Co-op Academy Priesthorpe Attendance Policy

1st September 2024

This model policy was approved by the Trust Board on 4 July 2024

Next review date - summer term 2025

Name: Co-op Academy Priesthorpe

Academy Address: Priesthorpe Lane,Farsley Pudsey LS28 5SG

Academy Telephone Number and Email Address :info@cooppriesthorpe.co.uk  0113 2574115

Academy Website Link: https://www.priesthorpe.coopacademies.co.uk/

Contents

1. Policy Statement and Purpose        2

2. The Importance of School Attendance        2

3. Legislation and Guidance        4

4. Roles and Responsibilities        4

5. Reporting Absence        7

Reporting and Requesting Planned Absences        8

6. Recording Absence        8

Lateness and punctuality        9

Persistent lateness        9

Recording Attendance at off site provision / dual registered pupils        10

7. Authorised and Unauthorised Absences        10

Fines and Sanctions        11

8. Promoting and Supporting Attendance        12

9. Attendance Monitoring        14

Analysing attendance        14

Using data to improve attendance        14

Identifying and supporting Persistent and Severely Absent Pupils        14

Reintegration after significant absences        15

Identifying and supporting Children Missing in Education        16

10. Links with other Policies        16

Appendix 1 - Coding        17

Appendix 2 - Removing Barriers Flowchart        21

Appendix 3 - Data monitoring and analysis        22

Appendix 4 - Thresholds and Interventions        23

Appendix 5 - Responsibilities        24

Appendix 6 - Legal Interventions        25

Appendix 7 - Templates Letters and Texts        26

Appendix 8 - Attendance Principles        29

1. Policy Statement and Purpose

Co-op Academy Priesthorpe is committed to providing a full education to all pupils that embraces the concept of equal opportunities for all. We provide a welcoming and caring environment where every pupil feels safe and valued. Regular attendance and excellent punctuality are essential in ensuring pupils make sustained academic progress and social development.

The academy works in partnership with pupils and their parents or carers to promote the importance of regular and punctual attendance. Regular and punctual attendance is vital in ensuring that all children have full access to the curriculum, as valuable learning time is lost when pupils are absent or late.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure excellent attendance for all, that maximises pupil potential. As an academy, we recognise that regular attendance has a positive impact on the motivation and attainment of pupils. As such, this policy serves to give clear guidance to all stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities; provide advice and information on statutory duties of parents / carers and the Academy and demonstrate how the Academy will work in partnership with families, the local authority and other organisations to support the best possible attendance of all pupils.

Through this policy we will demonstrate our commitment to:

• Setting high expectations for the attendance and punctuality of all pupils
• Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
• Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence
• Ensuring every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
• Acting early to address patterns of absence
• Building strong relationships with families to ensure pupils have the right support to attend school

Co-op Academies Trust believes there are fundamental principles behind great school attendance. These have been laid out here in our Attendance Principles - and underpin the spirit and content of this policy. In our whole school approach to raising and maintaining excellent attendance, we aim to work with pupils and families to listen, understand, empathise and support families - whilst continuing to challenge poor attendance and maintain the highest of expectations of all of our pupils.

2. The Importance of School Attendance

Regular attendance at school is vital to support pupils to achieve and help them get the best possible start in life. Good attendance is central to pupils’ academic achievement and personal development.

Research shows that going to school is directly linked to improved exam performance which should in turn lead to further learning opportunities and better job prospects.

As well as this, going to school helps to develop:

• friendships
• social skills
• team values
• life skills
• cultural awareness
• career pathways

We know that 90% of persistent non-attenders do not achieve expected levels of development at KS1 and KS2 and do not gain five or more good GCSEs. Around one third achieve no GCSEs at all.  At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard. At KS4, pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 in English and maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 5.2% for those achieving grade 4. The overall absence rate of pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 was twice as high as those achieving 9 to 5 (8.8% compared to 3.7%).

Young people who regularly miss school without good reason are also more likely to become isolated from their friends, to underachieve in examinations and/or become involved in anti-social behaviour. In addition, Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2024 makes clear the fact that Children Missing Education are at significant risk of being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life.  For the most vulnerable pupils, research has shown associations between regular absence from school and crime (the proportion of children that had been cautioned or sentenced for any offence that had ever been persistently absent was 81% and for serious violence offence was 85%).  Regular attendance is therefore one of the most important protective factors and the best opportunity for needs to be identified and support provided.

