Our Attendance Champion is Mrs Lisa Kingston, our Deputy Head. Mrs Kingston is supported by the Senior Leadership Team, the Safeguarding Team and Mrs Kerry Lower, our Administrator. 

If your child is absent from school please contact the school office at enquiries@st-faiths.lincs.sch.uk

01522 888988

The attendance of our children in school is very important to us. As you are already aware, as a school we monitor and track attendance very closely. We look at trends in attendance, attendance for different groups of children and track attendance on an individual basis. Our whole school data is currently in line with national data.

Research has shown that a drop in attendance can have a negative impact on a child’s attainment and behaviour; it is therefore one of the areas which we closely monitor throughout the year. We understand that young children pick up illnesses and cannot always attend school if they are unwell. We aim for all children to have at least 95% attendance each half term.

When a child's attendance drops below this good level of attendance they are missing out on a significant number of learning experiences. The table below sets out how much time a child misses in a school year at different attendance percentages.

If you require any further information or we can support, you and your family, in anyway please do not hesitate to come and speak to us.

Requesting Leave of absence

A request for the leave of absence must be submitted prior to the absence. An absence form from the office needs to be completed (with the exception of certain medical appointments). The leave is only granted at the discretion of the Head Teacher. All applications for leave will be responded to by email or in writing. There are some exceptional circumstances when a leave of absence will be authorised. When leave is not granted, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and may lead to legal action.

Common Absence Requests:

• Medical appointments wherever possible should be made outside of school time. Where this is not possible, your child should not miss the whole day for an appointment. Evidence of this appointment will be required.
• Religious observances may be considered as special leave. Please request this in advance.
• Family Holidays cannot be authorised by the school unless we deem them to be exceptional circumstances. Where you child / children are absent from school for more than 4.5 days a fixed term penalty will be issued.  In the first instance this is currently £80 per child and per parent. The cost of this increases each time a holiday is taken.

Where a request to the school is not made and a holiday is still taken, a fine may still be issued. The fine is issued following your child’s return to school.

• Visiting a new school will be authorised.
• Other absences will be considered on an individual basis e.g. a family wedding or funeral or to participate in an agreed sporting event.

Parents will not be able to request leave of absence for a family holiday, unless they can demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances involved with this. Where a parent or carer feels there are exceptional circumstances, requests for authorised holidays must be made in advance (4 weeks’ notice) in writing to the Headteacher for consideration. The DfE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.

If leave is not authorised, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Fixed Penalty Notices for holidays in term time

Where families choose to take holidays during term time, and it is not due to exceptional circumstances, as a school we are required by law to issue a fixed penalty notice. These are then issued by the local authority and families are fined per parent per child. The current fine is £80 per parent per child if it is paid within 21 days of receipt. This increases to £160 per parent per child if it is paid within 28 days. If the fine is still not paid, further legal action may be taken and this can lead to you being taken to court for your child’s non-attendance.

A Penalty Notice can be issued under the following legislation:

• Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 places upon parents a duty to ensure that their child receives an efficient full-time education either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.
• Where a child is a registered pupil at a school and the parent fails to ensure that child’s regular attendance at school, the parent is liable to be prosecuted for a criminal offence under Section 444 of the Education Act.
• In cases where this duty is not being fulfilled, Section 444B of the same Act empowers the Local Authority to issue a Penalty Notice.

As detailed on the Lincolnshire County Council Website,

‘From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country is £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. There is no option for a reduction for a second fine, and a third fine cannot be issued within 3 years, we must consider prosecution instead.

If you do not pay a fine within 28 days, have received the maximum number of fines, or we feel that a fine would not be effective, we may prosecute you for non-attendance.

After 28 days we may prosecute you.’

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the school by email or come and chat to us. We are here to help and to work with you and your family to achieve great attendance.