For any child to make the most out of their time at school and achieve their potential as young adults a high level of attendance is essential. We are committed to providing an academic education of the highest quality for all our students and exceptional pastoral care, to meet the diverse range of student needs in our school. 

We endeavour to provide an environment where all students feel supported and valued allowing each individual to develop into the best version of themselves. Our educational offer works most effectively when students are in school accessing their lessons and the range of other learning activities we provide. We believe all our students are entitled to access the full range of specialist education opportunities available at The Park. Our parents and carers are crucial in ensuring that their child makes the most of this right and receive a full-time education by attending school every day.

Along with parents and carers, teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all. It is our duty to consistently strive to achieve a goal of 100% attendance for all children. Every opportunity will be used to convey to students and their parents/carers the importance of regular and punctual attendance. For children to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered it is vital a child is at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

The routines that children develop around attendance and punctuality at school are the same as the expectations of any future employer in the world of work. Positive life habits, confidence with peers and staff, and future aspirations depend on good attendance.

Good attendance is important because:

• Statistics show a direct link between reduced academic achievement and absence below 95%

• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically

• Regular attenders find school routines, school work and friendships easier to cope with

• Regular attenders find learning more satisfying

• Regular school attendance is linked to better mental health and well-being in young people

• Regular attenders are more successful in transferring between primary school, secondary school, and higher education, employment or training.

Always make your child’s education the priority

• Children are expected in school 190 days each year. Please prioritise this education time and use the 175 non-school days for other activities.

• Doctor, dentist or optician appointments should not be made during school time unless they are urgent and essential - make routine appointments after school or during holidays

• If you do need to make an urgent appointment in school time try to ensure that your child misses as little of school as possible, and ensure they attend school before and/or after the appointment

• We know that travel companies don’t make it easy for families, but never book a holiday during term time (it won't be authorised, your child will fall behind and you may be fined)

• Please don’t allow your child to stay off school to make things easier for yourself, this is against the law

• Monday and Friday lessons are equally important please do not allow your child to miss school to go away for a long weekend

Help your child feel positive about attending school

• Talk to your child about their day, every day, and focus on the good parts to encourage a positive mindset. 

• Speak positively about the school in front of your child. Parents and carers have the most influence over their child's perception of the world and have a big impact on whether a child wants to attend school or not.

• School work is meant to be hard but not too hard. Help with any homework if you can and find out if your child feels their school work is right for them. Finding work too hard or too easy can lead to a reduced motivation to attend.

• Check your child’s attendance on Arbor, you might not realise how much school they have missed, you can also praise your child's attendance improvements and resilience. 

• Work with us to solve problems. Your child will experience problems in school at some point and you may not agree with everything we do. Please speak to us to find out the full story and our point of view before voicing opinions with your child. Your actions when problems occur, strongly influence their feelings towards school and willingness to attend. 

• Encourage your child to stay after school to attend home learning clubs, booster sessions and extra-curricular activities whenever they are offered

• If your child forgets their school equipment, lunch or is not in the correct uniform, it will cause problems for them at school. Please help your child become organised at home and help them prepare their school bag the night before. 

• Remember we all want your child to be happy in school and learn. Please support us by presenting a united front. It is essential your child sees that we work together for their benefit.

If your child’s attendance drops below 90% at any point during the academic year they will be classed as persistently absent (PA) in line with DfE expectations.

Please promote excellent attendance with your child to ensure that they make the most of every minute of every lesson of every day.

Number of days off school resulting in Persistent Absence

Half term 1

3 ½ days off school from September until October half-term holiday will make your child a PA student.

Half-term 1&2

7 days off school from September until the Christmas holiday will make your child a PA student.

Half term 1, 2 & 3

10 days of absence from September until February half-term will make your child a PA student.

Half term 1, 2, 3 & 4

12 ½ days of absence from September until the Easter holidays will make your child a PA student.

Half-term 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

15 ½ days of absence from September until May half-term will make your child a PA student.

Full Academic Year

19 days of absence for the full academic year (September to end of summer term in July) will make your child a PA student.

Pre-emptive calling: Year Leader and Tutors will identify key students who are persistently late or absent and would benefit from an early morning call from office

Absence day one: Office phone call 

Absence day two: Tutor Team phone call

Absence day four: Year Team Lead phone call

Absence day five (consecutive days): Year Team Lead and Designated Safeguarding Lead home visit

Absence support stage 1: Letter and Tutor meeting with parent/carer and student to offer bespoke support plan. 

Absence support stage 2: Letter and Year Leader meeting to set targets for improvement and review support plan.

Absence support stage 3: Letter and Senior Attendance Lead meeting to review targets and support. Medical evidence required for future absences. Create an attendance contract. 

Absence support stage 4: Formal involvement from Inclusion Service with bespoke support plan.

(Please note professional judgement will be used with each individual case)

Penalty Notices

The Inclusion Service, acting on behalf of Surrey County Council may issue a Penalty Notice as an alternative to the prosecution of a parent/carer for their child’s unauthorised absence from school and requires the recipient to pay a fixed amount.  

The amount payable on issue of a Penalty Notice is £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days. 

If the Penalty Notice is not paid within 28 days, the Local Authority must consider a prosecution for failing to ensure regular school attendance under Section 444 Education Act 1996. 

Circumstances when a Penalty Notices may be issued 

• Pupils identified by police and education welfare officers engaged on Truancy Patrols and who have incurred unauthorised absences. 

• The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Head teacher is required to determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted. 

Where a child is taken out of school for 10 sessions or more and the ‘leave of absence’ is without the authority of the head teacher, each parent is liable to receive a penalty notice for each child who is absent.  In these circumstances, a warning will not be given where it can be shown that parents had previously been warned that such absences would not be authorised and that they will be liable to receive a Penalty Notice if the leave of absence is taken. 

• The issue of a Penalty Notice will also be considered where a pupil has incurred 7 or more unauthorised sessions during the preceding 6 school weeks. The parents’ failure to engage with supportive measures proposed by the school or Inclusion Service will be a factor when considering the issue of a Penalty Notice. Unauthorised absence will include late arrival after the close of registration without good reason.  

With the exception of unauthorised leave of absence taken in term time, parents will be sent a formal warning of their liability to receive such a notice before it is issued. 

Penalty Notice relating to Suspensions 

Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty on parents to ensure that their child is not in a public place without justifiable cause during school hours when they are suspended from school.  This duty applies to the first five days of each suspension. Failure to do so will render the parent liable to a Penalty Notice. The amount payable is £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the Penalty Notice, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days. If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the recipient will be prosecuted for the offence under Section 103. Alternative education provision will be made from the sixth day of any suspension and failure to attend such provision without good reason will be treated as unauthorised absence.