School Attendance
Please support the school attendance policy. Children can only learn effectively when they attend school regularly and absence and lateness can lead to poor learning outcomes, friendship issues and reduce a child’s long-term prospects.
We always want to support parents and children with attendance or lateness issues so please come and speak to your child’s class teacher, Mrs Tideswell in the school office or Mrs Dakin if you need help getting your child to attend school.
Please see below our Attendance Newsletters below:
| School Times | School Start | School Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery 30 hour children- Classroom doors open 8:45am and close at 8:55am | 8:50am | 3:30pm |
| Nursery 'am' children (same doors open times as above) | 8:50am | 11:50am- Classroom doors open at 11:45am |
| Foundation- Year 6: Classroom doors open at 8:55am adn close at 9:05am | 9:00am | 3:30pm |
Hempshill Hall School follows the Nottingham City attendance protocol.
All pupils are expected to achieve at least 96% (or above) attendance over an academic year. The DFE (Department for Education) now class any child with less than 90% (19 days absence over a year) attendance as a persistent absentee. (This is equivalent to a child missing a day of school once a fortnight all academic year.)
To achieve 96%+ attendance - a child cannot have more than 8 days off school in an academic year.
If a child's attendance is below 90% during an academic school year; and if 10% or more is unauthorised - school are required to make a referral to the Education Welfare Service.
A letter will be sent to the parents of children when their child drops below 95% attendance to advise that they are at risk of becoming a persistent absentee.
A letter will be sent to the parents of children with less than 90% attendance to advise that their attendance will be monitored for improvement at any point during an academic year.
Understanding Attendance % and days
Day to Day at Hempshill
Parents/Carers are responsible for getting their children to school on time.
Pupils are expected to arrive before 8:50-8.55 am in order to be in class by 9.00am ready for learning at the beginning of the school day.
If a pupil is unable to attend school, parents/carers should contact the school office before 9.00am by either:
- Telephoning 0115 9153275
- Emailing admin@hempshillhall.nottingham.sch.uk
- Email using the ParentPay App
- In person - popping into the school office at the start of the day
If a child is not in school by 9.30am as a school, we have a duty of care to ensure that all children are safe and the protocol stated below will be followed.
The government requests that all schools must have at least 3 (up to date) contact numbers for each child.
If school does not have a satisfactory reason recorded for a child's absence by 9:30am the following protocol will take place:
- An email will be sent by the school office to the named first contact on a child's records
If we have still not received a reason for absence:
- A follow up telephone call will be made by the school attendance officer or office staff.
If we still have not received a reason for absence:
- We will try and speak to another person listed as a contact
- The school may carry out a home visit with 2 members of staff.
It is the parent/carers responsibility to make sure a satisfactory reason is given, or the absence will be marked as unauthorised.
Parents are invited to call or meet with the attendance officer (Mrs Tideswell) to discuss individual health concerns or other reasons for excessive absence. We will always aim to help find a supportive solution.
Leave of Absence Request
For all leave of absence requests parents/carers are required to complete an absence request form from the school office with as much notice as possible. (4 weeks)
Holidays
The DFE has firmly stated that children should be in education full time and that holidays during all term time are not permitted.
Therefore, Hempshill Hall School do not give permission for any holidays during term time. All holidays will be recorded as unauthorised, and a penalty notice will be requested from Nottingham City Council. Please note new fines are in place (see the information below).
With the introduction of The National Framework for Penalty Notices, the following changes will come into force for Penalty Notice fines issued after 19th August 2024
Per Parent, Per Child Penalty Notice fines will now be issued to each parent, for each child that was absent. For example: 3 siblings absent for term time leave, would result in each parent receiving 3 separate fines. | First Offence The first time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time leave of irregular attendance the amount will be: £160 per parent, per child if paid within 28 days Reduced to £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days |
5 consecutive days of term time leave Penalty Notice Fines will be issued for Term Time leave of 5 or more consecutive days, inset training days are school days and can be included in the 5 or more consecutive days where there was intent to be absent for term time leave. 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period Penalty Notice fines will be considered when there have been 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a 10-week period |
Second Offence (Within 3 years) The second time a Penalty Notice is issued for Term Time leave or irregular attendance the amount will be £160 per parent, per child paid within 28 days |
Third Offence and Any Further Offences (within 3 years) The third time an offence is committed for Term Time leave or irregular attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court. Magistrates’ fines can be up to £2500 per parent, per child Cases found guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show on the parents future DBS certificate, due to a ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education’. |
If a parent/carer still chooses to take their child out of school for a holiday - school require at least 4 weeks notice - please collect a form from the school office.
The Attendance and Punctuality Policy can be found on the Policies and Documents page – add link.
Medical Appointments
Wherever possible dental and medical appointments should be made outside school hours. If this is not possible, parents should provide either a letter or an appointment card for school records.
If children are feeling slightly under the weather or returning to school after an illness, we can administer medicine so long as a form has been completed at the school office.
Children Leaving/Returning to School
If it is necessary for a child to leave school during the day parents should inform the school in advance. When the child is due to leave school, they must be collected by an adult from the school office. When a child returns to school during the school day the responsible adult must sign them in on the electronic screen and inform the school office. This information is essential in case of a fire.
Children Missing Education
Early intervention is necessary to identify the existence of any underlying safeguarding risk and to help prevent the risks of any child going missing.
- Parents are expected to contact school on the first day of absence
- School will contact parents if no reason of absence has been given to school, initially by email, if there are attendance, welfare or safeguarding concerns this will also include a telephone call
- This will be followed with a further phone call if no contact has been made on the previous day additional emergency contact numbers will also be called
- Potential home visit if no contact is made, and contact made with any additional agencies who are working with the family (who may be in a better position to visit the family)
- Referral to CMIE (Children Missing Education) if information is gained that the family have moved out of area
- Referral to CMIE if child has not returned after 10 days with no contact from the family after efforts made by school, if we believe the child should or may be removed from roll whether the onward school is known or not
- The Children Missing Education (CME) Officer within the Education Welfare Service will work closely with the school to try to identify the child’s current whereabouts/ destination
- Both parties will then agree an appropriate time and category to remove the child from the school roll. This includes those children and young people who are expected to move swiftly into appropriate provision; this is in line with The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016
- After 20 school days of absence and efforts by both the school and CME to find the child prove unsuccessful, the CME Officer will consult the school to discuss whether to remove their name from the school roll. The final decision about removal from a school roll remains with the Headteacher following consultation with the Local Authority via CME
- The school should create a ‘lost pupil’ record on the national Lost Pupil’s Database School to School (s2s) to assist future schools and Children Missing from Education Officers to identify and locate children
- It is the duty of both the Education Welfare Service and school to collaborate in finding the pupil before deleting them from the register
- For further information please contact the CME Officers directly - cme.educationwelfare@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
All Other Requests for Leave of Absence
School is here to support families in exceptional circumstance - please always contact the school office.
You can download a copy of Hempshill Halls School Attendance Policy below