Attendance and Punctuality - Lost Learning HoursLegislation and Guidance

This policy meets the requirements of the statutory guidance:  Working Together to Improve School Attendance from the Department for Education (DfE), and refers to the DfE’s statutory guidance on School Attendance Parental Responsibility Measures. These documents are drawn from the following legislation setting out the legal powers and duties that govern school attendance:

- Part 6 of The Education Act 1996

- Part 3 of The Education Act 2002

- Part 7 of The Education and Inspections Act 2006

- The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 amendments)

- The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

It also refers to:

         School census guidance

         Keeping Children Safe in Education, 2024

         Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools

3. Roles and Responsibilities

Trust Board

The Trust Board is responsible for:

• Setting Trust-wide policy, ensuring that this meets statutory requirements and is adopted by all of the Trust’s academies
• Setting high expectations of trust leaders in relation to student attendance
• Regularly reviewing and challenging Trust-wide attendance data and holding Trust leaders to account around the application of the Trust policy

Trust Senior Leadership Team (SLT)

The Trust's central SLT is responsible for:

• Promoting the importance of student attendance across the Trust
• Making sure school leaders fulfil expectations and statutory duties
• Holding school leaders to account for the application of this policy and the impact of this on attendance data
• Reviewing and challenging attendance data on a regular basis

The Headteacher and Academy Senior Leadership Team

The Headteacher and SLT will offer a clear vision for attendance, underpinned by high expectations, the Co-op Ways of Being and our core values, which are communicated to and understood by staff, pupils and families. SLT will make sure staff, pupils and families understand that absence from school is a potential safeguarding risk and understand their role in keeping children safe in education. SLT  will actively promote great attendance at all levels of the organisation to build up a culture of great attendance.

To do this, the Headteacher and all of the senior leadership team will be responsible for:

• Implementation of this policy at the school
• Monitoring attendance figures for the whole school and reporting these to the Trust’s SLT
• Making sure staff receive adequate training on attendance so they understand:

• The importance of good attendance
• That absence is almost always a symptom of wider issues
• The school’s legal requirements for keeping registers
•  The school’s strategies for tracking, following up on and improving attendance

• Making sure dedicated training is provided to staff with a specific attendance function in their role, including in interpreting and analysing attendance data
• Using detailed and granular data analysis to lead on all universal strategies and interventions
• Supporting staff with monitoring the attendance of individual pupils
• Monitoring the impact of any implemented attendance strategies
• Issuing fixed-penalty notices, where necessary
• Working with the parents of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
• Communicating with Local Authority when a pupil with an (EHC) plan has falling attendance        
• Communicating the school’s high expectations for attendance and punctuality regularly to pupils

Senior Attendance Champion - Siobhan Simms siobhan.simms@coopacademies.co.uk

The senior attendance champion is the strategic lead for attendance and  is responsible for leading attendance across the school including:

• Leading, championing and improving attendance across the school
• Setting a clear vision for improving and maintaining good attendance
• Evaluating and monitoring expectations and processes
• Having a strong grasp of absence data and oversight of absence data analysis
• Regularly monitoring and evaluating progress in attendance
• Establishing and maintaining effective systems for tackling absence robustly QAing
• Liaising with pupils, parents/carers and external agencies, where needed
• Building productive relationships with parents to discuss and tackle attendance issues
• Creating intervention or reintegration plans in partnership with pupils and parents/carers
• Delivering targeted intervention and support to pupils and families

Pastoral Leaders (Year Managers / Progress Leaders / Learning Mentors)

