Attendance
At St Benedict's we pride ourselves on ensuring we provide a high quality Catholic Education for the children in our care. We aim to inspire children in their learning so they are enthusiastic to attend every school day. If you child is ill please ensure you notify school by 9.30am via email, text or telephoning the school. Please note that school undertakes a first day response to ensure our safeguarding responsibilities are fulfilled. This means you will continue to be contacted until we have a valid reason for your child's absence. This process does take up valuable time of our Admin team each day, so by contacting school before 9.30am on the day of your child's absence you will be helping school to become more efficient. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Updated Statutory Guidance
As you will be aware the Department of Education have published statutory guidance in relation to improving school attendance, which will apply from 19th August 2024.
Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know.
Every moment in school counts and days missed add up quickly. Evidence shows that pupils who have good attendance enjoy better wellbeing and school performance than those who don’t. There are only a few circumstances where a child is allowed to miss school, such as illness or where the school has given permission because of an exceptional circumstance. However, if your child misses school without a good reason, local councils and schools can intervene and you may be issued a fine.
The Government have also introduced a new national framework which will mean all councils have the same rules in place for when they need to consider a fine. We explain more on this below. It’s important to acknowledge that children with long-term medical or more serious mental health conditions, and those with special educational needs and disabilities may face additional barriers. For children who face complex barriers to attendance, schools should have sensitive conversations with children and families and work with them to put support in place for their individual needs.
How much could I be fined if my child misses school?
In the majority of cases, schools and local authorities will try and provide support to help you improve your child’s attendance first, but if this isn’t effective or the absence is for unauthorised term time holiday, parents may face paying a fine.
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.
This rate is in line with inflation and is the first increase since 2012.
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. 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.
If you need to make a request for Exceptional Circumstances absence please complete a form by contacting the school office.
