01295 709583

 

Attendance

Hanwell Fields Community school is committed to ensuring that your child receives the best possible education to prepare them for the next stage of their life.  Each school day is carefully planned, and each lesson informs a wider programme of learning.  Therefore, every lesson really does count.  Your child is a valued member of our school community and every day missed is a day lost without them.

We all know that our children’s education has suffered severe disruption through Covid and in previous academic years Covid atributed to related absence. However,  a large proportion was due to a ‘Covid hangover’ (e.g. postponed holidays or events).

Our attendance target for both individuals and a whole school this academic year is 97%.

If your child has 90% attendance at the end of the academic year, this means that they have missed 19 school days/4 weeks. If your child has 80% attendance at the end of the academic year, this means they have missed 38 days/8 weeks. An average attendance of 80% or less across a child’s school career adds up to missing a whole 2 years worth of school.

In terms of punctuality if your child is: 5 minutes late per day = 3.4 schools day missed per year, 10 minutes late per day = 6.9 school days missed per year, 30 minutes late per day = 20.7 school days missed per year. At Hanwell Fields, registration is at 8:50am. Children that arrive from 9am – 9:20am will be marked as late, and from 9:20am onwards, marked as ‘Late after registration closes’ which is an unauthorised mark.

To encourage and promote good attendance at Hanwell Fields we will be holding ‘Attendance Days’ throughout the year where pupils present in school will receive a raffle ticket. We will have two big prize draws during the academic year! We will also continue the celebration of attendance in assemblies, with attendance and punctuality bears to be rewarded to the highest classes each week. 

Your child's daily attendance can be found daily via the Arbor App. If your child's attendance is below 90% at the end of the term, you will a letter highlighting this and we will continue to monitor closely and offer support where required. 

If your child has an upcoming medical appointment, please ensure that the school office has been notified and a proof of appointment letter is provided. For all other absences, please fill out an absence request form which can be collected from the front office, or downloaded via the link below. Please note your child’s attendance is a legal responsibility and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution. The below letter explains in detail the process of penalty notices.

If you have any questions in regards to attendance, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Mollie, Attendance Officer, mollie.woodley@hanwellfields.org. 

An electronic copy of the absence request form can be downloaded here

Official Notification from Oxfordshire County Council Attendance Team 

Re. PENALTY NOTICES FOR TERM-TIME HOLIDAYS

It is the policy of this school not to authorise absence for holidays during term-time. While advance permission can be given in exceptional circumstances, this is rare and can only be granted by me in my capacity as Head Teacher. Any such request should be addressed to me in writing before the holiday is taken and you should not assume that permission will be granted.

If a term-time holiday is taken without permission, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and a referral may be made to the County Attendance Team. This may result in the issue of an Education Penalty Notice under section 444A Education Act 1996 in respect of each absent child, to each parent/carer. The current penalty is £60 per parent per child, rising to £120 per parent per child if not paid within 21 days.

Penalty notices are intended as an alternative to prosecution. If the penalty is not paid in full within 28 days, the usual consequence is a Magistrates’ Court prosecution for the underlying section 444(1) Education Act 1996 offence of failure to secure regular school attendance. If further instances of unauthorised absence occur despite a penalty notice having previously been issued, or if the child’s attendance is an ongoing matter of concern, the local authority may consider prosecution in any event.

 


United Learning comprises: United Learning Ltd (Registered in England No: 00018582. Charity No. 313999) UCST (Registered in England No: 2780748. Charity No. 1016538) and ULT (Registered in England No. 4439859. An Exempt Charity). Companies limited by guarantee. Registered address: United Learning, Worldwide House, Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, PE3 6SB.

Financial Accountability and Freedom of Information
Website Terms, Cookies and Privacy
Policies

United Learning