Mo Qureshi  mo.qureshi@coopacademies.co.uk

Steve Webster steve.webster@coopacademies.co.uk

Lynsey Gowan lyndsey.gowan@coopacademies.co.uk

Dan Wainwright dan.wainwright@coopacademies.co.uk

Edward Hardaker edward.hardaker@coopacademies.co.uk

Cath Wakefield catherine.wakefield@coopacademies.co.uk

Carrie Burrows Pinn carrie.burrows-pinn@coopacademies.co.uk

Amy Hardcastle amy.hardcastle@coopacademies.co.uk

Jane Cronshaw jane.cronshaw@coopacademies.co.uk

Ben Button ben.button@coopacademies.co.uk

Jo Newsome joanna.newsome@coopacademies.co.uk

Danny Martin danny.martin@coopacademies.co.uk

Attendance Officer

Manager: Donna Lynch- donna.lynch1@coopacademies.co.uk

Jess Bottomley- jess.bottomley@coopacademies.co.uk

Beth Harrison- bethany.harrison@coopacademies.co.uk

The school attendance officer is responsible for:

• Ensuring absence procedures are followed in line with this policy and the Trust Principles
• Entering codes accurately and keeping the attendance register in line with legislation
• Keeping records of reasons for absence for detailed analysis
• Monitoring and analysing attendance data (see section 7)
• Benchmarking attendance data to identify areas of focus for improvement
• Providing regular attendance reports to school staff and reporting concerns about attendance SLT
• Working with education welfare officers / attendance support to tackle persistent absence
• Working as part of the safeguarding team to report and follow up concerns
• Advising the Headteacher when to issue fixed-penalty notices

Class Teachers and Coaches

Class teachers/Coaches are responsible for

• Recording attendance on a daily basis, using the correct codes
• Recording all attendance, accurately, on ARBOR (MIS)
• Recording registers in a timely manner
• Giving attendance a high profile and emphasising the importance of school attendance
• Making pupils feel welcome and supporting them after an absence or when late to school
• Helping pupils catch up on missed subject content after absences

School Office Staff

School office staff may be responsible for taking calls from parents/carers and pupils about absence on a day-to-day basis and recording it accurately. They will also transfer calls from parents/carers and pupils to the correct pastoral staff, attendance officers or  SLT in order to provide them with more detailed support on attendance. They will input codes accurately and ensure that late students and students leaving during the day are accounted for. Office staff work closely with the attendance and safeguarding team.

Parents/carers

Parents/carers are expected to:

• Make sure their child attends every [day/timetabled session] on time
• Call the school to report their child’s absence before (8:30 Mon, Wed, Fri and (9:00 and Tues, Thurs) on the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence, and advise when they are expected to return
• Provide the school with more than one emergency contact number for their child
• Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day
• Keep to any attendance contracts that are made and accept support when it is offered
• Inform the right people, as early as possible, if there are any challenges around attendance.

Pupils

Pupils are expected to:

•  Attend school every day on time
• Attend every timetabled session on time
• Call the school to report their absence before (insert time) on the day of the absence
• Let school staff know if there are any difficulties at school or home to allow school to support

4. Reporting Absence

Parents/Carers will be expected to provide an acceptable reason for every absence and will be able to report an absence on the day by contacting:

The Attendance office before 8:30 on 0113 3871886 to explain to a member of staff the reason for absence.

Parents/carers are requested to make contact on each day of absence even where pupils are absent for consecutive days, unless otherwise agreed with one of the Attendance Officers.

If absence reasons are medical, evidence will need to be provided such as a stamped medical card, appointment text message, hospital letter or prescription in order for the absence to be authorised. We will mark absence for physical or mental illness as authorised unless we have a concern about the authenticity of the illness. If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents will be notified of this in advance or at the time.

For a full list of authorised and unauthorised reasons for absence please see section 7.

Where communication is not made with the Academy about the reason for pupil absence this will be deemed as ‘unauthorised absence’. The parent/carer will receive contact from the Academy to ascertain reasons for absence. Calls will be made from the beginning of the school day and will be completed by 11 am on the same day. Follow up will be based on the following timescales:

