Attendance matters. Every day that your child is absent from school is a missed opportunity. 

Regular attendance is paramount to our children reaching their full potential and making the most of the educational opportunities which the school offers them. Missing school means missing out. We expect all children to attend on time every day that the school is open, unless the reason for absence is unavoidable.

At Stanburn, we monitor the children's attendance and punctuality very carefully, and will contact you as soon as we believe there is an issue arising.

School starts at 8.45am each day and we ask that your child arrives on time.

We understand that there may be exceptional circumstances for absence and we ask that you keep us informed.

Reporting absence:

• Please call or email the office by 9.15am on the day of absence
• Do not rely on dojo messaging the class teacher as they may not see the message on time.

If your child has not been accounted for by 9:00 am when the register has been taken, they will be marked as absent, and from 9:30 am the school will contact families of children who have not been in contact. 

We appreciate your support in ensuring that your child's attendance remains a priority. 

Absence causing concern:

It is the parents’ legal responsibility to make sure that their child attends school regularly and failure to do so may result in prosecution.

Stage 1:

You will be contacted by the school to discuss your child's poor attendance or punctuality. Support will be offered to improve your child's attendance. Depending on the circumstances, follow-up meetings may be put in place.

Stage 2:

The DfE introduced a new national framework, from 19th August, which will mean all local authorities have the same rules in place when considering a fine for holidays during term time or Persistent Absenteeism. Under the new national framework, all schools will be required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons. A morning and afternoon would be considered as 2 sessions. 

The fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days.

In the case of a repeated fine: if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160. 

Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.

If you're prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn't been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.

Please refer to our Attendance Policy for further information. This can be accessed in the Policy section of our website here.