Attendance update
At Healing Primary Academy, attendance remains a priority for us all. As it is proven, regular school attendance positively impacts children’s futures.
The national attendance target for all school is 96%+ for all children. At Healing Primary Academy we strive for 97%. The government as of August 2026 has issued new updated guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ which sets out the new rules and guidance around improving attendance including changes to the rules around term time holidays.
In light of this information, here are few changes to attendance procedures as well as some reminders:
Attendance rewards
- Any class with over 97% weekly attendance will get a class certificate. Six certificates can earn a class reward, such a extra playtime, a trip to the local park, football afternoons etc.
Attendance updates
It can be confusing how the percentage of attendance is calculated for a child, when a child is absent from school for ANY reason (even when it’s an authorised reason) this deducts from the child’s overall attendance percentage.
Parents/carers who have downloaded the Arbor app, can now see their child/children’s level of attendance regularly.
Absence
It’s important if your child cannot attend school, you let us know by phoning the school office 01472 882261 at the start of the school day. If we haven’t heard from you, we will contact you to discuss the reason for absence. If we cannot get hold of you, we may phone other contacts held for the child or conduct a home visit. Therefore, it’s important that we have at least two contact numbers for the child in school and if you make any changes to contact details you inform us with immediate effect. These changes can now be registered through the school office.
Missing registration for a medical or dental appointment is counted as an authorised absence; advance notice is required for authorising these absences. Parents should show an appointment letter/ text to the school office. 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.
What is persistent absence?
The government determines that a child who has 10%+ absence from school, therefore their attendance is below 90% is classed as being persistently absent. This is the national percentage.
As a school, we want to support children with attendance, however we also have a legal duty to ensure we follow a procedure when attendance reaches this level. In order to help everyone understand what this looks like, here is how it works.
If a child’s attendance falls below 94%, an attendance monitoring letter is issued which highlights the current level of attendance but most importantly offers support from the school. This is a genuine offer and we look forward to working with you to help the best we can.
Following the letter, after two weeks if the percentage has increased a positive postcard is sent to the child (and you) to congratulate them.
Although, if the percentage after two weeks has not increased a second letter monitor letter is sent.
The procedure continues which includes an invite to attendance panel meeting, home visits and penalty notices.
At all stages of attendance monitoring, we want to help support your family in improving attendance so please speak with the attendance team – Miss Broughton, Mrs Gray and Mrs Knight.
Lates
School gates open at 8:35 and close at 8:45 the register is taken at 8:45. For any child arriving after the gates are closed, they will need to enter via the main school entrance. A pupil who arrives late (8:46) but before the register has closed (9:15) will be marked as late, using the appropriate code (L).
A pupil who arrives after the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code (U). This is an unauthorised absence unless medical evidence has been provided.
If a child is shown to be late regularly, a monitor letter and the procedure above will also be followed.
Term time leave of absence
Following the update from the government. Principals will not grant leave of absence to pupils during term time unless they consider there to be ‘exceptional circumstances’. Holidays during term time are not classed as an exceptional circumstance. A leave of absence is granted at the Principal’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for. The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request. A leave of absence is granted entirely at the Principal’s discretion. Parents/carers should complete a leave of absence form to ask for permission. Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 2 weeks before the absence, and in accordance with any leave of absence request form, accessible via the school office. The Principal may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence.
Term-time holiday or absence for the purpose of leisure will not be approved and will be classed as an unauthorised absence.
If a family does take an unauthorised leave of absence for a holiday without completing a leave of absence request, a penalty notice will be issued for each child and parent.
Update to legal sanctions
Schools working with the local authority can issue parents with a penalty notice for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. If the child is of non-compulsory school age, the school place may be revoked and offered to another child on the waiting list.
Penalty notices can be issued by a Principal, local authority officer or the police.
- A number of unauthorised absences occurring within a rolling period
- One-off instances of irregular attendance, such as holidays taken in term time without permission
- Where an excluded pupil is found in a public place during school hours without a justifiable reason
Please note that our policy recognises the government’s definition for both persistently and severely absent pupils and we reserve the right to instigate legal interventions to help improve attendance when at these thresholds. Pupils are considered persistently absent when attendance drops below 90% and they are considered severely absent if attendance drops below 50%.
A penalty notice is an out of court settlement which is intended to change behaviour without the need for criminal prosecution. Only 2 penalty notices can be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within a 3 year rolling period and any second notice within that period is charged at a higher rate:
- 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.
There is no right of appeal of a penalty notice by parents.
Please note that a non-payment of fine will likely result in escalation to prosecution.
Throughout this letter, we have aimed to set out our attendance procedures to highlight the rewards the children will be receiving but also point out what may happen if attendance is below the national goal. For more information see the attendance and punctuality policy on the website.
To improve attendance we must work together, if at any point you require clarification or support regarding your child’s attendance please do contact us. We thank you all for your continued support.
For more information on medical evidence NHS England have published guidance regarding this please click the link below https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/?fbclid=IwAR0EZU_ELnmSDZxppMNRlVZGUOVeCOfktFVtiR2ordv2cHa6Dg49-7YDe40