• If a pupil is absent without communication, the attendance team will attempt to contact parents. You will receive a text message via Arbor after morning registration to request that you contact school to report the reason for your child’s absence. If you do not report your child’s absence following this text, you will receive a phone call from a member of the attendance team. If the attendance team is unable to contact you, you will likely receive a home visit - even if it is the first day of absence in order to check that both you and your child are ok
• When a pupil is absent for three or more days without the school being provided with a reason, a member of the attendance team will conduct a home visit. Home visits from the attendance team are supportive and intended to establish if any actions need to be put in place in order to support a child’s return to school.
• If, after home visits and phone calls, the attendance team is still unable to get a reason for absence within 5 days, the attendance team will request a Welfare Home visit via 101. We may also contact childrens’ social services.
• For extended periods of absence without reason, we may also contact the Child Missing Education Team at the Council and/or sibling primary schools to support with enquiries about the whereabouts of the child.
• If a child is absent from the Academy for 20 days (or 10 days after an authorised holiday) and their whereabouts are unknown or they are reported to have left Leeds, a referral to the Child Missing Education Team will be made and the child will be removed from roll.
• Where pupils are identified as vulnerable, or we have a safeguarding concern,  if communication is not made on day one of absence, procedures will be followed through more swiftly with welfare checks requested on day one if deemed necessary.

Reporting and Requesting Planned Absences

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment by providing the necessary medical evidence. You will need to show your appointment text or letter to verify your appointment. However, we encourage parents/carers to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary by returning promptly to school following their appointment and also attend prior to appointment if not first thing in the morning. The appointment should be made at the start/end of the academy day to minimise disruption to learning.

The pupil’s parent/carer must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence. Go to section 7 to find out which term-time absences are authorised.

5. Recording Absence

Attendance register

By law, all schools are required to keep an attendance register. The academy uses an electronic system (ARBOR) to accurately record attendance and punctuality to every lesson on a daily basis.

Any pupils arriving late will be given a late mark and reason for lateness recorded on Inventry, a digital sign in system in the front office. An ‘L’ code will be added to Arbor. Afternoon attendance will be recorded during lesson 4.

The attendance register marks whether every pupils is:

• Present
• Attending an approved off-site educational activity
• Absent
• Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

By law, all schools are required to close their register 30 minutes after they open, and are required to record a U code for any pupils arriving after this point.

Each day, pupils can access the building from 8:00am.

They must be in coaching by 8:30 am on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Pupils must be in lessons at 9:00 am on Tuesday and Thursday.

Academy registration closes 30 minutes after the start of the day. 9:00 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 9:30am on a Tuesday and Thursday

Any pupil arriving after registration closes will lose half a day of attendance and be marked with a U (see appendix 1 for attendance register codes).

Any amendment to the attendance register will include:

• The original entry
• The amended entry
• The reason for the amendment
• The date on which the amendment was made
• The name and position of the person who made the amendment

We will also record:

• Whether the absence is authorised or not
• The nature of the activity if a pupil is attending an approved educational activity
• The nature of circumstances where a pupil is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

Lateness and punctuality

The statutory register of the academy closes at 9:00am (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) and 9:30 am Tuesday and Thursday). After this point, a pupil arriving late without prior notice or a reasonable explanation, will receive an unauthorised absence mark.

A pupil who arrives late:

• Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code (L)
• After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code (U)

If a pupil arrives:

• Between 8:30 am and 9am, after the entrance gate has closed, they will enter school through the main  entrance where they will sign in using the InVentry system, this will then trigger a late detention.

Persistent lateness

It is not acceptable for pupils to persistently arrive late to school (whether before or after the register has closed) as this not only hinders their progress but also disrupts the learning of others. The pupil support and attendance team will monitor late arrivals and follow this up through:

• Detentions issued

• Letters home

• Punctuality Panels  

Pupils need to arrive at the academy on time in order to be ready for the day ahead. If they are late numerous times across the week, the following phone calls will be made:

• If a pupil is late up to 9:00 AM on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or up to 9:30 AM on Tuesday and Thursday, they will be placed in Break-Time detention.
• Failure to attend Break- Time detention will result in an after-school detention on the same day.
• If a pupil arrives later than these times, they will receive an after school detention on the same day.
• If lateness becomes persistent (up to 5 instances in a half-term), a parental meeting will be arranged, and a monitoring report will be implemented.
• All instances of lateness and related conversations with parents will be logged centrally by the academy on Arbor

To support all students to attend and be punctual, all Co-op Academies run a breakfast club (free to all students) before school,  to ensure that pupils can start the day positively and be on time. If a pupil is persistently late, they may be referred to breakfast club to support punctuality.

If all the above are unsuccessful, the Academy will use legal channels in accordance with the local authority policy. This may mean that court action is taken. Every U code counts as half a days unauthorised absence and may result in fixed penalty action or prosecution.

