Grange Valley Primary & Nursery School

Legal Responsibilities & Procedures

Children who do not attend school regularly are less likely to achieve their full potential. As a school, it is our responsibility to ensure that every child has the opportunities to reach their full potential. 

As you are aware a good education will help to give your child the best possible start in life. Poor school attendance damages educational achievement and the future progress of young people.

What can parents do to help?

• Make sure that your child goes to school regularly and arrives on time. It's a good idea to start these positive habits at an early age,
• If your child is ill, contact the school on the first day of your child's illness
• If your child is ever off school, you must tell the school why.
• If you want permission for your child to miss school, you should ask for permission well in advance and give full details

CHANGES TO THE LAW REGARDING PENALTY NOTICES FOR UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL

A new National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence, including unauthorised holiday absence, is being introduced following changes to the law. These new Government regulations will come into effect from 19th August 2024, and we wanted to bring this to your attention now, as it will affect when penalty notices are issued in St Helens.

What are the changes?

• There will be a new national threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered.
• The new rules mean you will no longer be able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.
• There will be an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued.
• If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.
• If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them.

Headteachers may not authorise leave during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers would not be expected to class any term time holiday as exceptional.

All requests for leave of absence in term time must be made 20 days in advance in writing on the leave of absence request form – available from the school office.

Please note: The approval of leave of absence does not set a precedent for similar future requests and the frequency / duration of such leave periods will be considered as factors in any decision.

Attendance & Punctuality

Our school’s attendance target is 96% for all children.

At Grange Valley Primary School, we are committed to excellent attendance at school. We strive to ensure that every child achieves the local authority target of 96% attendance.

Please see below for the policies and procedures that we have in place to ensure that every child fully accesses their education, giving them the greatest chance to achieve their full potential.

Absence

Absences must be reported to the school office before 9.00.a.m. on the first day that your child is absent from school. We have the facilities for you to leave a message before 8am but we may make a follow-up call if the reason for your child’s absence is unclear.

First Response

If school does not receive notification of a child’s absence, then a first response action is taken. This is firstly a phone call but will then be followed by a house visit if the phone call is unsuccessful. This is a safeguarding response to ensure that every child at our school is accounted for every day.