REGISTRATION TIME/PUNCTUALITY
The school day starts at 8:45am when the classroom doors open. Children should be ready to enter the classroom at this point and will promptly put their coats and bags away ready for morning registration.
The morning register is taken at 8:50am, children arriving after 8:50am need to be signed in as late at the school office. The reason for being late should be provided.
Receiving a late mark affects a child’s overall attendance and children who arrive late after the register has closed will receive an ‘unauthorised absence’.
PUPIL ABSENCE PROCEDURE
Parents/carers are expected to inform the school on the first day of a child’s absence before 8:50am when registers are completed.
To report your child's absence you can:
- leave a brief message on our absence voicemail facility by calling 01604 407098 (option 1). Please confirm your child’s name, class, reason for absence and how long you expect your child to be absent from school, if known. A voicemail should be made for every consecutive day of absence until a reason has been ascertained that can define the length of absence.
- email the school office team at
The school will make every effort to contact parents/carers who do not contact the school, to check the child’s welfare and clarify the reasons for absence. Where appropriate, home visits may take place.
Please note that if your child's illness is as a result of diarrhoea or/and vomitting Government advice is that pupils can return to school 48 hours after the diarrhoea and vomitting ends. Please see the useful guide below:- 
TERM TIME ABSENCE
Government guidelines state that ‘Headteachers should not grant any leave of absence unless in exceptional circumstances’. Headlands Primary School will rightly prioritise attendance and holidays in term times will not be authorised.
In exceptional circumstances, requests for term time absence should be made in writing at least two weeks prior to the absence. The school will notify you in writing of the decision and the implications of a term time absence. The school are obliged to notify the Local Authority of term time absences and as such you may be liable for a Penalty Notice payable directly to the Local Authority.
PERSISTENT ABSENCE AND IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE
The Education Act 1996 Section 444 states:
Section 444(1) If a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence.
Section 444(1a) If in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) the parent knows that his child is failing to attend regularly at the school and fails to cause him to do so, he/she is guilty of an offence.
Any pupil who falls below 90% attendance will become a persistent absence pupil and therefore reported through every schools termly census.
Irregular attendance refers to a series of short absences where there has been an unsatisfactory explanation for the absence or no reason provided.
Where there is an ongoing concern regarding a child’s absence and the school have been unable to secure improvements in attendance, a referral will be made to the School Attendance Support Service (SASS). Referrals to SASS may lead to the issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice or even prosecution.
Where a child is out of school for an accumulative total of 5 days or more (10 sessions) (90%) over a period of ten school weeks, the school will deem this as irregular attendance and will consider a referral to the Local authority for consideration of legal action. This could include:-
- A Penalty Notice payable up to £160 fine
- Prosecution under s444 (1) Education Act 1996, where if convicted you may be fined up to £1,000.
- Prosecution under s444 (1) (a) Education Act 1996 where if convicted you may be fined up to £2,500 and/or 3 months’ imprisonment.
To view our attendance policy please click here. For more support on attendance and behaviour in school please click here.
