You should do everything possible to encourage your child to attend.  However if the reason for their reluctance appears to be school-based, such as difficulty with work or bullying, please discuss this with the class teacher at the earliest opportunity and the school will do everything possible to sort the problem out.  Colluding with your child’s reluctance to attend is likely to make the matter worse.

A pupil is classed as a persistent absentee (PA pupil) when they miss 10% of school, which is equivalent to 90% and below in overall attendance percentage in one term. (This was a legal change as from September 2015) or more schooling across the school year, for whatever reason, whether it be authorised or unauthorised, or a mixture of both.  Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to a child’s educational prospects and we need parents’ full support and encouragement to tackle it.  PA pupils are tracked and monitored carefully through our pastoral system, and we combine this with tracking academic progress to assess the effect on the pupil’s attainment.  All our PA pupils and their parents are subject to an Action Plan, which may include allocation of some kind of support.

You may be asked to participate in a Parenting Contract to support your child’s attendance.

These are initiated where school feels you may need help in influencing your child to attend properly.  They have no force in law, and are entered into voluntarily.  A meeting will be held to which you and your child will be invited.  The problems will be discussed and agreement reached as to what the school will do, the child will do and what you as parents/carers will do to try to improve the situation.  You may be offered some form of support such as counselling or parenting classes to assist you in setting boundaries and enforcing expectations of your child.

It is a parents'/carers' responsibility to report your child’s absence to the school in good time.

If your child is absent, you must:

• Contact the school as early as possible on the first day of absence, either by telephone or in person, and
• Send a note in on the first day they return with an explanation of the absence.

In addition, if your child has been absent to illness you may be asked to provide medical evidence i.e. appointment card/ letter, prescription or prescribed medicine label.  

You can also update us by using the Studybugs app - please click on the link here Studybugs - Sign In

This school’s policy is to strongly discourage leave during term time.

Any applications for leave in term time must be requested using an Application Request form. You can receive one of these by visiting the Main School Office. 

There is no automatic right to term time leave of absence, and your request is likely to be declined except in the most exceptional circumstances.

Due to changes in legislation (September 2013) applications by parents or carers of pupils to take annual family holidays during term time can no longer be authorised.  Any request for leave must be supported with an explanation of exceptional circumstances and can only be agreed by the Head teacher.

Please contact the school office by email : info@ellenwilkinson.newham.sch.uk and detail your request to the Headteacher. You must make any request a minimum of 7 days before any absence is due to take place.

Penalty Notices can now be issued for a range of attendance-related offences, including unauthorised term-time holidays, (this includes failure to return to school at the agreed time) poor attendance and poor punctuality, a child coming to the attention of the police in school time, or located twice or more in  truancy sweeps in 6 months.  Further details are available on www.newham.gov.uk/schools/Attendance.

• Parents will be issued with Penalty Notices (fines) i.e. £60 per parent/carer per child if paid within 21 days, rising to £120 per parent/carer per child if not paid within 28 days of the receipt of the notice.
• Non-payment will result in prosecution under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996
• Parents will be issued with Penalty Notices (fines) i.e. £60 per parent/carer per child if paid within 21 days, rising to £120 per parent/carer per child if not paid within 28 days of the receipt of the notice.
• Non-payment will result in prosecution under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996, which could lead to fines of up to £2,500 or even imprisonment.
• In some cases action may be taken under the Children Act 1989 to protect the welfare and development of the child.

It is a parent/ carers responsibility to make sure that the contact details you have given to the school are kept up to date, so that in the event of an accident, emergency or any other need to contact you we have the correct details.

The following national codes will be used to record attendance information.