Our School Day:

The government requires schools to publish the opening hours for the school day. At Cape Primary our school day is as follows.

The doors open at 8.30am for a flexible drop of between 8.30am and 8.45am.

The school day starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.30pm.

We have a breakfast club open from 7.30am-8.30am and an after-school club open from 3.30pm-5.30pm.

Our total working week is - 33.75hrs

Our school approach to supporting and improving school attendance.

The Strategic Approach

Cape Primary School is adopting the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework, this is modelled on the work of Professor Katherine Weare. The emphasis is on developing a school culture and climate which builds a sense of connectedness and belonging to ensure all children can attend school and thrive.  The approach ensures we prioritise building solid working relationships with children / parents prior to any escalation.  The staged approach we use ensures we identify triggers early that can lead to poor attendance issues such as mental health issues, lack of trust, communication and relationship breakdowns and the possible lack of networking opportunities both internal (in-school) and external (external agencies).

The Foundations framework has most recently been reviewed by the Department for Education.  The Foundations framework received an excellent report following the four-day review. 

“The Foundations approach is an excellent example of best practice; there are very clear and detailed systems and procedures in place to manage absence and attendance consistently”. 

(Michelle O’Dell DFE Attendance Advisor March 2022)

Aims of the strategy

• Increase school Attendance and reduce Persistent Absence to meet set targets.
• Ensure Attendance is well managed within the school, with the appropriate level of resources allocated.
• Enable the school to make informed use of Attendance data to target interventions appropriately, focusing on the key demographic groups highlighted in the 2022 DFE paper.

Objectives 

-create an ethos within the school in which good attendance is recognised as the norm and every child/young person aims for excellent attendance.

-make attendance and punctuality a priority.

-set focused targets to improve individual attendance and whole school attendance levels.

-embed the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework which defines agreed roles and responsibilities and promotes consistency in carrying out designated tasks with respect to promoting attendance and punctuality.

-record and monitor attendance and absenteeism and apply appropriate strategies to minimise absenteeism.

-develop a systematic approach to gathering and analysing relevant attendance data.

-provide support, advice and guidance to; parents, children and young people and develop mutual cooperation between home and the school in encouraging good attendance and in addressing identified attendance issues.

 Going to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education. Talking to your child and their teachers could help solve any problems if your child does not want to go to school.

Regular school attendance

Good attendance shows secondary schools and/or future potential employers that your child is reliable.

At our school we record details of all children’s attendance and absence from school. We do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must inform the school immediately.

The school will record the absence and the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.

Your responsibilities as a parent

By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school. Although some parents choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Once your child is registered at Cape Primary School, the parent is legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis.  If your child does not attend school on a regular basis, you could be subject to a fine or be prosecuted in court.

How to prevent your child from missing school

You can help prevent your child missing school by:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality.
• taking an interest in their education, ask about schoolwork and encourage them to get involved in school activities.
• discussing any problems they may have at school and letting their teacher or principal know about anything serious.
• not letting children take time off school for minor ailments, particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work.

To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings:

• after school hours.
• at weekends.
• during school holidays.
• You should not expect our school to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.

Support on school attendance

A child’s school attendance can be affected if there are problems with:

• Bullying.
• Housing or care arrangements.
• Transport to and from school.
• Work and money.

If your child starts missing school, you might not know there is a problem.  If there is a problem, please approach their teacher, one of our family support workers or our attendance officer. 

From 19th August 2024, the new national framework for attendance and issuing penalty notices will apply.

National Threshold

There will be a single consistent national threshold for when a Penalty Notice must be considered by all schools in England of 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence. The 10-school week period can span over different terms and school years.

Penalty Notice Fines will continue to be issued per parent per child. For example: 2 parents with 3 children would receive a total of 6 Penalty Notices

First Offence

The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for a Term Time Holiday or Irregular School Attendance the Penalty Notice will be charged at:

• £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.
• Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days.
• (Unpaid Penalty Notices after 28 days may result in a prosecution)

Second Offence

(within 3 years of the First Offence)

Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second Penalty Notice to the same parent for the same pupil within 3 years of the first notice, the second Penalty Notice will be charged at:

• £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days.
• (Unpaid Penalty Notices after 28 days may result in a prosecution)

Third Offence and any further Offences

(within 3 years of the First Offence)

The third time that an offence is committed for either a term time holiday and/or Irregular attendance, a Penalty Notice will not be issued, the case may be proceeded straight to prosecution under the Single Justice Procedure.

If found guilty of the offence of ‘failure to secure their child’s regular attendance at a school’ the Magistrates can impose a fine up to £1,000 and you will have a criminal record.