Attendance Policy

September 2026

Policy details

• Date approved by Trust Board - July 2026
• Next review date - July 2027
• Policy owner - Co-op Academy Nightingale

Co-op Academy Nightingale

9 Stanley Road Harehills Leeds LS9 7AX

01132359164 nigh.head.teacher@coopacademies.co.uk

https://www.nightingale.coopacademies.co.uk/

Contents

1. Policy Statement and Purpose        2

2. The Importance of School Attendance        2

3. Legislation and Guidance        4

4. Roles and Responsibilities        4

5. Reporting Absence        7

Reporting and Requesting Planned Absences        8

6. Recording Absence        8

Lateness and punctuality        9

Persistent lateness        9

Recording Attendance at off site provision / dual registered pupils        10

7. Authorised and Unauthorised Absences        10

Fines and Sanctions        11

8. Promoting and Supporting Attendance        12

9. Attendance Monitoring        14

Analysing attendance        14

Using data to improve attendance        14

Identifying and supporting Persistent and Severely Absent Pupils        14

Reintegration after significant absences        15

Identifying and supporting Children Missing in Education        16

10. Links with other Policies        16

Appendix 1 - Coding        18

Appendix 2 - Removing Barriers Flowchart        23

Appendix 3 - Data monitoring and analysis        24

Appendix 4 - Graduated Approach        25

Appendix 5 - Responsibilities        26

Appendix 6 - Legal Interventions        27

Appendix 7 - Attendance Principles        28

1. Policy Statement and Purpose

Co-op Academy Nightingale is committed to providing a full education to all pupils that embraces the concept of equal opportunities for all. We provide a welcoming and caring environment where every pupil feels safe and valued. Regular attendance and excellent punctuality are essential in ensuring pupils make sustained academic progress and social development.

The academy works in partnership with pupils and their parents or carers to promote the importance of regular and punctual attendance. Regular and punctual attendance is vital in ensuring that all children have full access to the curriculum, as valuable learning time is lost when pupils are absent or late.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure excellent attendance for all, that maximises pupil potential. As an academy, we recognise that regular attendance has a positive impact on the motivation and attainment of pupils. As such, this policy serves to give clear guidance to all stakeholders on their roles and responsibilities; provide advice and information on statutory duties of parents / carers and the Academy and demonstrate how the Academy will work in partnership with families, the local authority and other organisations to support the best possible attendance of all pupils.

Through this policy we will demonstrate our commitment to:

• Setting high expectations for the attendance and punctuality of all pupils
• Promoting good attendance and the benefits of good attendance
• Reducing absence, including persistent and severe absence
• Ensuring every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled
• Acting early to address patterns of absence
• Building strong relationships with families to ensure pupils have the right support to attend school

Co-op Academies Trust believes there are fundamental principles behind great school attendance. These have been laid out here in our Attendance Principles - and underpin the spirit and content of this policy. In our whole school approach to raising and maintaining excellent attendance, we aim to work with pupils and families to listen, understand, empathise and support families - whilst continuing to challenge poor attendance and maintain the highest of expectations of all of our pupils.

2. The Importance of School Attendance

Regular attendance at school is vital to support pupils to achieve and help them get the best possible start in life. Good attendance is central to pupils’ academic achievement and personal development.

Research shows that going to school is directly linked to improved exam performance which should in turn lead to further learning opportunities and better job prospects.

As well as this, going to school helps to develop:

• friendships
• social skills
• team values
• life skills
• cultural awareness
• career pathways

We know that 90% of persistent non-attenders do not achieve expected levels of development at KS1 and KS2 and do not gain five or more good GCSEs. Around one third achieve no GCSEs at all.  At KS2, pupils not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths had an overall absence rate of 4.7%, compared to 3.5% among those meeting the expected standard. At KS4, pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 in English and maths had an overall absence rate of 8.8%, compared to 5.2% for those achieving grade 4. The overall absence rate of pupils not achieving grade 9 to 4 was twice as high as those achieving 9 to 5 (8.8% compared to 3.7%).

Young people who regularly miss school without good reason are also more likely to become isolated from their friends, to underachieve in examinations and/or become involved in anti-social behaviour. In addition, Keeping Children Safe in Education makes clear the fact that Children Missing Education are at significant risk of being victims of harm, exploitation or radicalisation, and becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training) later in life.  For the most vulnerable pupils, research has shown associations between regular absence from school and crime (the proportion of children that had been cautioned or sentenced for any offence that had ever been persistently absent was 81% and for serious violence offence was 85%).  Regular attendance is therefore one of the most important protective factors and the best opportunity for needs to be identified and support provided.