Recording Attendance at off site provision / dual registered pupils

• Attendance at alternative provisions is monitored daily by the Attendance Team to make initial contact with providers and the providers contact parents where pupils are absent. Pupils will be given a ‘B’ code on Arbor when they have attended external alternative provision. Any absences will be recorded using the appropriate absence code.
• Some provisions, as well as managed moves, are used on a dual-registration basis - Attendance Team  will oversee this and will give the pupil the appropriate enrolment status. In these cases pupils will be given a ‘D’ code when they are on roll with the provision for all periods where the pupil is expected to attend the other provision/school.
• pupils who are Guest Pupils at another school will remain as ‘single registration’ at Co-op Academy Priesthorpe. Where the pupil has attended the other school, a ‘B’ mark will be recorded. All absences will be logged with the appropriate code.
• Attendance Officer) from the Academy will conduct home visits where appropriate.
• Donna Lynch and Siobhan Simms provides daily/weekly attendance figures to key staff
• Once a placement is set up, pupils must attend. Failure to do so will carry the same consequences as non-attendance within the Academy.
• Attendance Team to request regular attendance certificates for pupils attending  dual-registration provisions/schools.
• For day referrals to other schools this is arranged and monitored by Alisha Bux, Referral Room Manager, who will contact home.

Reporting to parents/carers

Parents/Carer receive communication when a child is absent or late via Arbor. Absence is followed up with attendance calls and where need meetings. To support some families the Coop Academies Attendance Plan is used.

All parents/carers can regularly view their child’s attendance through the Arbor app and coaching staff will have coaching attendance communication.

6. Authorised and Unauthorised Absences

Medical and Illness

Children should attend school on every possible day they can. Mild illnesses such as colds and coughs should not prevent a pupil from coming to school. Guidance for school leaders on authorising absence for mild illnesses, or mild anxiety, from the chief medical officer can be found here and details when parents or carers should make sure pupils attend.

Approval for term-time absence

The Government’s amendments of the Education Regulations 2006 removed the right of Headteachers to authorise family holidays and extended leave. The academy policy, therefore, reflects this legislation.

The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request.  Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 4 weeks before the absence. Leave of absence forms can be found in the Attendance Office . The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence including plane tickets; medical evidence; letters from authorities.

Valid reasons for authorised absence include:

• Illness (including mental illness) and medical/dental appointments
• Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong. If necessary, the school will seek advice from the religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart. The academy authorises up to two days for a religious absence per academic year and one day per religious event
• Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish travellers, showmen (fairground people) and circus people, bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and new travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision

Fines and Sanctions

The school or local authority can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. The school is obligated to pass information about unauthorised absence to the local authority. This can lead to a fixed penalty notice issued from the authority. If issued with a fine, or penalty notice, each parent/carer must pay £80, per pupil within 21 days or £160 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority. Fines are issued per pupil and per parent so in a family of four, you could receive up to four fixed penalty notices.

Penalty notices can be issued by a headteacher, local authority officer or the police.

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice may take into account:

• Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions / 5 days of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks)
• Whether a penalty notice is the best available tool to improve attendance for that pupil
• Whether support, a notice to improve or other legal intervention would be more appropriate
• Whether any obligations the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate

A penalty notice may also be issued where parents allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, during the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion (where the school has notified the parents that the pupil must not be present in a public place).

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice.

If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, within a three year period, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days.

A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, schools will have to consider prosecution in a magistrates court and a potential fine of £2500 - as well as a possible criminal record for the parent.

Notices to improve

If the national threshold has been met and support is appropriate, but parents do not engage with offers of support, Co-op Academy Priesthorpe may offer a notice to improve to give parents a final chance to engage.

Notices to improve are issued in line with processes set out in the Leeds Local Authority guidance https://www.leeds.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-absence-fines They will include:

• Details of the pupil’s attendance record and of the offences
• The benefits of  attendance and duty of parents under section 7 of  Education Act 1996
• Details of the support provided so far
• Opportunities for further support, or previously provided support not engaged with
• A clear warning that a penalty notice may be issued if attendance doesn’t improve within the improvement period, along with details of what sufficient improvement looks like, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis
• A clear timeframe of between 3 and 6 weeks for the improvement period
• The grounds on which a penalty notice may be issued before the end of the improvement period

7. Promoting and Supporting Attendance

The Academy recognises that poor attendance can be an indication of difficulties in a child’s life. This may be related to problems at home and/or in school. Parents should make school aware of any difficulties or changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s attendance and or behaviour in school, for example, bereavement, divorce/separation, incidents of domestic abuse. This will help the school identify any additional support that may be required.

