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Preston Manor Preston Manor

Attendance and Reporting Absence

At Preston Manor School our aim is to ensure that every pupil achieves their full potential, and good attendance plays a huge part in this.  Research has shown that a child’s improvement in attendance of 1% can result in 5-6% improvement in attainment. Our minimum expectation for a pupil’s attendance is 96%.

Reporting Absences

You should report your child’s absence each day until they return to school.  This should be done by 8am each morning.  If you are unable to email, please call the student absence line: 

Lower School 0208 385 4089 lowerschooladmin@preston-manor.com
Upper School 020 8385 4042 attendance@preston-manor.com
You can check your child’s attendance on Go4School.
Sixth Form 020 8385 4080 6thform@preston-manor.com

Stating:

  1. Your child’s full name
  2. Your child's class
  3. Year group
  4. Reason for absence (attaching medical evidence for GP and dental appointments)

Holidays in term-time will never be authorised.

A child taken on leave without permission will be marked on the register as taking an unauthorised absence. The matter will then be referred to the Education Welfare Officer at Brent Council for discussion about further action including a term-time absence penalty fine.

For exceptional circumstances: 

  • Lower School student parents should phone the school office (0208 385 4089) and ask to speak to Mr Atkinson and Mrs Parmar.  

  • Upper School student parents should write to the Headteacher and Upper School Attendance Office at attendance@preston-manor.com 

  • Sixth Form student parents should email 6thform@preston-manor.com

 - clearly stating the reasons and dates of requested absence. The request will then be considered with a decision and response in due course. 

If any child's attendance is below 90%, they will be considered to be persistently absent. Any further absence will be unauthorised and the Attendance Team and Local Authority’s Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) will begin investigations. Further absences at this rate of attendance will not be authorised unless medical evidence is provided from a GP.

More information can be found below and HERE

Please click on the expandable section below for more information about our Lower and Upper School reporting absence procedures.

 

Lower School 

Morning registration 

  • School starts at 8.30am. 
  • Children from Reception to Year 2 should be brought to their class door by an adult.
  • Registration for ALL YEAR groups - Reception-Year 6 is at 8.45am. Entries to the classrooms will be closed from these times. 
  • Any child not in at these times must be taken by an adult to the main school office to sign in.

Reporting absences 

  • If absence is unavoidable, then a family adult should telephone the school on the absence line below before 9:45am.  Please use the attendance line to keep us informed of continued or prolonged absence. Lower School absence line: 0208 385 4089 
  • Unexplained or unreported absences will be followed up by a text or phone call from the school office. If we do not obtain a reason for absence, it will be marked as unauthorised absence. 
  • Please try to arrange medical and dental appointments after school or during holiday periods. 
  • If we do not receive any communication from parent/carers we will follow our Safeguarding procedures. We may have to make a referral to Brent Education Support Team or Brent Safeguarding team.  
  • Only one day is authorised for religious leave. Further leave can only be authorised by the Head Teacher. 

Monitoring absences 

  • Attendance is monitored by Mr Atkinson and Mrs Parmar.  
  • Children whose attendance drops below 90% are classified as ‘persistent absentees’, and parents will be sent a letter to alert them to the poor attendance and will be invited to discuss this with Mr Atkinson or a Member of the Senior Leadership Team.  If there is no improvement in absences a referral will be made to Brent Education Support Team.  

Late to school and late pick up after school 

  • Coming to school on time is very important. If your child is late after the register is completed at 8.45am they will receive a late mark.  If your child is persistently late, it will be marked as an unauthorised absence. Persistently being late for school will result in a penalty fine. 
  • Please ensure you pick your children up promptly after school.
  • Reception, Year 1 and 2 finish at 3:10pm and Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 finish school at 3.20pm.

Term-time leave 

  • Term time leave will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.  If there is an emergency, and you must travel abroad, please ensure you provide the school with a copy of flight tickets and medical letter.  The headteacher's decision if final.  Any parent taking their child on unauthorised leave risks receiving an Educational Penalty Notice from the Local Authority.
  • Requests for term-time leave should be made in writing using the form available in the school office.

Educational Penalty Notices 

As part of the new attendance regulations there are changes to Penalty Notice fines.

  • Penalty Notice fines will be issued to each parent for each child that is absent
  • Penalty Notice fines will be issued for term time leave of 5 or more consecutive days
  • Penalty Notice fines will be considered when 10 sessions (a session is half a day) of unauthorised absence in a 10 week period
  1. First Offence - The fine will be £160 per parent, per child reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days
  2. Second Offence within 3 Years - The fine will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days - no reduction
  3. Third Offence within 3 Years - A penalty notice will not be issued, but the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ court. Magistrates’ Court fines can be up to £2500 per parent, per child. Cases found guilty in Magistrates' Court can show on the parent’s DBS certificate, due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’

For further information can be found on the Brent website HERE

Upper School 

A new National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence, including unauthorised holiday absence, has been introduced following changes to the law. These new Government regulations came into effect on 19 August 2024, and this will affect when penalty notices are issued in Brent.

What are the changes?

  1. There is a new national threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered.
  2. The new rules mean you will no longer be able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.
  3. There is an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued.
  4. If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.
  5. If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them.

Please click HERE with more information about how the new rules may affect you.

We would like to thank parents and carers for their support in making sure that children do not miss any valuable learning time.

For further information can be found on the Brent website HERE

 

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