Attendance

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Most parents want their children to get on well in life and it is more important than ever to have a good education behind you if you want opportunities in adult life. Children only get one chance at school, and your child’s chances of a successful future may be affected by not attending school or alternative provision regularly.

If children do not attend school regularly they may:

• Struggle to keep up with school work. In a busy school day, it is difficult for schools to find the extra time to help a child catch up.
• Miss out on the social side of school life. Poor attendance can affect children’s ability to make and keep friendships, a vital part of growing up.

Setting good attendance patterns will also help your child later on. Employers want to recruit reliable people, and children with poor school attendance records may have less chance of getting a good job.

The Suthers School Attendance Policy

Being on time is vital. Arriving late at school can be very disruptive for your child, the teacher, and the other children.

Students should arrive in school before 8:25 a.m. Registers close at 8:50 a.m. The school gates are open from 08:00 a.m. to 08:25 a.m. Any students arriving after 08:28 will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Students arriving after these times should enter the school through the main entrance and will be classed as late.

By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must get a suitable, full-time education. As a parent, you are responsible for making sure this happens, either by registering your child at a school or by making other arrangements that provide a suitable full-time education.

Once your child is registered at a school you are responsible for making sure he or she attends regularly. If your child fails to attend regularly - even if they miss school without you knowing - the Local Authority may take legal action against you.

Please follow this link to the Nottinghamshire County Councils, School attendance, absence and truancy page for more information and useful FAQ

In August 2024, the government issued new statutory guidance relating to attendance. This new guidance states that schools now must inform the Local Authority when pupils miss or are expected to miss 15 consecutive days due to illness or unauthorised absences.

If your child is absent for 10 consecutive days or 10 days during a term, a letter will be sent home and we will require a reason for the absence and your signature as we are required to inform the local authority if your child is absent for 15 days a term. The new guidance includes a new national framework of penalty notices has been introduced by the DfE. This framework applies when unauthorised holidays are taken during term time, and when the number of sessions missed due to an unauthorised holiday meets the threshold of 10 sessions in 10 weeks.

The penalty notices have increased up to £160. There are only a few circumstances in which a child is allowed to miss school, such as illness or where the school has permitted because of exceptional circumstances. If there is an exceptional need for your child to not be at school, please contact the headteacher providing details of the circumstances.

According to the new guidance if a school has reason to believe that families have provided false reasons for a child’s absence, the school will complete a home visit, and if needed from a safeguarding perspective, look to involve other appropriate agencies to support.

Of course there may be times when your child has to miss school because they are ill. This is to be expected and for this you should follow the school procedure for notifying illness.

Children may also have to attend a medical or dental appointment in school time. However, you could try to make routine appointments, such as dental check ups, during the school holidays or after school hours.

Any absences must be requested as far in advance as possible and can only be authorised by the school.

The Suthers School treat every application for leave of absence on an individual basis; however, school will not authorise absence for the reason of a family holiday unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Leave of Absence

If parents need to request a leave of absence for their child during the school term please download and complete the form below.

Leave of Absence form

What happens if your child does not attend school regularly?

As a school, we are responsible by law for reporting poor attendance to the Local Authority Education Welfare Department. As a parent, you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends school regularly, even if they are missing school without your knowledge, and may be issued with a penalty notice or taken to court.

Research has shown that children who are not in school are the most vulnerable and are easily drawn into crime. Those children who play truant are more likely to offend than those who do not. The following graph shows the link between percentage attendance and GCSE outcomes.

Being late for school reduces learning time. If your child is 5 minutes late every day they will miss three days of learning each year. If your child is 15 minutes late every day they will miss 2 weeks of learning each year.

• If you suspect that your child may be missing school or is unhappy at school, you should contact the school as soon as possible so that you can work with them to resolve any difficulties.
• Make sure your child understands that you do not approve of them missing school, but be alert for any particular reasons for non-attendance, such as problems with school work, and discuss these with the school.
• If your child is ill or absent for any other reason, contact the school on every day of absence by 8am on 01636 957690.
• If your child is attending a medical appointment during the school day, you can notify the school by emailing attendance@suthersschool.co.uk or writing a note in your child’s planner.
• Make sure that your child arrives at school on time.
• Take an interest in your child’s education.
• Ask them about their day and praise and encourage their achievements at school.​

Who to contact if you have any concerns or queries:

• Your child's form tutor
• Mrs Gentry - Attendance Officer
• Mr Hunt - Senior Leader with responsibility for Behaviour, Attitudes & Attendance