Co-op Academy Priesthorpe also recognises that some pupils are more likely to require additional support to achieve excellent attendance, for example, those pupils with special educational needs, those with physical or mental health needs, and looked after children.

Part of promoting and supporting great attendance at Co-op Academy Priesthorpe is to ensure that the pupils receive the best possible experience on a day to day basis - to ensure that they are excited to attend, feel a sense of belonging and are supported to experience success in their learning. As a school, therefore, we put on a range of extra curricular activities on each day of the week. We also ensure that each and every day, pupil’s feel warmly welcomed into the academy - and that they are offered a broad and exciting curriculum. Part of our universal offer is also to provide a breakfast club each morning; access to a trusted adult during the day; high quality teaching; a fair and proportionate policy for positive behaviour and regular communication with parents. In addition, to support and encourage pupils who might find attendance at school more difficult, we also implement a range of strategies:

• Weekly Coaching Conversation with students about their overall attendance figure
• Half termly communication home about their child’s attendance in relation to the school
• Daily check-ins with pupils who need it to help them attend more often
• Attendance support plans for pupils who need extra support
• Regular 1:1 attendance mentoring for identified groups of pupils
• Information published weekly on exciting events and opportunities for the following days
• Bespoke support and further signposting for pupils with barriers to attending
• Regular attendance panels to understand further reasons for absence and act accordingly
• A Counsellor trained to support pupils with emotional based school avoidance
• A family support worker to work with those who need it
• Bespoke (full time) timetables for limited time periods where appropriate

Rewarding Attendance

Recognising strong attendance is key and celebrating improvements in attendance is important. Positive points on Arbor, will be given to all pupils to acknowledge good attendance, and will be awarded at regular intervals, from their coach, for those who have achieved good attendance or have improved their attendance. Within the academy rewards policy, pupils will receive additional Praise Points on a half termly basis for achieving 95%+ attendance. Parents can track these Praise Points via the Arbor app.

• Each half term, the coaching group in each year group that has the highest attendance and the most improved will be rewarded with a Coaching Breakfast. This enables coaches and their coaching group to work together, to drive forward attendance.
• Each term, those pupils who have 100% attendance for that term will be entered into an attendance prize draw.
• Further ad-hoc attendance initiatives and events will take place half termly across the year within year groups in order to boost and encourage full attendance. An example of this are random 100% attendance weeks where pupils are rewarded for gaining 100% all week.

Attendance achievements will be communicated to families regularly through the Arbor app, on the website and through social media.

8. Attendance Monitoring

The Academy will monitor attendance and absence data weekly, half-termly, termly and yearly across the school and at an individual pupil level. Through this analysis we will Identify whether or not there are particular groups of children whose absences may be a cause for concern

Pupil-level absence data will be collected each term and published at national and local authority level through the DfE's school absence national statistics releases. The underlying school-level absence data is published alongside the national statistics. The school will compare attendance data to the national average, and share this with the academy governing council and Regional Director..

Analysing attendance

The school will analyse attendance and absence data regularly to identify pupils or cohorts that need additional support with their attendance, and use this analysis to provide targeted support to these pupils and their families. We will look at historic and emerging patterns of attendance and absence, and then develop strategies to address these patterns. See Appendix 3 for how we use attendance data

Using data to improve attendance

The school will provide regular attendance reports to form tutors and class teachers and to school leaders, to facilitate discussions with pupils and families and use data to monitor and evaluate the impact of any interventions put in place in order to modify them and inform future strategies.

Identifying and supporting Persistent and Severely Absent Pupils

Persistent absence is where a pupil misses 10% or more of school, and severe absence is where a pupil misses 50% or more of school. Research shows that missing 10% or more of school dramatically reduces a pupil’s ability to go on to get great qualifications and to be a healthy and happy individual. The academy will work with parents/carers, staff, agencies and pupils to prevent children from falling into either of these categories.

