Attendance is based on a child being at school in time for the morning register as well as the afternoon register so being marked present for 2 sessions a day.

Both these sessions count towards their overall attendance figure which is simply a percentage of how many sessions your child has been present throughout the current academic year.

The only reasons a child will be marked as present when they are not in school are if they are being educated at a different location, or at a school event such as residential or sporting.

There are a variety of different reasons that a child may be absent from school and the school will assign an appropriate code on the register to make staff aware of the reason.

Children of school age who are registered at The Pathfinder C of E Primary School must, by law, attend school regularly. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 amended the previous Education Regulations (England) 2006 removing the Headteacher's discretion to agree term time holiday.  As a result, all holidays taken in term time will be unauthorised unless the absence is for 'exceptional circumstances'.

Exceptional Circumstances

The Headteacher has discretion to grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances.  If you wish for the Headteacher to consider your wish for leave of absence as an 'exceptional circumstance', please complete the Application for Leave of Absence form and attach any supporting papers.  The Headteacher will make a decision and return the form with his/her decision. If leave if granted, the Headteacher will specify how many days leave is being authorised. If leave is not granted then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Absence from school can be authorised for the following reasons:

Medical appointments

Illness where the school has been notified by phone or in writing

Religious observance

NOTE: An authorised absence is still recorded as the child not being in school and will have a negative effect on their attendance figure.

Parents are expected to provide explanations for their child/ren's absence. Please complete an Application for Leave of Absence Form to explain why your child will not be in school. If authorisation for this leave is not granted but the child is absent, or no authorisation is sought, or the period of leave is at a similar time of year to an unauthorised absence in a previous year, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. As a result, a referral may be made to the Education Welfare Officer who may issue each parent with a Penalty Notice (fine) ranging from £60 to £120 for each parent for each child and could ultimately lead to prosecution resulting in a fine of £2,500 and a 3 month custodial sentence. For more information on Penalty Notices please see the Cambridgeshire County Council's website.

Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice. Such cases will have to be supported by evidence of previous unauthorised term time leave (more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period) taken in the last 3 years and evidence of parents being warned about a potential Penalty Notice.

Children’s learning in school is based on a build up of skills and knowledge.

This build up is continually planned by teachers on a day to day basis. Children that miss one session could miss out on a potentially important session and although every effort is made to catch children up when they return, this is usually not as effective and takes time away from the rest of the class.

If children miss out on a number of sessions this can significantly affect their overall progress.

Children that are away from school on a regular basis can miss out on opportunities to build strong friendships and can sometimes find it harder to build strong friendships within school