Attendance and Holidays

At Barnsole Primary School, a pupil's regular attendance is every parent's responsibility and legal duty. 

We work in close partnership with pupils, parents, carers and the wider community to improve all aspects of attendance and punctuality. 

Reporting Absences

If your child is unable to attend school, you must inform us by 9.00am on each day of absence by one of the following methods:

• Email: office@barnsole-maritime.org or absence@barnsole-maritime.org 
• Telephone the school on 01634 333400 by 9:00am 
• Via the MyChildAtSchool app

Please note we require a specific reason for all absences in order to complete our statutory attendance registers. 

• Name of pupil;
• Class; and
• Reason for absence.  Specific reason for absence.

Any absences that are not reported will be followed up with a telephone call and/or email. If we are unable to make contact, we may undertake a home visit as part of our statutory safeguarding procedures. 

Please refer to Section 6 Authorised and Unauthorised Absences of Barnsole’s Attendance Strategy Policy, which is administered in conjunction with Medway Council.

Medical and Planned Absences

Where possible, we ask that medical or dental appointments are made outside of school hours.  We recognised, however, that this is not always feasible.

For any planned absence, such as hospital, doctor, or dental appointments, parents and carers must complete an Absence Request Form and attach a copy of the appointment card or letter. Hard copies of the form are available from the School Office.

NHS Live Well Website

This NHS website has a comprehensive page about common illnesses (see below.  This can be used as a reference to see if your child should come to school.

NHS Live Well - is-my-child-too-ill-for-school

Holidays During Term Time

Holidays taken during term time are not authorised and may result in a penalty notice. Families who take holidays during school time will be referred to Medway Council, which works closely with the school.

The law states that parents and carers do not have a legal right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time.

Penalty Notices for Unauthorised Absence

With effect from August 2024, the UK national policy on unauthorised absence changed.  The key points are:

• The penalty charge is £160 per parent, per child.
• If paid within 21 days the charge is reduced to £90.
• Penalties and prosecutions apply to each parent with parent responsibility, for each child.

Attendance missed and the impact on pupil's learning

• In line with the new guidance from the DfE, schools are encouraged to regularly inform parents about their child’s attendance and absence levels. Here is the guidance from the UK Government, Working together to improve school attendance.
  

Attendance Record and Lessons Missed

• 95% attendance means 50 missed lessons. This means a child missed about 10 days or 2 weeks of lessons in the school year.
• 90% attendance means 100 missed lessons. This means a child misses four weeks of lessons in the school year.
• 85% attendance means 150 missed lessons. This means the child misses almost 6 weeks of lessons in the school year.
• 80% attendance means 200 missed lessons. This means the child misses over 7 weeks of lessons in the school year.

• 75% attendance means 250 missed lessons. This means the child misses about 9 weeks of lessons in the school year.

Punctuality*

• Arriving 5 minutes late every day adds up to over 3 days lost each year, that's 20 lessons missed
• Arriving 15 minutes late every day adds up to 2 weeks absence a year, thats 55 lessons missed
• Arriving 30 minutes late every adds up to 19 days absence a year, that's 123 lessons missed

*Please note, these calculations are approximate, based on how the terms fall each calendar year.

Maritime Trust Attendance Strategy

In additional to The Barnsole Attendance policy, the school works in partnership with the Maritime Trust to ensure that school attendance is prioritised. The Trust Attendance Strategy and Policy can be found here.