Attendance Matters

It goes without saying that if your child is going to achieve their potential at school and flourish, they need to attend school regularly.

It is nationally recognised that 96% attendance over a school year is the minimum expectation. If your child only attends 96% of the time, they will still miss over half a term of their total time in school – this will put them at a serious disadvantage. Therefore, at Hindley Junior & Infant School we strive for better than 96%!

Please do not book non-emergency medical appointments such as dental check-ups and routine hearing or eyes tests during the school day. Also, oversleeping and tiredness is not an excuse for being absent, nor is a parent feeling unwell. Holidays will not be authorised unless they are exceptional circumstances.

Staff have worked together with parents, governors and children to develop a meaningful and effective Attendance Policy and procedures.
We use a range of rewards to encourage good attendance at school. All of our rewards are celebrated within celebration assemblies, displayed around school and on Class Dojo. 

Class of the Week – the class with the best attendance will win the attendance certificate and trophy for the week, and an extra 15 minutes playtime one afternoon.
Class Attendance Race – When a class wins ‘Class of the Week’ seven times they will have a class non-uniform day.
Weekly 100% Attendance Raffle – every individual child who has achieved 100% attendance for the week will be entered into a raffle to win a £5 voucher and a special certificate.
Termly Attendance Reward – Every child whose attendance is over 96% for the term will be netered into a raffle to receive a £100 voucher for a family day out of their choice.

We have high standards in terms of attendance. Attendance is monitored closely by our in house attendance team, which includes the Headteacher.
Parents must inform the school if their child is going to be absent from school. However, we do have a first day response system in school if a child is absent from school without reason– parents are contacted on the first morning of absence by the school office. If parents cannot be reached unannounced door step visits may be carried out if deemed appropriate by the headteacher. If a child’s attendance becomes a concern, school will contact parents to offer support, predominantly through our learning mentor, and reiterate our expectations. School may invite parents into school to discuss any barriers and offer support. Staff, parents and the child would write up an attendance agreement, and review it regularly. 

Education Penalty Notice Warning for Non-School attendance

A new National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence, including unauthorised holiday absence, is being introduced following changes to the law. These new Government regulations will come into effect from 19 August 2024, and we wanted to bring this to your attention now, as it will affect when penalty notices are issued in Wigan.

In line with the Working together to improve school attendance (applies from 19 August 2024) (publishing.service.gov.uk), Wigan Council will prioritise the ‘support first’ approach expecting that support will have been offered to families in cases where it is appropriate, and parents/carers are encouraged to communicate with the school should any support be required to improve attendance.

Penalty Notices are requested by schools and academies and issued by the Local Authority to the parents/carers of statutory school age children, per parent, per child. For example: two children in a family absent from school for a leave of absence may result in each parent receiving a Penalty Notice for each child at the below rates.
What are the changes?

1. There will be a new national threshold of 10 unauthorised sessions for any reason (equivalent to 5 school days) within a rolling 10 school week period for when a penalty notice must be considered.
2.The new rules mean you will no longer be able to take your child out of school for one week’s holiday without a penalty notice being issued.
3. There will be an increase in the penalty fine from £60 to £80 if paid in 21 days. If the fine is not paid by the first 21 days, it will rise to £160 if paid within 28 days of being issued.
4. If a second penalty fine is issued to the same parent for the same child within a 3-year rolling period, the fine will automatically rise to £160 with no option to pay the lower rate of £80.
5.If a parent then commits a third offence in a 3-year rolling period, the local authority will need to consider other enforcement options available to them.