Attendance and Punctuality - Lost Learning Hours

3. Legislation and Guidance

This policy meets the requirements of the statutory guidance:  Working Together to Improve School Attendance from the Department for Education (DfE), and refers to the DfE’s statutory guidance on School Attendance Parental Responsibility Measures. These documents are drawn from the following legislation setting out the legal powers and duties that govern school attendance:

- Part 6 of The Education Act 1996

- Part 3 of The Education Act 2002

- Part 7 of The Education and Inspections Act 2006

- The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 amendments)

- The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

It also refers to:

         School census guidance

         Keeping children safe in education - GOV.UK 

         Mental health issues affecting a pupil's attendance: guidance for schools

4. Roles and Responsibilities

Trust Board

The Trust Board is responsible for:

• Setting Trust-wide policy, ensuring that this meets statutory requirements and is adopted by all of the Trust’s academies
• Setting high expectations of trust leaders in relation to student attendance
• Regularly reviewing and challenging Trust-wide attendance data and holding Trust leaders to account around the application of the Trust policy

Trust Senior Leadership Team (SLT)

The Trust's central SLT is responsible for:

• Promoting the importance of student attendance across the Trust
• Making sure school leaders fulfil expectations and statutory duties
• Holding school leaders to account for the application of this policy and the impact of this on attendance data
• Reviewing and challenging attendance data on a regular basis

The Headteacher and Academy Senior Leadership Team

The Headteacher and SLT will offer a clear vision for attendance, underpinned by high expectations, the Co-op Ways of Being and our core values, which are communicated to and understood by staff, pupils and families. SLT will make sure staff, pupils and families understand that absence from school is a potential safeguarding risk and understand their role in keeping children safe in education. SLT  will actively promote great attendance at all levels of the organisation to build up a culture of great attendance.

To do this, the Headteacher and all of the senior leadership team will be responsible for:

• Implementation of this policy at the school
• Monitoring attendance figures for the whole school and reporting these to the Trust’s SLT
• Making sure staff receive adequate training on attendance so they understand:

• The importance of good attendance
• That absence is almost always a symptom of wider issues
• The school’s legal requirements for keeping registers
•  The school’s strategies for tracking, following up on and improving attendance

• Making sure dedicated training is provided to staff with a specific attendance function in their role, including in interpreting and analysing attendance data
• Using detailed and granular data analysis to lead on all universal strategies and interventions
• Supporting staff with monitoring the attendance of individual pupils
• Monitoring the impact of any implemented attendance strategies
• Issuing fixed-penalty notices, where necessary
• Working with the parents of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND)
• Communicating with Local Authority when a pupil with an (EHC) plan has falling attendance        
• Communicating the school’s high expectations for attendance and punctuality regularly to pupils

Senior Attendance Champion - Miss Lewis nigh.head.teacher@coopacademies.co.uk

The senior attendance champion is the strategic lead for attendance and  is responsible for leading attendance across the school including:

• Leading, championing and improving attendance across the school
• Setting a clear vision for improving and maintaining good attendance
• Evaluating and monitoring expectations and processes
• Understanding and driving strategy around the root cause of absence in the school
• Having a strong grasp of absence data and oversight of absence data analysis
• Regularly monitoring and evaluating progress in attendance
• Establishing and maintaining effective systems for tackling absence robustly QAing
• Liaising with pupils, parents/carers and external agencies, where needed
• Building productive relationships with parents to discuss and tackle attendance issues
• Creating intervention or reintegration plans in partnership with pupils and parents/carers
• Delivering targeted intervention and support to pupils and families

Pastoral Leaders (Year Managers / Progress Leaders / Learning Mentors)

Mrs Packer Behaviour and pastoral lead, Miss Clarke behaviour worker and Miss Hogg behaviour worker.

Attendance Officer Mr Ingle christopher.ingle@coopacademies.co.uk and Ms Strahan ruth.strahan@coopacademies.co.uk

The school attendance officer is responsible for:

• Ensuring absence procedures are followed in line with this policy and the Trust Principles
• Entering codes accurately and keeping the attendance register in line with legislation
• Keeping records of reasons for absence for detailed analysis
• Monitoring and analysing attendance data (see section 7)
• Benchmarking attendance data to identify areas of focus for improvement
• Providing regular attendance reports to school staff and reporting concerns about attendance SLT
• Working with education welfare officers / attendance support to tackle persistent absence
• Working as part of the safeguarding team to report and follow up concerns
• Advising the Headteacher when to issue fixed-penalty notices

Class Teachers

Class teachers are responsible for

• Recording attendance on a daily basis, using the correct codes
• Recording all attendance, accurately, on ARBOR (MIS)
• Recording registers in a timely manner
• Giving attendance a high profile and emphasising the importance of school attendance
• Making pupils feel welcome and supporting them after an absence or when late to school
• Helping pupils catch up on missed subject content after absences
• Liaising with attendance staff if patterns of absence are noticed for individuals or groups

School Office Staff

School office staff may be responsible for taking calls from parents/carers and pupils about absence on a day-to-day basis and recording it accurately. They will also transfer calls from parents/carers and pupils to the correct pastoral staff, attendance officers or  SLT in order to provide them with more detailed support on attendance. They will input codes accurately and ensure that late students and students leaving during the day are accounted for. Office staff work closely with the attendance and safeguarding team.

Parents/carers

Parents/carers are expected to:

• Make sure their child attends every [day/timetabled session] on time
• Call the school to report their child’s absence before 8.40 am the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence, and advise when they are expected to return
• Provide the school with more than one emergency contact number for their child
• Ensure that, where possible, appointments for their child are made outside of the school day
• Keep to any attendance contracts that are made and accept support when it is offered
• Inform the right people, as early as possible, if there are any challenges around attendance.

Pupils

Pupils are expected to:

• Attend school every day on time
• Attend every timetabled session on time
• Call the school to report their absence before (insert time) on the day of the absence
• Let school staff know if there are any difficulties at school or home to allow school to support

5. Reporting Absence

Parents/Carers will be expected to provide an acceptable reason for every absence and will be able to report an absence on the day by contacting:

The {attendance team and attendance officers Mr Ingle and/or Ms Strahan} before 8.30 am 0113 235 9164 to explain to a member of staff the reason for absence.

