School starts at 8: 45 am
Persistent lateness will be referred to our Family Support Worker Mrs. Barnes, and then to the Early Intervention Service. The Local Education Authority has recently initiated systems to track pupils who are absent or persistently late for school and have begun imposing fines in some cases. The fine for unnecessary absences is a fixed penalty of £60 per child per parent/carer.
Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED.
This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required in writing.
Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no ‘leave’ has been given. This type of absence can lead to the Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:
- Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
- Truancy before or during the school day
- Absences which have never been properly explained
- Children who arrive at school too late to get a mark
- Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays
- Day trips and holidays in term time.