Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is an assumption so widely understood that it is insufficiently stated – pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.
The government expects:
Schools and local authorities to:
Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence;
Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; and,
act early to address patterns of absence.
Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly.
All pupils to be punctual to their lessons.
Parents can be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Local Authority for their child's non-attendance. The penalty is £60 and this rises to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days.
RMBC approach to Fixed Penalty Notices can be accessed here. Thorogate School will refer to RMBC whenever absences meet the criteria.