Parents/carers are requested to make contact on each day of absence even where pupils are absent for consecutive days, unless otherwise agreed with one of the Attendance Officers.

If absence reasons are medical, evidence will need to be provided such as a stamped medical card, appointment text message, hospital letter or prescription in order for the absence to be authorised. We will mark absence for physical or mental illness as authorised unless we have a concern about the authenticity of the illness. If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents will be notified of this in advance or at the time.

For a full list of authorised and unauthorised reasons for absence please see section 7.

Where communication is not made with the Academy about the reason for pupil absence this will be deemed as ‘unauthorised absence’. The parent/carer will receive contact from the Academy to ascertain reasons for absence. Calls will be made from the beginning of the school day and will be completed by 11 am on the same day. Follow up will be based on the following timescales:

• If a pupil is absent without communication, the attendance team will attempt to contact f a pupil is absent without communication, the attendance team will attempt to contact parents. You will receive a text message via Arbor after morning registration to request that you contact school to report the reason for your child’s absence. If you do not report your child’s absence following this text, you will receive a phone call from a member of the attendance team. If the attendance team is unable to contact you, you will likely receive a home visit - even if it is the first day of absence in order to check that both you and your child are ok
• When a pupil is absent for two or more days without the school being provided with a reason, a member of the attendance team will conduct a home visit. Home visits from the attendance team are supportive and intended to establish if any actions need to be put in place in order to support a child’s return to school.
• If, after home visits and phone calls, the attendance team is still unable to get a reason for absence within 5 days, the attendance team will request the Safer Schools Officer to carry out a ‘safe and well’ home visit. We may also contact children' s social services.
• For extended periods of absence without reason, we may also contact the Child Missing Education Team at the Council and/or sibling primary schools to support with enquiries about the whereabouts of the child.
• If a child is absent from the Academy for 20 days (or 10 days after an authorised holiday) and their whereabouts are unknown or they are reported to have left Leeds, a referral to the Child Missing Education Team will be made and the child will be removed from roll (following joint investigations).
• Where pupils are identified as vulnerable, or we have a safeguarding concern,  if communication is not made on day one of absence, procedures will be followed through more swiftly with welfare checks requested on day one if deemed necessary

Reporting and Requesting Planned Absences

Attending a medical or dental appointment will be counted as authorised as long as the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment by contacting the attendance team or calling in to the main office and by providing the school with evidence of the appointment by sharing letters or texts as evidence. However, we encourage parents/carers to make medical and dental appointments out of school hours where possible. Where this is not possible, the pupil should be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary by returning promptly to school following their appointment and also attend prior to appointment if not first thing in the morning. The appointment should be made at the start/end of the academy day to minimise disruption to learning.

The pupil’s parent/carer must also apply for other types of term-time absence as far in advance as possible of the requested absence. Go to section 7 to find out which term-time absences are authorised.

6. Recording Absence

Attendance register

By law, all schools are required to keep an attendance register. The academy uses an electronic system (ARBOR) to accurately record attendance and punctuality to every lesson on a daily basis.

There is a registration session at the start of every day, during which pupils receive their morning registration mark. Any pupils arriving late (after 9.15am) will be given a late mark and reason for lateness recorded on Arbor. An ‘L’ code is added to Arbor. Afternoon attendance is recorded during the first session after lunch.

The attendance register marks whether every pupils is:

• Present
• Attending an approved off-site educational activity
• Absent
• Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

By law, all schools are required to close their register 30 minutes after they open, and are required to record a U code for any pupils arriving after this point. A U code counts as an unauthorised absence.

Each day, pupils can access the building from 8.45am. They must be in the classroom by 8.50am where they receive their morning mark. Academy registration closes 30 minutes after this at 9.15am and any pupil arriving after this time will lose half a day of attendance and be marked with a U (see appendix 1 for attendance register codes).

Any amendment to the attendance register will include:

• The original entry
• The amended entry
• The reason for the amendment
• The date on which the amendment was made
• The name and position of the person who made the amendment

We will also record:

• Whether the absence is authorised or not
• The nature of the activity if a pupil is attending an approved educational activity
• The nature of circumstances where a pupil is unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances

Lateness and punctuality

The statutory register of the academy closes at 9:15am daily. After this point, a pupil arriving late without prior notice or a reasonable explanation, will receive an unauthorised absence mark.

A pupil who arrives late:

• Before the register has closed will be marked as late, using the appropriate code (L)
• After the register has closed will be marked as absent, using the appropriate code (U)

If a pupil arrives:

• Between 8:50am and 9am, after the entrance gate has closed, they will enter school through the school hall where they will sign in.
• After 9am, they will sign in at the main reception.

If a pupil arrives at the academy late, after the register has closed and without a parent, parents will be contacted by the academy, by text or phone call to inform them and ascertain a reason for lateness.

Persistent lateness

It is not acceptable for pupils to persistently arrive late to school (whether before or after the register has closed) as this not only hinders their progress but also disrupts the learning of others. The pupil support and attendance team will monitor late arrivals and follow this up through:

• Letters home

• Punctuality Panels  

Pupils need to arrive at the academy on time in order to be ready for the day ahead. If they are late numerous times across the week, the following phone calls will be made:

• 2 lates in a week – Phone call home by Attendance Officer
• 3+ lates in a week – Phone call home by SLT link and Parent Meeting arranged

All lates and conversations with parents will be logged centrally by the academy.

