School Attendance

The Department for Education requires schools to:

• Build strong relationships and work jointly with families, listening to and understanding barriers to attendance and working in partnership with families to remove them.
• Develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance.
• Have a clear school attendance policy which all staff, pupils, and parents understand.
• Have effective day-to-day processes in place, to follow up with any absences.
• Regularly monitor and analyse attendance and absence data to identify pupils or cohorts that require support with attendance and put effective strategies in place.
• Share information and work collaboratively with other schools in the area, Local Authorities, and other partners where the pupil’s absence is at risk of becoming persistent and severe.
• Be particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or they have special educational needs and/or disabilities and provide them with additional support.

T|he law requires that all children of compulsory school age receive full-time education. Where a child is enrolled at a school, parents and carers are responsible for making sure that their child attends school regularly.

As a parent or carer, you play the most important role in your child's education and in supporting their attendance.

From starting nursery, parents should teach their children the importance of going to school on time every day. Where there are difficulties, parents should speak to the child's school at the earliest opportunity.

Illness is the biggest single reason for school absence. While some absences due to illness are unavoidable, the NHS provides clear guidance on when children are well enough to attend school: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/.

Most mild illnesses – such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough – do not usually require time off school, unless your child has a temperature. Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).

Where a child is too unwell to attend school, parents must let the school know before the start of the school day.

Where a child has a medical appointment, parents should get agreement from the school in advance for a leave of absence. Where possible, parents should make necessary medical appointments outside of school hours. 

If your child has a medical appointment during the school day and is well enough, they should go to school before the appointment and return afterwards. They can attend the appointment in their school uniform. This helps minimise time away from learning and keeps routines consistent.

Parents should avoid taking term time holidays.

In the first instance parents and carers should speak to their child’s school so that they can provide support.

As well as schools, there are a lot of services who work with children and families and who can provide information, advice, and support. For more information, visit:

• SEND local offer
• Family hubs

he Council takes poor school attendance very seriously, and you could get a penalty notice or be prosecuted if your child is missing school without authorisation.

Penalty notices

Additional government guidance on support and parents’ responsibilities on school attendance: Resources for families | Children's Commissioner for England

Further government information on improving school attendance: Why school attendance matters, and what we’re doing to improve it  – The Education Hub