Attendance
Attendance Team
We are grateful for the support we receive from parents and carers, good attendance will ensure that your child can reach their full potential. To achieve this, your child needs to attend school every day. All schools must have an identified attendance lead. At Colley Lane, we have an attendance team lead by Ms Anderson.
- Ms Anderson - Attendance Lead
- Mrs Edwards - Pastoral Coordinator
- Mrs Silvers - Support officer
How to report an absence
Parents can use our attendance email address if their child is going to be absent from school or for any other attendance matter.
The email address is attendance@colley.windsoracademytrust.org.uk
A member of the attendance team checks the account daily. Parents can continue to telephone the school and leave a message on the attendance line if they prefer by calling 01384 900450.
Alternatively, parents can now report student absence via the attendance section on Arbor. If you need help registering for Arbor, please speak to the school office. Please do not report absences through Class Dojo.
If your child does not attend school and we have not received an explanation, a member of the team will phone home to make some enquiries. If we are unable to establish a response or contact after a number of consecutive days and all emergency numbers have been contacted, we may make a home visit as a matter of safeguarding.
Monitoring and early identification are essential in addressing poor school attendance. At CLPA we use standard letters that inform parents of their child’s current attendance. The team meet fortnightly to review attendance and letters are issued at set times during each school term.
How we manage attendance
Our minimum expectation for attendance is 97%. The table below shows our approach to dealing with attendance that falls below the expected level.
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Attendance level Attendance below 97% |
The attendance team will monitor child’s attendance.
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Attendance level Attendance below 95% |
Closer monitoring by the attendance team. An informative letter notifying parents that attendance has fallen below school/national expected average and offering our support if needed. |
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Attendance level Attendance below 93% |
Attendance will be monitored weekly. Medical evidence now required to authorise any absences, and advice that further unauthorised absence may be referred to the local authority for consideration of a fixed penalty notice or legal proceedings. (In line with LA and government expectations). Second letter sent with an invitation to a meeting at school with the Pastoral Coordinator/Attendance Team to discuss any barriers to the child’s attendance. Support plan to improve attendance agreed with parents/carers. |
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Attendance level Attendance below 90% |
Child now categorised as having persistent absence. Third letter sent advising of further deterioration and that the matter may now be passed to the local authority for enforcement proceedings. Attendance monitored daily. Support plan adapted to improve attendance before a referral is made to the local authority. |
Please be assured that we will always strive to ensure your child receives the help and support they need to ensure a successful year. In order for this to happen, it is important for you to play your part by maintaining good communication between school and home and we would like therefore to remind you of the following:
- Please report any changes to personal information including address or contact numbers, or update these via your Arbor account.
- Please remember to report any medical issues including medication.
- If your child’s attendance is poor or there are ongoing medical conditions, please provide medical evidence when at all possible so that we are in a position to authorise absence and support your child.
- Please ensure your child attends regularly, on time each day.
Holidays in term time
There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school time to go on holiday. Leave of absence will not be granted unless the parents can prove ‘exceptional circumstances’. All applications must be made in writing at least 20 school days prior to the requested leave date. (Please see our Attendance Policy for details or ask at the school office).
Please remember that taking holidays in term time will affect your child’s schooling as much as any other absence. If it is necessary to take a leave of absence, please notify the school and try to take as little time off as possible.
5 consecutive school days, or more, of unauthorised term time leave will be referred to Dudley Council, Education Support Service for consideration of a fixed penalty fine or further legal proceedings. Dudley council advise that inset training days are school days and may count toward the 5 consecutive days of leave.
If a leave of absence/holiday has not been received, our procedure will be to attempt contact through your child’s emergency details. If we are unable to make contact with you or you have claimed that your child is absent through illness and we believe you may have taken leave without prior consent, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. The matter will then be referred to Dudley Council Education Support Service for consideration of a fixed penalty fine or legal proceedings.
Safeguarding
It is important we know children and their parents are safe and well. In the past where schools have not chased up the reasons as to why children are off school, it has then transpired that there have been tragic circumstances around these absences, eg illness of a parent and a child unable to seek help.
No response or clear reason for absence can lead to schools safeguarding procedures where we will contact all emergency numbers, undertake a home visit and if no contact is made we may contact the Police and Children’s Services.
Is my child too ill for school?
It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school or nursery when they are unwell but there are government guidelines for schools and nurseries that say when children should be kept off school and when they should not.
Not all illnesses require your child to take time off school.
The image below shows some common illnesses and whether your child should attend school if they have the illness. If your child is still ok to come into school, it is important that you still let us know if your child has any of the illnesses listed in the table below.