If a pupil is persistently late to school and has two parent meetings across a half term, they are to be referred to an attendance mentor. A home/school agreement to be signed to inform us that parents will support punctuality and be at the forefront of any improvement. A staff mentor will work with pupils and families regarding punctuality and attendance.

To support all students to attend and be punctual, all Co-op Academies run a breakfast club (free to pupil premium students and part of our Dfe Free Breakfast) before school,  to ensure that pupils can start the day positively and be on time. If a pupil is persistently late, they may be referred to the breakfast club to support punctuality.

If all the above are unsuccessful, the Academy will use legal channels in accordance with the local authority policy. This may mean that court action is taken. Every U code counts as half a days unauthorised absence and may result in fixed penalty action or prosecution.

Recording Attendance at off site provision / dual registered pupils

• Attendance at alternative provisions is monitored by daily phone calls to the setting and through regular visits.Provisions to make initial contact with parents where pupils are absent – by Mr C.Ingle
• pupils will be given a ‘B’ code on Arbor when they have attended external alternative provision. Any absences will be recorded using the appropriate absence code.
• Some provisions, as well as managed moves, are used on a dual-registration basis - Miss Lewis will oversee this and will give the pupil the appropriate enrolment status. In these cases pupils will be given a ‘D’ code when they are on roll with the provision for all periods where the pupil is expected to attend the other provision/school.
• pupils who are Guest Pupils at another school will remain as ‘single registration’ at Co-op Academy Nightingale. Where the pupil has attended the other school, a ‘B’ mark will be recorded. All absences will be logged with the appropriate code.
• Attendance Officers from the Academy will conduct home visits where appropriate.
• Attendance officer (Mr Ingle) provides daily/weekly attendance figures to key staff
• Once a placement is set up, pupils must attend. Failure to do so will carry the same consequences as non-attendance within the Academy.
• Attendance Office (Mr Ingle) to request regular attendance certificates for pupils attending  dual-registration provisions/schools.

Reporting to parents/carers

• Termly traffic light letters
• Letters warning of attendance concerns/lateness/ request to attend meetings.
• Regular text messages and emails via Arbor
• Partnership work with parents, preventative work through mentoring and other support
• Attendance support drop in.
• Attendance figures in the weekly newsletter.

• Parent evenings and school reports
• Attendance incentives such as prize raffles

7. Authorised and Unauthorised Absences

Medical and Illness

Children should attend school on every possible day they can. Mild illnesses such as colds and coughs should not prevent a pupil from coming to school. Guidance for parents on when they should make pupils attend school can be found here.

Guidance for school leaders on authorising absence for mild illnesses, or mild anxiety, from the chief medical officer can also be found here.

Medical Appointments

Parent/carers should try to make appointments outside school hours wherever possible. Where appointments during school time are unavoidable, the pupil should only be out of school for the minimum amount of time necessary for the appointment.

It is not acceptable for a child to miss a whole day’s schooling for an appointment, unless necessary, in which case the school will need an explanation as to why this is. No pupil will be allowed to leave the school site to attend a medical appointment during the school day without parental confirmation.

Advance notice is required for medical or dental appointments, unless it’s an emergency appointment, and must be supported by providing the school with sight of, or a copy of, the appointment card or letter – only then will the absence be authorised.

Parents/carers can notify the school of an upcoming appointment via Mr Ingle or email nigh.head.teacher@coopacademies.co.uk. A copy of the appointment card or letter should be emailed to nigh.head.teacher@coopacadmies.co.uk

Approval for other term-time absence

The Government’s amendments of the Education Regulations 2006 removed the right of Headteachers to authorise family holidays and extended leave. The academy policy, therefore, reflects this legislation.

The headteacher will only grant a leave of absence to a pupil during term time if they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. A leave of absence is granted at the headteacher’s discretion, including the length of time the pupil is authorised to be absent for.

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request.  Any request should be submitted as soon as it is anticipated and, where possible, at least 4 weeks before the absence. Leave of absence forms can be found in the main school office. The headteacher may require evidence to support any request for leave of absence including plane tickets; medical evidence; letters from authorities.

Valid reasons for authorised absence include:

• Illness (including mental illness) and medical/dental appointments
• Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong. If necessary, the school will seek advice from the religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart. The academy authorises up to two days for a religious absence per academic year and one day per religious event
• Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers, Showmen (Fairground People) and Circus People, Bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and New Travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a Traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it is not known whether the pupil is attending educational provision

Fines and Sanctions

The school or local authority can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. The school is obligated to pass information about unauthorised absence to the local authority. This can lead to a fixed penalty notice issued from the authority. If issued with a fine, or penalty notice, each parent/carer must pay £80, per pupil within 21 days or £160 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority. Fines are issued per pupil and per parent so in a family of four, you could receive up to four fixed penalty notices.

Penalty notices can be issued by a headteacher, local authority officer or the police.

