Attendance and Absence

School attendance is a key indicator for pupil attainment, wellbeing and future life chances and an important protective measure for vulnerable children. At the end of February 2024, the DfE announced a number of changes to the law relating to pupil registration and attendance. These changes are reflected in our school Attendance Policy.

New National Penalty Notice Framework

The following changes will come into force for Penalty Notice Fines from 19th August 2024 across the whole of England. Schools MUST consider a penalty notice for 10 unauthorised sessions (usually 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period of time (these sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of any unauthorised absences and can span different terms and school years). Penalty Notices are issued per parent, per child (for example, if there are 3 children in a family, each parent/carer may receive 3 separate penalty notices).

National Penalty Notice Framework (offences in a three year rolling period)

Excellent attendance and punctuality are vital for success at school, and to the establishment of positive life habits that are necessary for future success. Through attending school regularly, children can:

  • Build friendships and develop social groups.
  • Develop life skills.
  • Engage in essential learning and other school social events.
  • Achieve their full potential.
  • Minimise the risk of engaging in anti-social behaviour.

Definitions of Attendance

Our attendance target for all students is 100% and our minimum expectation is 97%. When we speak with children about their attendance, we always relate this to the number of lessons and days missed.

For example, the impact of days missed and minutes late on a child’s learning:

Please note that the classroom door opens at 8.30am and closes at 8.40am. After this time, if your child is late, please escort them to the Brodetsky Office where they will be registered as late and taken to class.

Reporting an unplanned absence

If you need to report an unplanned absence (such as illness), please call the absence line (0113 293 0578 option 1, option 1) and leave a message in the morning or email office@brodetsky.org before 8:30am. Please provide your child’s full name, year group and specific reason for absence. Contact will need to be made with school each day that your child will not be attending. If school is not notified of the absence, we will contact by phone to request the reason for absence.

Is my child too ill for school?

As a school we want to work with parents/carers to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible as there is a clear link between attendance, progress and wellbeing. The NHS has produced clear guidelines to be used by schools and parents/carers which state when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn’t. As a school we will be referring to this guidance to determine if we are able to record absences as authorised or unauthorised. Please click here for further information.

Reporting a planned absence

All family holidays must be taken during school holiday times. Absences during term time will only be approved in exceptional circumstances.

Please click here to fill out an application for absence in term time.

Medical Appointments

Dental and medical appointments should be made outside school hours where possible. If medical appointments need to take place during school hours, please request leave of absence in writing as soon as possible.

If your child has a series of medical appointments, it is helpful if these can be arranged on different days and at different times, so that the same lesson is not always missed. In the case of hospital appointments we will need to see a copy of the hospital letter.

We politely request that appointments are made out of school hours but if it is unavoidable, please give as much notice as possible to the office. Please note that for lunchtime appointments, we are unable to facilitate picking up or dropping off between 11.45am and 1.15pm so please arrange to collect or drop off your child outside of these times.

Will my Child’s Absence Be Authorised?
(Examples are not exhaustive)