this.

	Attendance Policy 26-27 .docx	[pdf 691KB]
	Attendance Policy 25-26 .docx	[pdf 647KB]
	Key Points - Jan 2026.docx	[pdf 492KB]
	Leave of Absence Form 25-26	[pdf 451KB]