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice may take into account:

• Whether the national threshold for considering a penalty notice has been met (10 sessions / 5 days of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks)
• Whether a penalty notice is the best available tool to improve attendance for that pupil
• Whether support, a notice to improve or other legal intervention would be more appropriate
• Whether any obligations the school has under the Equality Act 2010 make issuing a penalty notice inappropriate

A penalty notice may also be issued where parents allow their child to be present in a public place during school hours without reasonable justification, during the first 5 days of a suspension or exclusion (where the school has notified the parents that the pupil must not be present in a public place).

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute or withdraw the notice.

If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent in respect of the same pupil, within a three year period, the parent must pay £160 if paid within 28 days.

A third penalty notice cannot be issued to the same parent in respect of the same child within 3 years of the date of the issue of the first penalty notice. In a case where the national threshold is met for a third time within those 3 years, schools will have to consider prosecution in a magistrates court and a potential fine of £2500 - as well as a possible criminal record for the parent.

Notices to improve

If the national threshold has been met and support is appropriate, but parents do not engage with offers of support, Co-op Academy Nightingale may offer a notice to improve to give parents a final chance to engage.

Notices to improve are issued in line with processes set out in the Leeds Local Authority guidance https://www.leeds.gov.uk/one-minute-guides/education-attendance-statutory-responsibilities They will include:

• Details of the pupil’s attendance record and of the offences
• The benefits of  attendance and duty of parents under section 7 of  Education Act 1996
• Details of the support provided so far
• Opportunities for further support, or previously provided support not engaged with
• A clear warning that a penalty notice may be issued if attendance doesn’t improve within the improvement period, along with details of what sufficient improvement looks like, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis
• A clear timeframe of between 3 and 6 weeks for the improvement period
• The grounds on which a penalty notice may be issued before the end of the improvement period

8. Promoting and Supporting Attendance

The Academy recognises that poor attendance can be an indication of difficulties in a child’s life. This may be related to problems at home and/or in school. Parents should make school aware of any difficulties or changes in circumstances that may affect their child’s attendance and or behaviour in school, for example, bereavement, divorce/separation, incidents of domestic abuse. This will help the school identify any additional support that may be required.

Co-op Academy Nightingale also recognises that some pupils are more likely to require additional support to achieve excellent attendance, for example, those pupils with special educational needs, those with physical or mental health needs, and looked after children.

Here at Co Academy Nightingale we ensure that appropriate intervention is in place for all students requiring additional support to attend school, this support would be determined through our graduated approach. An example of this can be found here.

Part of promoting and supporting great attendance at Co-op Academy Nightingale is to ensure that the pupils receive the best possible experience on a day to day basis - to ensure that they are excited to attend, feel a sense of belonging and are supported to experience success in their learning. As a school,

Therefore, we put on a range of extra curricular activities on each day of the week. We also ensure that each and every day, pupils feel warmly welcomed into the academy - and that they are offered a broad and exciting curriculum. Part of our universal offer is also to provide a breakfast club each morning; access to a trusted adult during the day; high quality teaching; a fair and proportionate policy for positive behaviour and regular communication with parents. In addition, to support and encourage pupils who might find attendance at school more difficult, we also implement a range of strategies and interventions through our graduated approach:

• Weekly meetings with pupils who have had more than two unauthorised absences in a half term
• Weekly communication with students about their overall attendance figure
• Half termly communication home about their child’s attendance in relation to the school
• Daily check-ins with pupils who need it to help them attend more often
• Attendance support plans for pupils who need extra support
• Regular 1:1 attendance mentoring for identified groups of pupils
• Information published weekly on exciting events and opportunities for the following days
• Bespoke support and further signposting for pupils with barriers to attending
• Regular attendance panels to understand further reasons for absence and act accordingly
• Community walks / community walking busses to support getting younger children to school
• A Counsellor trained to support pupils with emotional based school avoidance
• A family support worker to work with those who need it
• Bespoke (full time) timetables for limited time periods where appropriate

As a very last resort - and only in exceptional circumstances, the Academy may implement a part time timetable to support regular attendance. This would only be as a very last resort, for as short a time as possible and with regular, weekly reviews between school and home.

Rewarding Attendance

Recognising strong attendance is key and celebrating improvements in attendance is important. Positive points on Arbor, will be given to all pupils to acknowledge good attendance, and will be awarded at regular intervals for those who have achieved good attendance or have improved their attendance. Within the academy rewards policy, pupils will receive additional Praise Points on a half termly basis for achieving 95%+ attendance. Parents can track these Praise Points via the Arbor app.

Attendance Rewards

• The Arrive on Time Riders/Bus will target and support improving pupil attendance and punctuality - these children will be celebrated regularly.
• Every day, the children will complete their own attendance streak ensuring that they are on time all day, every day. There will be a class competition between year groups to encourage pupils to want to attend.
• Every week, the pupil in each Year Group who has the most improved attendance will win a £5 gift voucher.
• Every week, whenever a pupil attends the academy and is on time, their name will be entered into a prize draw at the end of the week known as the “don’t be off challenge” where they can win a prize linked to the wheel of fortune.
• Weekly 100% Attendance: Each week 1 children will be chosen in each class to receive a 100% certificate by Miss Lewis the Headteacher and Mr Ingle the attendance lead. Children can receive this on multiple occasions.
• 100% attendance will be celebrated each day by receiving a positive dojo point and/or stickers.
• Every Monday, the pupil attendance leads will update class attendance competitions and added to class displays. Attendance displays will be updated regularly by adults in classes.
• Each half term, those pupils who have achieved 60days on their attendance streaks that have the highest attendance will be rewarded with a prize such as the gaming bus. This enables teachers to work together, to drive forward attendance.
• Each term, those pupils who have 100% attendance for that term will be rewarded with a visit to the local cinema on the final day of term.
• Further ad-hoc attendance initiatives and events will take place half termly across the year within year groups in order to boost and encourage full attendance. An example of this are random 100% attendance weeks where pupils are rewarded for gaining 100% all week.
• Tiered end of year attendance rewards trips (Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) for pupils with 94%+ attendance across the year. This will involve pupils attending end of term incentive.
• The Year Group with the highest attendance across the year will receive a day visit out of the academy (behaviour dependant also).
• Each week on a Monday at 3pm - 3.15/3.30pm Children with 100% attendance and/or most improved will be invited (on a Friday) to attend the following Monday. Parents and/or carers will also be invited to attend where appropriate.

