Highfields Primary School Mission Statement

To promote independent, confident, self-disciplined children with enquiring minds and the skills to maximise their full learning potential.

• Good attendance by pupils and staff is part of this school’s daily life

• We ensure dedicated time and resources, including the employment of additional staff as needed, e.g. home-school liaison or pastoral staff

• We ensure a high quality curriculum and teaching

• We ensure support is in place to meet the individual needs of every pupil

• We have procedures in place that are monitored and reviewed with the input of staff, pupils and parents

• We make decisions based on evidence, including through regular data analysis

• We fast track attendance issues with an emphasis on early intervention and referral to external agencies when required;

• We work in partnerships with the local community, businesses and parents

Attendance Matters

We are committed to working with parents and Attendance Specialist Team. Attendance for Academic Year 2024- 2025 was 95.2% with 0.8 unauthorised absence. 2023- 2024 was 95% with 0.7 unauthorised attendance. 

Why is Good Attendance so Important 

Pupils who do not regularly attend school are more likely to fall short of achieving their full academic potential. Statistics show that 90% of persistent absentees, poor attenders or non-attenders fail to achieve five or more good grades at GCSE and approximately one third end up with no GCSEs at all. Parents/carers have a legal duty to ensure that their child attends school on a regular, full time basis. Schools have a duty to monitor and act early to address patterns of absence. Where parents/carers fail too meet their legal responsibilities, the local authority has powers to take legal action in the form of penalty notices or prosecution. Poor attendance at school can lead to their child's life chances being detrimentally affected. Poor attendance can lead to disaffection amongst peers (lost friendship groups, missed opportunities to take part in school events) Irregular attendance can cause difficulties for pupils to catch up with work and pastoral events and can lead to long term absence.  

Absence due to Illness

On the first day of absence, parents/carers, should notify the school of their child's absence. We will will only authorise absences that are reported as being due to illness and where we are satisfied that the absences are genuine. We may request medical evidence to cover the absence, for example, an appointment card/slip, a text message confirming that an appointment has been made with the GP, a photocopy of the tear off slip retained by the parent when a prescription is issued. 

To report an absence, please telephone the school, 01206 392223, and leave a message on our absence line or email office@highfields.essex.sch.uk Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a member of staff about the absence, please telephone the office from 8.30am. 

Missing registration for a medical or dental appointment will be recorded as an authorised absence. However, we do encourage parents/carers to make appointments outside of school hours and to keep children out for the minimum time necessary for the appointment. A copy of the appointment letter/card should be provided to the school in order for the absence to be authorised. 

Leave of Absence

All schools by law must follow the Department for Education’s statutory guidance relating to school attendance.  They must use the appropriate national attendance or absence code, and follow the criteria set out within the guidance.  The statutory guidance states:

• A leave of absence must not be granted unless there are exceptional circumstances and must be requested in advance
• A leave of absence must be requested in advance by a parent who the pupil normally lives with
• Schools must judge each application individually, considering the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind each request
• Where a leave of absence is granted, the school will determine the number of days a pupil can be absent from school
• A need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance
• A school cannot grant a leave of absence retrospectively. If the parent did not apply in advance, the leave of absence should not be granted
• Where this guidance refers to a parent, the school and/or local authority will need to decide which adult(s) is most appropriate. Generally, parents include:
• All natural parents, whether they are married or not;
• All those who have parental responsibility
• Those who have day to day responsibility for the child

Please note all schools are expected to regularly inform parents about their child’s attendance and absence.

Taking your child out of school during term time could be detrimental to their educational progress. If the absence is not authorised and the leave is taken, schools may refer to the Local Authority for legal action.

Helping Parents understand Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance

From 19 August 2024, there is a National Framework for Penalty Notice Fines being issued for unauthorised absences recorded by schools

Highfields Primary School - Pupil Attendance Policy

Our current policy can be viewed through the link below under 'Policy Documentation'.