Attendance
The Skegness Junior Academy, in line with government directives, expects pupils to attend school for at least 97% of the time. This equates to half a day’s absence every two weeks. If a pupil is absent for a whole day their attendance for that week drops to 80%.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 have removed the reference to holidays during term time and now provide that a leave of absence during term time will only be granted where an application is made in advance to the school and the school considers that a leave of absence should be granted due to exceptional circumstances relating to that application.
You can apply for a leave of absence here: https://bit.ly/2Ywyty4
What amounts to ‘exceptional circumstances’ is a matter of discretion for the Headteacher/Principal and should be judged on a case by case basis but it is unlikely to amount to an exceptional circumstance if it is merely claimed that a holiday abroad can only be afforded in term time or that a parent is unable to take leave during school holidays.
If your leave of absence has not been authorised by the Academy, you may be issued with a Penalty Notice by the Local Authority. This could result in a fine of £160 per parent per child. Please refer to the attachment below regarding second, third and further offences (titled PN CHANGES 19TH AUG 24)
Parents have a responsibility for ensuring their child attends the Academy regularly and punctually. The Academy expects that all parents communicate with them, either in writing or by telephone, giving a reason:
- 1. In advance of any planned absence.
- 2. Immediately following any unplanned absence.
- 3. During any absence expected to last more than three days.
It is easy to inform the office of an absence!
You can either visit the office directly or:
Telephone: 01754879166
Email: admin@skegnessjunioracademy.org
Please include your child’s name, class and reason for absence in your email.
Failure to comply with this requirement will mean that your child will have unauthorised absences on their attendance record. Further information is available on the below attachment titled - Attendance expectations and procedures.
Please click here to read our trust-wide attendance policy.
Parents/carers should inform the Attendance Officer of any problem or reason that may prevent their child from attending the Academy.
Parents/carers should contact us, in confidence, whenever a problem occurs that may affect their child’s attendance. Regular attendance means arriving on time for the start of the Academy day. It is the parent/carers responsibility to ensure their child gets to the Academy on time.
Parents of pupils who are regularly late will be contacted, so we can work together to rectify the situation.
POOR ATTENDANCE = POOR ATTAINMENT!
Mrs Bryan and Mrs Rowson, our Attendance Officers will help you with any enquiries.
Attendance and Safeguarding procedures
Safeguarding Procedures
We would like to remind parents/carers of our safeguarding procedures that are in place for children that do not attend school.
If your child does not attend school, and we do not receive a reason why - a member of the safeguarding team may come to your home to ascertain why. This is called a 'safe and well check'. If your child has been absent from school and does not return on the 3rd consecutive day, a safe and well check will be carried out by a member of the safeguarding team (regardless of whether or not you have informed school why your child is absent). You will receive a text message informing you of this possibility.
Please appreciate that we have a duty of care to the children who are a part of our school, and the safeguarding procedure is in place to make sure children are kept safe.