Team Rewards for Attendance

• October Half term - Harvest Festival disco outfits provided - last day of term.
• December Autumn 2 Half Term - movie & popcorn in class.
• February Spring 1 half Term - games such as board games in the hall
• April Spring 2 Half Term - Pantomime
• May Summer 2 Half Term - Disco
• July Summer 2 Half Term - Bouncy Castle

Celebration Boards

• The pastoral and attendance team will lead a pupil pioneer celebration board by the dinner hall to celebrate individual and class improvements in behaviour and attendance as identified above.

Parental Celebrations

• Parents and/or carers will be invited to attend special lunch or afternoon lessons with their child and Miss Lewis the headteacher to celebrate individual improvements in behaviour and/or attendance.

Annual Rewards - Nightingale Pupil Recognition Event alongside Community Council Members (CCMs)

• Attendance and punctuality 97%+
• Super Learning of the Year
• Ways of Being Advocate
• Highest positive points girl and boy, most improved positive points girl and boy
• Overall Positive Points Champions
• 100% attendance club for R - KS1 and KS2 - positive points, most improved behaviour 15 pupils from each key stage will win a trip out such as picnic, visiting local parks such as Roundhay, adventure areas or going to the zoo

Attendance achievements will be communicated to families regularly via email or text messages.

We are conscious, as an academy, that sometimes absence is unavoidable. And in our approach toward rewarding and recognising attendance we aim to ensure we are not inadvertently penalising those whose absence was unavoidable. This includes recognising improved attendance; attending on ‘every day possible’ and looking at individual attendance records when deciding who needs to be recognised.

9. Attendance Monitoring

The Academy will monitor attendance and absence data weekly, half-termly, termly and yearly across the school and at an individual pupil level. Through this analysis we will identify whether or not there are particular groups of children whose absences may be a cause for concern.

As a minimum, the academy will analyse: YTD attendance; PA; SA; attendance of different pupil groups (e.g. Ethnicity; SEND; Pupil Premium; Mobile pupils); reasons for attendance (code analysis); patterns across the week, the term and the year; patterns of lateness.

Pupil-level absence data will be collected each term and published at national and local authority level through the DfE's school absence national statistics releases. The underlying school-level absence data is published alongside the national statistics. The school will compare attendance data to the national average, and share this with the ACC and Regional Director.

Analysing attendance

The school will analyse attendance and absence data regularly to identify pupils or cohorts that need additional support with their attendance, and use this analysis to provide targeted support to these pupils and their families. We will look at historic and emerging patterns of attendance and absence, and then develop strategies to address these patterns. See Appendix 3 for how we use attendance data.

Using data to improve attendance

The school will provide regular attendance reports to form tutors and class teachers and to school leaders, to facilitate discussions with pupils and families and use data to monitor and evaluate the impact of any interventions put in place in order to modify them and inform future strategies.

Identifying and supporting Persistent and Severely Absent Pupils

Persistent absence is where a pupil misses 10% or more of school, and severe absence is where a pupil misses 50% or more of school. Research shows that missing 10% or more of school dramatically reduces a pupil’s ability to go on to get great qualifications and to be a healthy and happy individual. The academy will work with parents/carers, staff, agencies and pupils to prevent children from falling into either of these categories.

The school will use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence. We will hold regular meetings with the parents/carers of pupils and all adults who are listed as holding parental responsibility, who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable, or are persistently or severely absent, to discuss attendance and engagement at school. We will provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance in line with our graduated approach. See appendix 4 for a copy of this.

Pupils with attendance of less than 90% will be identified by the attendance team and referred to the Academy Attendance Improvement Officers (AIO) for more intensive casework. Preventative intervention work will be done to avoid pupils reaching PA status.

