At Nelson Thomlinson School we have high expectations of school attendance. In school, pupils are learning important social skills as well as ensuring they are able to progress as much as possible in the academic aspect of their education.
We strive for all pupils to achieve a minimum of 97% attendance throughout the academic year. We understand that on occasions illness cannot be helped, but we want every pupil, and parent/carer, to work with us in helping to achieve this target.
Every term we reward excellent attendance as well as pupils who have managed to improve their attendance from one term to the next.
The Government describe persistent absent as under 90%. Where attendance drops below 90%, the attendance team will work closely with families in a supportive way, through communication, meetings and attendance contracts, to ensure that attendance is improved and that any barriers to coming into school are removed.
Absence Procedure
Every day that your child is absent from school, you should call the school on 016973 42160 and report the absence via the automated message by pressing ‘1’ or ‘2’ accordingly. Alternatively, e-mail attendance@nts.cumbria.sch.uk before 9am.
You are asked to provide the following information:
- Pupil’s name
- Year group/Form group
- Reason for absence
- Your name and relationship to the pupil
Safeguarding our pupils is of paramount importance, and as such, if a reason for absence is not provided the school will follow clear procedures to ascertain the whereabouts of your child.
Medical Appointments
To ensure pupils’ attendance meets our expectations, all medical appointments should be made, where possible, outside school hours. In situations where this is not possible, we expect pupils to attend school before and after the appointment, ensuring that they only miss a small amount of lesson time. For example, if a pupil has a dentist appointment at 10.30am, we would expect the pupil to arrive at school for 8.50am, be collected before their appointment, and then to return in time for late morning/afternoon lessons. If medical appointments are arranged during am or pm registration, these will only be authorised if we are provided with evidence of an appointment.
Attendance e-mail address:- attendance@nts.cumbria.sch.uk
Leave of absence requests
The law does not grant parents an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. The Department for Education states that a headteacher can only consider authorising a leave of absence in term time in “exceptional circumstances”.
Parents/Carers need to request a leave of absence in writing using the below Leave of absence request form. This can be submitted to the main reception or by email to attendance@nts.cumbria.sch.uk
This should be sent to the school at least 7 days before the start of the holiday. All requests must be made prior to the leave being taken.
If the holiday is not considered to be an exceptional circumstance, and you nevertheless take your child out of school for the leave of absence, this will be recorded as unauthorised absence.
All unauthorised absences, including holidays that have not been sanctioned by the headmaster, are accumulated and parents/carers who fail to ensure regular attendance of their children at school can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996.
The amount is £80 (per parent/carer per child) if paid within 21 days; and £160 (per parent/carer per child) if paid between 21 and 28 days. If a second holiday absence occurs then the FPN increases to £160 per parent, per child. A third occurrence would result in prosecution. This process covers a three-year rolling cycle meaning the fines are not reset each academic year and if a child is absent in Year 7 due to a holiday and then again in Year 9 for the same reason, the £160 per parent, per child fine would be payable for the Year 9 absence. Failure to pay a Penalty Notice will result in prosecution, except in limited circumstances.
