Attendance
Email the Attendance Officer: attendance@theroyal.school.
Informing the School
If your child is unwell you can inform us by telephone on 01902 341230 / 349100, ideally by 8.15am or at the very latest by 9.00am. If busy, please leave a voicemail, or alternatively you can send a message through School Comms. Please select Message on the app when you wish to do this. This will come directly through to the Attendance Officer.
Please leave the following details:
- Your child’s full name and date of absence.
- Your name and relation to the pupil
- House and Year group
- Reason for absence
Parents/Guardians must call each day to inform us of any absence.
If you have any queries then please email attendance@theroyal.school
Lateness
All pupils need to be onsite by 8:20am Senior, 8:25am Primary. Pupil lateness is not acceptable. Persistent lateness will be monitored.
Medical Appointments
We require all medical and dental appointments to be arranged outside of school hours. Should there be ongoing medical appointments or the need for time off due to a medical issue then a letter stating this from a medical professional is required.
Without the appropriate notice and documentation, children will not be allowed to leave School for appointments. We require at least 48 hours’ notice (unless it is a medical emergency) and a copy of the appointment card/hospital letter must be brought into School.
Please contact the Attendance Officer if you have any further queries.
School Attendance: Helping Children and Young People to Succeed
School is an important part of the lives of children and young people. It is where they begin to develop new skills, make friendships and it helps prepare them for their future. When a child is absent from school, they can miss out on these vital opportunities and their learning, personal development and friendships may suffer. Whilst 90% is an excellent result in a test, an attendance level of 90% is poor, children are classed as persistently absent and children’s outcomes in school can be badly affected. At The Royal School we consider 98% as the minimum expected attendance. Any absence that is not authorised by the school is a reason for concern.
Parents and carers have the legal responsibility to ensure that a child attends school regularly and arrives on time. Absence taken during the school term can have a negative impact on a child’s education. Therefore:
Holidays in term time
- There is no legal entitlement to holidays during the term time and this should be avoided if at all possible.
- Schools rarely agree to parents/carers taking their children out of school for the purposes of leave of absence / holidays in term-time. This is not an automatic entitlement and only the Principal/Head teacher can authorise this if a parent applies in advance and the Principal/Head teacher’s view is that there are exceptional circumstances. If your child misses school for the purposes of a holiday or a trip and the absence is not agreed, you may be issued with a Penalty Notice, or you may be prosecuted.
Penalty Notices are a fine of:
£120 per parent per child if paid in full within 28 days (reduced to £60 if paid within 21 days)
- If a Penalty Notice is not fully paid within 28 days, the Local Authority has no option but to prosecute a parent in the Magistrates’ Court for failing to ensure regular school attendance.
- In Court, if a parent pleads guilty, or is found guilty, they will then have a criminal record. The court can fine each parent up to £1000 per child, order payment of the prosecution costs and/or make a parenting order.
Unauthorised absence from school
- Where schools have exhausted all avenues to address attendance issues and have been unsuccessful and there are at least 10 sessions (5 school days) lost due to unauthorised absences in a half term period, a referral may be made for statutory intervention.
- The City of Wolverhampton Council Attendance Team will then either issue parents with a warning notice giving them a period of time to improve school attendance or invite them to a legal meeting to discuss the attendance concerns. Should unauthorised absences continue, the local authority may consider prosecution as follows.
- Section 444(1) Education Act 1996:
‘If you are the parent of a child of compulsory school age who fails to attend school regularly, you are guilty of an offence’
The court can fine each parent up to £1000 per child, order payment of the prosecution costs and/or make a parenting order. - Section 444(1A) Education Act 1996:
Parents are aware their child is absent regularly from school and fail without reasonable justification to cause him/her to attend, they are guilty of an offence. The court can fine you up to £2500 per child and/or sentence you to a period of imprisonment of up to 3 months, and order payment of the prosecution costs.
You can help your child by ensuring that they arrive on time and that you arrange any appointments for them (e.g. dental check ups) outside school hours. If your child has regular absences the school may request medical evidence.