Penalty notice fines for school attendance are changing
Dear Parents/Carers
We would like to say a big thank you to all our Hanham Woods Academy parents and carers for supporting your children to attend school and engage so well with their learning. We know that this reflects the value our families place on children learning in school every day. We are looking forward to continuing to work together, to support best attendance and learning.
You may be aware that the government has made some changes to the penalty notices for unauthorised absence rules, which came into effect from 19 August 2024, in time for the new school year.
Our academy’s approach to leave of absence requests will still be the same – we will not authorise any leave of absence in term time, unless satisfied the reason is exceptional. We ask parents and carers to request permission in advance, and only if absolutely necessary. Any requests should be put in writing via the appropriate form (available from the academy website https://hanhamwoodsacademy.clf.uk/key-information/attendance/ or reception) and wherever possible with at least four school weeks’ notice. To assist parents and carers in booking holidays and arranging other events, our term date information can be found here https://hanhamwoodsacademy.clf.uk/our-academy/term-dates/
From 19 August, if a child has at least 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in 10 school weeks, their parent/carer(s) may receive a penalty notice. (A morning or afternoon is one session; a whole school day is two sessions.) However, the government’s rules also allow for penalty notices to be issued for less unauthorised absence, in some circumstances, for example where parents or carers appear to be avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events which the school has not authorised absence for.
Please note: Penalty notices are issued to parents and carers as an alternative to prosecution and are intended to prevent the need for court action. A penalty notice may not be issued if prosecution is considered a more appropriate sanction for a pupil’s unauthorised absence.
| Sanction | Outcome |
| First penalty notice (in a 3-year rolling period) | The penalty is £80 (per parent/carer, per child) payable within 21 days, rising to £160 if paid between 22 and 28 days. (If the fine is not paid, the parent/carer may be prosecuted for the child’s unauthorised absence.) |
| Second penalty notice (in a 3-year rolling period) | The second time a penalty notice is issued to the same parent/carer for the same child the amount will be £160 per parent/carer, per child (if paid within 28 days). There is no reduction in the amount if the penalty is paid early. (Again, if the fine is not paid, the parent/carer may be prosecuted.) |
| Prosecution | Fines per parent/carer will be capped to two fines within any 3-year period. Once this limit has been reached, a prosecution will be considered. Prosecution may result in fines of up to £2,500 per parent/carer, per child. |
Attendance Information for Parents and Carers
August 2024
Return to school arrangements
The first day and week of term are very important in helping pupils to settle into school and the school routine. We know that children who attend every day during the first week of term are more likely to attend well over the year. They are also better settled into the changes that happen in new terms, and therefore more readily able to access learning than those who miss out.
Thank you for your support in ensuring your child returns to school on the first day of term.
September 2024 – Start of Term Arrangements
- Monday 2nd September: INSET day / Academy closed to students
- Tuesday 3rd September: INSET day / Academy closed to students
- Wednesday 4th September: Year 7 and Year 11 return [Year 8, 9 and 10 remain at home]
- Year 7 arrive between 08:10 – 08:25
- Year 11 arrive between 09:15 – 09:30
- Thursday 5th September: All students return (staggered to manage induction) to the Academy
- Year 7, 8, 9 and 11 students arrive between 08:00 – 08:25
- Year 10 students arrive between 09:00 – 09:15
Support for your child in school
Please remember that we are here to help in any way we can. If you have any concerns about your child that you wish to discuss with us, please do get in touch. If we cannot help directly, we will work with you to help you find other support.
You can contact us by emailing [email protected] which is the most effective contact to ensure that your query reaches the appropriate member of staff to provide information and support. We endeavour to respond to all queries within 48 hours. If you have a more urgent concern, please contact the Academy reception via 0117 440 8900
Arriving at school on time
Arriving at school on time is essential for the pupil’s own learning, it encourages habits of good timekeeping and lessens any classroom disruption. Late arrival means pupils risk missing important information which can seriously disadvantage them.
Pupils can arrive from 8:00 am, our Academy canteen is staffed with breakfast food available for purchase from 8:20 every day. Our pastoral team also run a breakfast club providing a free breakfast for students in receipt of pupil premium. If your child is not in receipt of pupil premium but would benefit from accessing this support, please contact us via our safeguarding email [email protected] and a member of the team will be in touch to organise this.
