Attendance and Punctuality

Everyday counts at Oasis Bank Leaze. We understand the correlation between high levels of attendance and student outcomes. Our Attendance Policy emphasises positive strategies & a range of interventions to promote excellent attendance.

At Oasis Academy Bank Leaze attendance is monitored daily in line with expectations set out by the government- children with good attendance are more likely to meet the end of Key stage expectations in Reception, Year 2 and Year 6.

Nationally, most pupils miss around 6 days per year. If a child is missing more than that, they are simply going to school less than most children. That makes it incredibly hard for them to do as well as most children.

Attendance percentage	Learning days lost per academic year
98%	4
95%	10
90%	19
85%	29
80%	38
75%	48

 

Attendance team (Pictures)

Melissa Pope- DSL and Strategic Attendance Lead

Amelia Nelson- Principal

Terri Lawrence- School administrator

Registration

School starts at 8.45 each day. Classroom doors open at 8.45 and will close at 8.50- children are expected to arrive at school at this time. The class register will be open in class between this time. If a child is late after the register closes they will receive an L code in the register. This impacts the overall attendance percentage of the year. If a child is late after 9.30 am they will receive a U code in the register. This counts as a missed session mark and will impact the child's overall attendance. For example: if a child is late after 9.30 each day of a school week this will count as a missed morning session and will be 50% attendance for the week.

 Reporting Absence

Morning registration takes place at 8.45 am. Children, who are absent when the register is taken, will be marked absent. If your child is absent for any reason the office team will need to follow the following steps:

Expectations/ Benefits of Good Attendance

At Oasis Academies we expect all children to have good attendance. In line with these expectations set out by the government all Oasis schools expect attendance to be above 97%. This is because children with excellent attendance will have higher attainment, well-being, and wider life chances.

The pupils with the highest attainment at the end of key stage 2 and key stage 4 have higher rates of attendance over the key stage compared to those with the lowest attainment.

At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard.

Holidays

If families have had previous good attendance of over 95% in the previous academic year and continue to have good attendance before and after the leave of absence there will be no fine for a holiday of 5 days. By ensuring your child is a regular attendee you have worked hard to ensure our school target for attendance for your child and have worked with us as a school. In exceptional circumstances, where attendance has not been over 95% but there is a need for a leave of absence, the head teacher has the authority to not refer for a fine. It is important to remember if you do take a holiday during term time you must ensure good attendance for the entire academic year- this is because further days of absence in addition to the holiday will result in your child's attendance dropping below our target of 95%.

Regardless of previous good attendance, children who are on holiday during any statutory testing window, including during the assessment and weeks leading up to the assessment families will be fined. Please see below a table of Statutory testing windows.

Year group	Assessment	Statutory testing dates	Testing window
Year 6	KS2 SATs	12th May to 15th May	May
Year 4	Multiplication Check	2nd to 13th June	June
Year 2	KS1 teacher assessments	1st May to 30th May	May
Year 1	Phonics Check	9th June to 13th June	June
Reception	Reception Early Learning Goal	1st to 30th June	June

 

Any holiday requests regardless of a child’s percentage will be followed up with a phone call from the attendance team to discuss any decisions made and the reason for this.

Rewards

What happens if my child’s attendance falls below 95%?

If your child's attendance falls below our academy target of 95% you will receive a letter to remind you of the importance of your child being a good attendee. This letter will also inform you of what will happen next if your child's attendance does not improve. Following an initial letter and where attendance does not improve over the following few weeks you will be invited in for an attendance meeting. In this meeting, you will have the opportunity to meet with a member of the attendance team to discuss how to support you to improve your child's attendance. An attendance contract will be agreed between the school and the family to support the improvement of attendance. If attendance continues to not improve a further meeting will be organized between the school and family.

Where an attendance contract has not seen an improvement in attendance several actions may be taken. These may include a referral to families in focus or Childres services if there is a concern for the welfare of the child or a referral to the local authority for a fine.

 Penalty Notices

A penalty notice may be issued if following a period of intervention and attendance contract has not been successful. The national threshold (improving the consistency in the use of penalty notices across England) – 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling 10-school week period.

From August 19^th, 2024 the national fine amounts increase will have been brought in by the government. These amounts will be as follows:

·       First fine, £80 if paid within 21 days rising to £160 if paid between 22-28 days.

·       There will be a fine for each parent in the house and each child.

·       A family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children) could be £320 if paid in the first 21 days rising to £640 if paid between 22-28 days.

·       If a second penalty notice is issued with a 3-year rolling period to the same parent in respect of the  same child the penalty notice is      £160. There will be no option to pay early at a lower rate.

From August 19^th, 2024, a maximum of two fines only can be issued to the same parent and same child in a rolling three years. After this further action such as prosecution may be considered.