Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance

By law, all children of compulsory school age (5 to18) must receive full-time education. Along with this you have the legal responsibility for making sure that your child attends on a regular basis. If they do not, parents will be contacted by the school office in the first instance and this will be followed up by the Local Authority via the Educational Welfare Officer if it continues or patterns of attendance occur.

Schools are open for 195 days per year, leaving 170 other days for leisure time. The Fen Rivers Academy, in line with Government legislation, is not allowed to authorise any leave of absence.

As parents you need to be aware that you may be breaking the law if your children take leave without permission. Guidance states that schools may agree “holiday leave” in two exceptional circumstances, such as:

• For service personnel and other employees who are prevented from taking holidays outside term-time,  if the holiday will have minimal disruption to the pupil’s education.
• When a family need to spend time together to support each other during or after a crisis or a close family occasion.

Norfolk County Council website will have further guidelines for Attendance.

• Holidays which are taken for the following reasons are not authorised and are breaking the law.
• Availability of cheap flights
• Availability of the desired accommodation
• Poor weather experienced in school holiday periods
• Overlap with beginning or end of term.

To ensure the maximum possible attendance and punctuality of every student we will:

• Inform parents immediately of any unauthorised absence
• Work in close partnership with the Education Welfare Service, Social Workers, Police and Police Community Support Officers and the Vulnerable Pupil Attendance Lead
• Recognise the external factors which impact on student attendance, and work in partnership with parents and the Education Welfare Officers to address difficulties

We hope that you will support our efforts to improve the achievement and learning of your child by:

• Ensuring that The Fen Rivers Academy is notified of any absence by telephone that morning before the start of the school day, preferably before 9am.
• Informing The Fen Rivers Academy immediately if your child is unwell or unable to attend for any reason on each day of illness.
• Encouraging your child to arrive on time and prepared for learning.

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s current attendance and are aware of circumstances that may be impacting on their attendance, please contact the Headteacher.