The school will use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence. We will hold regular meetings with the parents/carers of pupils and all adults who are listed as holding parental responsibility, who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable, or are persistently or severely absent, to discuss attendance and engagement at school. We will provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance.

Pupils with attendance of less than 90% will be identified by the attendance team and referred to the Academy Attendance Improvement Officers (AIO) for more intensive casework. Preventative intervention work will be done to avoid pupils reaching PA status.

In order to prevent pupils from falling into Persistent Absence category, the following strategy will ensue:

• Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence
• Consider potential safeguarding issues and, where suspected or present, address them in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education
• Hold regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable or at risk of persistent or severe absence, or who are persistently or severely absent, to:

o   Discuss attendance and engagement at school

o   Listen, and understand barriers to attendance

o   Explain the help that is available

o   Explain the potential consequences of, and sanctions for, persistent and severe absence

o   Review any existing actions or interventions

• Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance, in conjunction with the local authority, where relevant
• Consider alternative support that could be put in place to remove any barriers to attendance and re-engage these pupils. In doing so, the school will sensitively consider some of the reasons for absence

If, after all the above processes are unsuccessful and pupil attendance drops below 70%, we will consider the legal sanctions. If there is another, underlying cause of absence, we will refer to other agencies e.g the SEND team; Educational psychology; Children’s social work services; CAMHs; Early Help. We always aim to work with families to improve attendance and through all of the interventions in place. Where families are not engaging with the support we will have to take more punitive actions including:

• Fast Track Initiative
• Formal Casework
• Referral to Trust Attendance Welfare Office
• Referral to Leeds City Council for legal work

Reintegration after significant absences

Every effort will be made to re-integrate pupils successfully back into the Academy following long periods of absence. This might include:

• Phased returns and reduced timetables, in exceptional circumstances
• Bespoke timetables
• A ‘catch up’ plan with teachers to support with accessing missed curriculum
• Morning check-ins and welcomes and end of day check-ins
• Mentoring from the  pastoral team
• An attendance support plan agreed with pupils and Parents
• Identified safe space and trusted adult
• Weekly reviews on progress

Identifying and supporting Children Missing in Education

We recognise that a child going missing from education is a potential indicator of abuse or neglect. A pupil is counted to be ‘Missing in Education’ if they have been absent for 20 consecutive days from the academy (with no reason for absence given) or if they have not returned for 10 consecutive school days after returning from an authorised absence. Where a child is identified as missing education we will comply with our statutory duty to inform the local authority of any pupil who falls within the reporting notification requirements outlined in Children Missing Education – Statutory guidance for local authorities (DfE September 2016) and follow the LSCP - Local protocols for Leeds practitioners (leedsscp.org.uk)

School and college staff members must follow the Leeds Children’s Services LA protocols

Contact: cme@leeds.gov.uk. Tel: 0113 3789686.

Children who are absent, abscond or go missing during the school day are vulnerable and at potential risk of abuse, neglect, CSE or CCE including involvement in county lines. Academy staff members must follow the academy’s procedures for dealing with pupils who are absent/go missing, particularly on repeat occasions, to help identify the risk of abuse and neglect including sexual abuse or exploitation and to help prevent the risks of going missing in future.

9. Links with other Policies

This policy links to the following policies:

• Academy Safeguarding Policy
• Behaviour policy
• Exclusions Policy
• Co-op Academies Trust Attendance Principles

Appendix 1 - Coding

The following codes are taken from the DfE’s guidance on school attendance.

Appendix 2 - Removing Barriers Flowchart

(from Working Together to Improve School Attendance)

Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively in partnership with, not against families. All partners should work together to:

Expect

Aspire to high standards of attendance from all pupils and parents and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school.

Monitor

Rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance (at individual and cohort level) as soon as possible so all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

Listen and understand

When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

Facilitate support

Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

Formalise support

Where absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through an attendance contract or education supervision order.

Enforce

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention: a penalty notice in line with the National Framework or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

Appendix 3 - Data monitoring and analysis

As a minimum, the following data will be analysed and collected on a daily, weekly and half termly basis

Appendix 4 - Thresholds and Intervention

Appendix 5 - Responsibilities