School attendance

Regular attendance at school is important for a child's:

• potential grades - if a child is not in school regularly, they will not get the full benefit of the learning available to them
• self-esteem and future prospects
• sense of belonging and community, as well as their development of social skills
• understanding of society's expectations and how to communicate with people in authority
• preparation for adult life
• confidence and resilience through positive separation from parents and carers

Attendance should be very high

Although an attendance of 90% sounds high, this is equal to half a day absence per week, 4 weeks of absence in the academic year and a full year of missed education throughout their time at school.

Legal responsibility of parents and schools

Parents are responsible for making sure that children between 5 and 16 years old have access to appropriate education. 

Our duty is to make sure that parents are meeting this responsibility. We have the power to intervene if parents do not meet this responsibility. This may include legal action.

Absence during term time

Following amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 that came into effect 1 September 2013, schools are only allowed to grant leave of absence from school in exceptional circumstances.

You will need to write to the school and explain why the circumstances are exceptional, and why the absence can't be taking during the normal 13 weeks of holiday that your child has each year. 

Schools do not have any obligation to give you the leave of absence. If you take your child out of school without permission, it will be counted as unauthorised. The school may then ask us to issue you a Fixed Penalty Notice.

You can view or download our school attendance code of conduct below.

If you have an ongoing issue related to absence before August 19 2024, you may need to read the previous version of our policy below.

You can also read government guidance on working together to improve school attendance.

What you need to do if your child is leaving school

We have a statutory responsibility to ensure as far as reasonably possible that all children entering, leaving or living in the area are accounted for and are therefore safe as well as receiving an education.

If your child leaves their current school you will be expected to supply a forwarding address and details of their new school. This applies whether you are moving within the area or further afield, including abroad.

We appreciate that on rare occasions full details are not always able to be confirmed. In this instance, as much detail as you can give, including up to date contact details, will be useful.

It is important that you are aware that without forwarding details your child cannot be removed from the school roll, their place cannot be offered to another child, and ultimately they will be regarded as a ‘child missing from education’.

Attendance support team

The School Attendance Team are a small team of Attendance Support Workers who work directly with schools and other professionals. Together we make sure there is a good plan in place for all persistently and severely absent pupils. We use attendance data to identify pupils and cohorts within schools that need focused support with attendance.

Children Missing Education (CME)

We have a CME policy to help our partners identify, locate and return children to education. For any queries regarding CME, please email cme@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.