We encourage children to come to school and provide an incentive through achievement awards. The class with the highest attendance level each week is recognised in assembly.
Our attendance from September 2023 to July 2024 was 94.7% which is higher than the national average (92.9%).
We continue to aim for attendance of over 96% annually, which we reached in the years prior to COVID.
Should your children not be able to attend school when they are ill, you need to ring the office on the first day of their absence. If you do not, we will phone you so that we can be sure that your child is safe. When your child returns to school we ask you to send a signed note letting us know why they were away, even if you have already phoned us.
Absences can be reported using the school app, by telephone (01332 760372) or by emailing (absence@gaytonj.derby.sch.uk)
You are not allowed to take family holidays during term time and so we will not authorise any leave, unless it is for a recognised religious occasion. Unauthorised absences will be reported to the Local Authority and may result in a fine. We want the children to be in school so that we can teach them. You can use the school app to complete a Leave of Absence Request Form or click here to complete a form online.
Please note that new legislation comes into force on 19th August regarding the criteria and the issuing of penalty notices to address school attendance to commence in all schools from the start of September 2024. As such, we will make some minor changes to our joint Attendance Policy to reflect these changes.
The changes have been made by the Department for Education to bring all local authorities into line with each other to ensure consistency when issuing penalty notices for non-attendance.
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.
From August 2024, 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 repeated fines, 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.
Your child must attend every day that the school is open, unless:
- Your child is too ill to attend that day.
- You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on that day due to exceptional circumstances.
- Your child cannot attend school on that day because it is a day you are taking part in religious observance.
- Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child’s transport to school and it is not available on that day or has not been provided yet.
Money raised via fines is only used by the local authority to cover the costs of administering the system, and to fund attendance support. Any extra money is returned to the government.
Fines are a last resort, and parents will be offered support by both schools to help improve their child’s attendance first. Government attendance data shows that the vast majority of fines for unauthorised absence (89%) are issued for term-time holidays
Changes to School Attendance Rules Infographic
Our Blagreaves Federation Attendance Policy can be found here
