Attendance
At Bramley C of E Infant and Nursery School we our proud of our high levels of attendance and appreciate the support of parents and families in maintaining this.
The school staff, alongside the Local Authority, firmly believes that all pupils benefit from regular (i.e. 100%) school attendance. We know that every day lost to education can have a serious impact on children’s attainment and overall progress in school. As a staff we do all we can to encourage parents and families to ensure that the children in our care achieve maximum possible attendance and that any problems that prevent full attendance are identified and acted on promptly.
Please note that the Head of School will not grant leave of absence during term-time unless in "exceptional" circumstances. The fundamental principles being that "exceptional" should be rare, significant, unavoidable and short. Any leave of absence during term-time needs to be agreed in advance by the Head of School using the Leave of Absence Request Form. Further information and guidance is included in our Attendance Policy.
The Government expects schools to proactively improve and manage attendance. At Bramley C of E Infant and Nursery School our whole school attendance is often above the National average and we are grateful for the support that parents provide in making sure children attend punctually and are in school every day.
If your child's attendance drops below 95% you will be informed by letter. If attendance drops to below 90% future absences will be recorded as unauthorised until attendance improves. This will mean that you may be asked to provide evidence for absences during this period such as a GP/hospital appointment message or prescription. Please note we DO NOT expect you to request a sick note from your GP.
If you would like to discuss your child's attendance at any time, please contact the Head of School via the school office (office@bramley.surrey.sch.uk) to arrange an appointment.
Holidays: School holiday dates are published well in advance on the school’s website and parents are expected to plan and take their family holidays during school holidays, so they do not disrupt their children’s education. Please note that a holiday does not count as an exceptional circumstance. To request absence for your child, you will need to complete a Leave of Absence Form.
Penalty notices for attendance
The new Department for Education regulations that came into effect regarding penalty notices issued for unauthorised absences taken after 19th August 2024.
The ‘National Threshold’, when it is appropriate to consider issuing a penalty notice, is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 within the autumn term).
From September 2024, only 2 penalty notices will 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:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 will be taken instead, which will often include considering prosecution.
If you would like any further information regarding these changes, full details can be found here: Working together to improve school attendance (Gov.uk)
Working together to improve school attendance