In order to prevent pupils from falling into Persistent Absence category, the following strategy will ensue:

• Use attendance data to find patterns and trends of persistent and severe absence
• Consider potential safeguarding issues and, where suspected or present, address them in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education
• Hold regular meetings with the parents of pupils who the school (and/or local authority) considers to be vulnerable or at risk of persistent or severe absence, or who are persistently or severely absent, to:

o   Discuss attendance and engagement at school

o   Listen, and understand barriers to attendance

o   Explain the help that is available

o   Explain the potential consequences of, and sanctions for, persistent and severe absence

o   Review any existing actions or interventions

• Provide access to wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance, in conjunction with the local authority, where relevant
• Consider alternative support that could be put in place to remove any barriers to attendance and re-engage these pupils. In doing so, the school will sensitively consider some of the reasons for absence

If, after all the above processes are unsuccessful and pupil attendance drops below 70%, we will consider the legal sanctions. If there is another, underlying cause of absence, we will refer to other agencies e.g the SEND team; Educational psychology; Children’s social work services; CAMHs; Early Help. We always aim to work with families to improve attendance and through all of the interventions in place. Where families are not engaging with the support we will have to take more punitive actions including:

• Fast Track Initiative
• Formal Casework
• Referral to educational welfare officers
• Referral to the local authority for legal work

Reintegration after significant absences

Every effort will be made to re-integrate pupils successfully back into the Academy following long periods of absence. This might include:

• Phased returns and reduced timetables, in exceptional circumstances
• Bespoke timetables
• A ‘catch up’ plan with teachers to support with accessing missed curriculum
• Morning check-ins and welcomes and end of day check-ins
• Mentoring from the  pastoral team
• An attendance support plan agreed with pupils and Parents
• Identified safe space and trusted adult
• Weekly reviews on progress

Identifying and supporting Children Missing in Education

We recognise that a child going missing from education is a potential indicator of abuse or neglect. A pupil is counted to be ‘Missing in Education’ if they have been absent for 20 consecutive days from the academy (with no reason for absence given) or if they have not returned for 10 consecutive school days after returning from an authorised absence. Where a child is identified as missing education we will comply with our statutory duty to inform the local authority of any pupil who falls within the reporting notification requirements outlined in Children Missing Education – Statutory guidance for local authorities (DfE September 2016) and follow the LSCP - Local protocols for Leeds practitioners (leedsscp.org.uk)

School and college staff members must follow the Leeds Children’s Services LA protocols

Contact: cme@leeds.gov.uk. Tel: 0113 3789686.

Children who are absent, abscond or go missing during the school day are vulnerable and at potential risk of abuse, neglect, CSE or CCE including involvement in county lines. Academy staff members must follow the academy’s procedures for dealing with pupils who are absent/go missing, particularly on repeat occasions, to help identify the risk of abuse and neglect including sexual abuse or exploitation and to help prevent the risks of going missing in future.

10. Links with other Policies

This policy links to the following policies:

• Academy Safeguarding Policy
• Behaviour policy
• Exclusions Policy
• Co-op Academies Trust Attendance Principles

To support all of our families in understanding and adhering to our attendance policy, we also publish, at each of our academies, a ‘parent friendly’ attendance leaflet, posters and fliers - with easy to understand information on about the above policy.

Appendix 1 - Coding

The following codes are taken from the DfE’s guidance on school attendance.

Appendix 2 - Removing Barriers Flowchart

(from Working Together to Improve School Attendance)

Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively in partnership with, not against families. All partners should work together to:

Expect

Aspire to high standards of attendance from all pupils and parents and build a culture where all can, and want to, be in school and ready to learn by prioritising attendance improvement across the school.

Monitor

Rigorously use attendance data to identify patterns of poor attendance (at individual and cohort level) as soon as possible so all parties can work together to resolve them before they become entrenched.

Listen and understand

When a pattern is spotted, discuss with pupils and parents to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

Facilitate support

Remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents to access the support they need to overcome the barriers outside of school. This might include an early help or whole family plan where absence is a symptom of wider issues.

Formalise support

Where absence persists and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, partners should work together to explain the consequences clearly and ensure support is also in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through an attendance contract or education supervision order.

Enforce

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, enforce attendance through statutory intervention: a penalty notice in line with the National Framework or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

Appendix 3 - Data monitoring and analysis

As a minimum, the following data will be analysed and collected on a daily, weekly and half termly basis

Appendix 4 - Graduated Response

Name:

Year & Tutor Group:

Date:

Wave 1 – Universal support

Wave 1 – Universal support 96 - 100% Attendance (Year to Year only 5 days absence)

Our whole-school approach to attendance emphasises the importance of coming to school on time, all day, everyday. Students are expected to attend school from 8:45 until 15:30 everyday from Monday to Friday, unless there is an emergency. All absences must be reported to school before 8:45. You will get regular communication about your child’s attendance, and we are always available to talk if you need support. We can provide telephone interpreters if you need this, and the GRT team is in school in person on Tuesday mornings 8.45 - 11 am and can support Czech and Romanian speaking families.

As part of our Universal support, all students have access to the following:

• A Student friendly attendance policy in their classroom and in your induction pack.
• Daily communication with absent students or their families.
• Late texts, phone calls and home visits including calling cards
• TV Screens in school translated into 7+ languages, attendance displays in class.
• Student friendly and translated Co-op Academy Nightingale positive Behaviour Policy
• Student friendly social inclusion policy
• Warm Welcome, check on pupils feelings (zones of regulation)
• Celebrate international days, create a sense of belonging, respect, tolerance and free from discrimination.
• Daily Attendance Dojo
• Uniform, financial, community, medical and dental support
• Opportunities to trips, sports & music events after school
• Positive transitions (whole school and Yr Reception - KS1, KS1 - KS2 including in-year admissions)
• Weekly assemblies
• PSHE lessons linked to health and wellbeing
• Reception stay and play to support transition into school
• End of year transition work to support transition into new classes
• Weekly celebration assemblies
• Rewards, certificates and positive messages
• Daily attendance discussions in class
• Return from absence catch up sessions
• Attendance Stars celebrated on display outside the lunch hall for all children to see
• Class Attendance Competitions/Race
• Weekly Newsletter including attendance
• Attendance Mentor support
• End of Term Attendance Celebration on the last day of each term.
• Stage 1 warning letter for children below 92% attendance.

