Attendance Guidance
Updated Statutory Guidance - Please click here for updated statutory attendance guidance.
Attendance at school is very important for all students and we ask that you support us by ensuring your child comes to school everyday on time and ready to learn. At Downend school we place a high value on all students being in school everyday in order that they are able to access high quality teaching and be appropriately supported with their learning.
Reporting absence
Where a student is to be absent from school without prior permission, the parent/carer should inform the school on the morning of the day of the first absence.
We ask that you contact the school before 8.30am if your child is going to be absent via our dedicated absence email address; dow-studentabsence@cset.co.uk.
When you email, please give the following information: your child's name and tutor group, a brief reason for absence and when you expect them to return to school. You must do this for each day your child is absent. If you do not have access to email, then please call the absence phone on 01454 862395 and leave a message.
We have an automatic first day call system which will call parents of students who are absent from school that morning with no reason given. Any unexplained absence will be followed up by the school promptly on the day by the attendance officer.
We politely request that parents/carers email or call the school, not students.
In order to accurately record the absence in the attendance register, parents/carers may be asked to provide the school with medical evidence, such as a note from the child’s doctor to support an absence for illness. If satisfactory evidence is not provided, the absence may be marked as unauthorised.
If your child will be absent from school for a medical appointment (e.g. arriving late or needing to leave early), please provide a copy of the appointment in order for the absence to be recorded appropriately. This can be in the form of a copy or screenshot of the appointment letter or reminder. Where possible medical appointments should take place outside of school time. Where an appointment must take place during the school day, the student should attend school for as much of the day as possible.
Lateness to school
It is important that if a student is late to school they are registered. If arriving after 8.45am but before 9.05am the student must register in their tutor group. If arriving after 9.05am (when tutor time has finished) they must register at the main reception.
Students who arrive at school after 8:45am but before 9:30am will be marked with an L code. Students arriving after 9:30am will be counted as unauthorised absence for the whole morning and they will be marked with a U.
Students who receive either an L code or a U code will receive a 20 minute lunchtime detention the following day.
If your child has been at a medical appointment, they will not be recorded as late if evidence is provided.
Attendance target
The attendance target for every student at Downend School is 97%. Excellent attendance is intrinsically linked to academic achievement and progress. Students who have regular absence, patterns of unauthorised absence, broken weeks of attendance and high levels of absence for minor illness are unlikely to achieve their academic potential.
Most students reach or exceed this target. We have even had some students go 5 years without a single absence! An attendance record of 90% means one day off every fortnight over the year, or 6 months off over 5 years.
Downend School prioritises the monitoring, support and robust action needed to secure high levels of attendance and works in close partnership with the Local Authority. It is essential to work in partnership to support high levels of attendance and excellent punctuality. Please CLICK HERE to access the attendance stages, these are a guide for students and parents on the steps that the school will take to support regular attendance to school.
At every stage of our attendance phases we welcome the opportunity to engage with parents and carers. Early intervention and student support sits in the heart of our approach to raising levels of student attendance. As a school we work closely with the Educational welfare officer and family link workers to support in identifying and unpicking barriers to achieving excellent attendance. Any contact with school, the educational welfare officer or a family link worker regarding attendance is a supportive process where collaboration is key.
If you would like to discuss any issues regarding attendance/absence or have any questions or queries about our attendance system, please do not hesitate to contact the attendance officer, Student Centre or your child's head of house.
Request for Absence of a School Student
In August 2024 the Statutory Guidance on attendance was updated. Please click here for the letter sent at the time. If you are considering making a request for your child to be absent please read the following important guidance first:
The current law does not give any entitlement to parents/carers to take their children on holiday during term time. Any applications for leave must be made in exceptional circumstances and the head teacher must be satisfied that the circumstances warrant the granting of leave. Absence from school without the head teacher’s permission will be classed as unauthorised absence and may lead to the issuing of a Penalty Notice (fine).
- There have been changes to the Penalty Fine Criteria which have been enforced from 19th August 2024. Penalty Notices are requested by schools and academies and issued by the Local Authority to the parents/carers of statutory school age children, per parent, per child. For example: two children in a family absent from school for a leave of absence may result in each parent receiving a Penalty Notice for each child at the below rates.
The national threshold is 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered. These rules mean you will no longer be able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.
The penalty fine is £80 (per parent per child) if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued. If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.
● If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them.
Please be aware that family holiday even if felt by parents/carers to be an educational activity, will not be authorised by the school.
Further information on school attendance and penalty notices can be found on the South Gloucestershire Council website.
GOV.UK - Parental responsibility measure for behaviour and attendance
South Gloucestershire school attendance
Public Health Agency Guidance for Infection Control in Schools
For further guidance on exclusion periods for common childhood illness can be be found at:
Guidance on infection control in schools