- All pupils are expected to arrive at school in good time for the start of the school day at 8:30am
- If a pupil arrives at school after 8:30 am, they will be marked in the register as late.
Staff may ask to meet with parents/carers of pupils who arrive late to school, to discuss reasons for lateness and solutions.
Illness
Pupils should attend school on every day the school is open, unless they are really not well enough.
Minor illness should not be a reason for staying at home. If your child attends school when feeling slightly under the weather, but feels worse during the school day, they can let a member of staff know and we will contact you if we think your child needs to go home. If you aren’t sure whether to send your child to school, please contact us via [email protected] and we will be happy to talk this through with you.
If your child is too ill to attend, you must contact the academy before 8:30am on the first day of absence, to let us know. If your child is ill for more than one day, you will need to contact the academy on each morning of the absence, unless otherwise agreed.
To report an absence, contact the Academy absence email / telephone line via:
Tel: 0117 440 8900 – option 2
Please clearly explain the symptoms your child has, when the symptoms started, and when you expect your child to be well enough to return to school.
By law, schools must record all pupil absences and whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised.
Medical and dental appointments
Please try to avoid medical and dental appointments in school time. If this is unavoidable, arrange appointments so the minimum school time is lost. Unless it is an emergency appointment, parents/carers are expected to let the academy know about the appointment in advance, with evidence of the appointment. Your child should still attend school for as much of the school day as possible.
Absence follow up
The academy will follow up any pupil absences where the parent/carer has not contacted us to explain why, or where we are unclear about the reason for absence.
If you don’t tell us the reason for your child’s absence, it will be recorded as unauthorised.
Where the academy has cause for concern about the actual reason for a pupil’s absence, staff may seek more information or evidence from parents/carers, and/or make a home visit to check the reason.
Unauthorised absences may result in a penalty notice or prosecution.
Important reminder about term time leave
Attending school every day helps children and young people maximise their learning and enjoy the benefits of their education. It really does make a difference.
For that reason, the academy will not authorise any leave of absence in term time, unless satisfied the reason is exceptional.
We ask parents and carers to request permission in advance, and only if absolutely necessary. Any requests should be put in writing via the appropriate form (available from https://hanhamwoodsacademy.clf.uk/key-information/attendance/) and wherever possible with at least four school weeks’ notice. The parent or carer who the child normally lives with should make the application.
We also ask parents and carers not to make plans without discussing with the academy first, so that we can make good decisions together.
Family emergencies also need careful consideration. It may not always be appropriate, or in the best interests of the child, to miss school for emergencies which are being dealt with by adult family members. Wherever possible, please try to make alternative arrangements for your child so they can still attend school.
It is really important that we know where children are, as we have a duty to ensure they are safe. If we don’t know why a child is absent, we will follow our safeguarding procedures.
Parents/carers are reminded that unauthorised term time leave may result in a penalty notice or prosecution.
To assist parents/carers in booking holidays and arranging other events, please find the term dates and inset days until July 2025 detailed below. Our term date information can also be found here https://hanhamwoodsacademy.clf.uk/our-academy/term-dates/
Legal action for unauthorised absence – including penalty notices
The government has made some changes to the penalty notices for unauthorised absence rules, which come into effect from 19 August 2024, in time for the new school year.
From 19 August, if a child has at least 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in 10 school weeks, their parent/s may receive a penalty notice. (A morning or afternoon is one session; a whole school day is two sessions.) However, the government’s rules also allow for penalty notices to be issued for less unauthorised absence, in some circumstances, for example where parents appear to be avoiding the national threshold by taking several term time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events which the school has not authorised absence for.
Penalty notices are issued to each parent/carer with responsibility for the child and are issued for each child with unauthorised absence. For example, if two siblings have unauthorised absence, and there are two parents/carers with responsibility for the children, four penalty notices would be issued.
Please note: Penalty notices are issued to parents and carers as an alternative to prosecution and are intended to prevent the need for court action. A penalty notice may not be issued if prosecution is considered a more appropriate sanction for a pupil’s unauthorised absence.
The table below provides more information about penalty notices and other legal action for unauthorised absence.
Further information
If you have any questions about the information provided, or any other attendance related questions, please contact Rebecca Tushingham [email protected]
Our full school attendance policy can be found here
Yours sincerely
Mr O’Callaghan
Principal