All students also have access to:

• Their class teacher
• Year Group Teaching Assistants
• Two Behaviour Support Staff
• One Pastoral Support Teacher
• Attendance Improvement Team
• Mental Health First Aiders
• Designated Safeguarding Officers
• Family Support Worker
• Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCo)
• Co-op Collaborative Counsellor
• Police Community Support Officer

Wave 2 - Targeted support 90% - 95%

Wave 3 - Specialist support 85% - 90%

Wave 4 - Educational Neglect 0-50%

Ensure all evidence is stored on Arbor

Daily Routines

Weekly Routines

Monthly Routines

Half Termly Routines

Termly Routines

Yearly Routines

Appendix 5 - Responsibilities

Appendix 6 - Legal Interventions

Education supervision order:

Either local authority can apply for an education supervision order, but it will usually be the Home LA that acts as the ‘designated LA’ and therefore both local authorities should discuss and agree before proceeding.

Penalty notice:

A penalty notice must be issued in line with the National Framework and local code of conduct for the area in which the child goes to school, and if issued by a local authority, it must be the School LA. The National Threshold for issuing penalty notices is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. A school week means any week in which there is at least one school session. This can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence (e.g. 4 sessions of holiday taken in term time plus 6 sessions of arriving late after the register closes all within 10 school weeks). These sessions can be consecutive (e.g. 10 sessions of holiday in one week) or not (e.g. 6 sessions of unauthorised absence taken in 1 week and 1 per week for the next 4 weeks). The period of 10 school weeks can also span different terms or school years (e.g. 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the Summer Term and a further 8 within the Autumn Term) and different schools.

Prosecution:

Either local authority has the power to prosecute, but in general it should be the School LA that takes forward prosecutions under section 444(1) and (1A) of the Education Act 1996. It is, however, good practice for the School LA to inform the Home LA that legal action is being taken.

Parenting orders:

Where a prosecution leads to a Parenting Order, the Court will specify a responsible officer in line with section 372(5) of the Sentencing Act 2020. Both local authorities should discuss and agree who is most appropriate to act as responsible officer in advance of seeking the Order, within the statutory requirements. The most appropriate officer will often depend on the reason for absence. 

School Attendance Orders (SAOs):

Where it appears a child of compulsory school age in their area is not receiving suitable education, either at school or otherwise than at a school (such as unsuitable home education), that local authority (the Home LA) is responsible for serving a notice and if necessary a SAO in line with sections 437 to 442 of the Education Act 1996. Likewise, if prosecution for breaching the SAO is deemed necessary, it should be taken forward by the Home LA.

Appendix 7 - Attendance Principles

The attendance principles, found in full here, are principles that all academies should adhere to in their approach to attendance. Each academy should be able to evidence clearly, how they believe each principle is demonstrated in their setting; implemented with rigour; and have an accurate understanding of how successfully they feel each is embedded.

Great school attendance relies on rigour, tenacity and repeated and clear routines, systematically applied. It also relies on a brilliant knowledge of the context and situation of the community being served, great relationships and a culture of truly high expectations for all. Importantly, the fundamental of great attendance is having a school where children feel welcomed, supported, included and want to attend. We want to support, empathise and understand the challenges our pupils face - but we want to challenge poor attendance and ensure we are not tolerating anything but the highest possible.

The 23 Attendance Principles are:

1. All hands on deck - Everyone has a responsibility for attendance
2. Senior attendance champion - A dedicated senior leader who champions and promotes attendance
3. Data driven - Granular data collection and analysis to get to the root cause of attendance issues
4. Calendars, Timetables and Extra Curricular - Thought given to ‘selling the day’ to our pupils
5. Pastoral AND attendance - All teams should work together in a coordinated approach
6. People talk to people - Interactions are our interventions. Limit answerphones for absence reports
7. Daily, weekly, termly routines - Organisation and consistency around routines
8. Root cause of absence - We need to know the specific reasons for absence in our schools
9. Numbers not percentages - Report on lessons missed, subjects missed and number of days
10. Close registers - Arriving more than half an hour after the start of the day results in a U code
11. Explicit on what is not authorised - Clear verbal and written communication for unauthorised
12. Intervene early - Trends not just thresholds - Don’t wait for a student to become PA - act early
13. Safeguarding - Attendance and safeguarding are inextricably linked - robust processes
14. Clear communication (empathise but don’t tolerate) - High expectations, high support, low threat
15. Welcome strategy - From the day of admissions to returning from absence - staff welcome pupils
16. EBSA - At least one member of staff needs to be trained in emotional school avoidance
17. Scripts and scaffolds - Don’t leave language and interaction to chance
18. Regular whole staff training - Role of attendance team; addressing root cause of absence
19. Building Belonging - Training, thought and strategy for how to help our students feel the belong
20. Filling gaps in learning - Staff need to be clear on how to fill gaps for students with absence
21. Pupil and parent panels - For key groups to understand issues, challenges and assets
22. Reintegration plan - For all pupils who experience an absence of 5 days or more
23. PD package - Excellent personal development curriculum is key  to support strong attendance