Attendance
At Coton Green Primary School we are very proud of our high attendance record over the years. Our aim is to out-perform the national figure year on year.
Our overall target for this year is 96%.
Everyone at school works very hard at improving attendance as only when children attend school regularly do they take full advantage of the exciting curriculum we have and achieve all they are capable of.
We also celebrate good attendance with weekly class awards and termly individual attendance certificates.
Thank you to all the parents who support the school and their children’s education by ensuring they attend as much as possible.
Please be aware that Staffordshire’s code has now changed.
The changes to the law are introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices)
(England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and will come into effect from the 19 August
2024.
In summary all parents will now be fined for absence in term time and these fines will increase over a three year period.
How will it work?
New two-penalty notice limit in a three-year period
- A first penalty notice will be issued for leave in term time. This has increased and will now be £160 per parent per child but can be reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days.
The three-year rolling period starts for parents when the first penalty notice is issued to them after the 19 August 2024.
- If a second leave of absence is taken within this three year period, a second penalty notice will be issued and then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent per child, with no reduction for early payment.
- A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three-year period; therefore, the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court. If the parent is found guilty, the potential fine is up to £1000.
National threshold for issuing penalty notices (Other unauthorised leave)
The new national threshold for issuing penalty notices has been set at 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. This means if your child is off school for an unauthorised reason for any 5 days in a 10 week period then a penalty notice will be issued.
However, if in an individual case the local authority believes a penalty notice would be appropriate, they retain the discretion to issue one before the threshold is met. For example – where parents are deliberately avoiding the national threshold by taking leave for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events.
We would strongly urge all parents to be aware of these Government changes and the implications for the introduction of significantly increased penalty fines if pupils are absent from school during term time for holidays or other unauthorised reasons from next term.
If you would like to read anything further around this, please follow the link to the new statutory guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65f1b048133c22b8eecd38f7/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance__applies_from_19_August_2024_.pdf
Did you know?
Absence disrupts the education of the individual pupil and the whole class. Children who do not attend school regularly can:
- Struggle to achieve well in exams
- Fall behind in class
- Find it difficult to maintain friendships
- Miss out on important and fun opportunities
Make everyday count
Regularly being absent from school can lead to a significant loss of learning opportunities, potentially putting your child at a disadvantage later in life.
