South Tyneside Council Pupil Attendance and Absence Management Policy

A school will follow its own internal school attendance procedures. This may include:

• first day response
• letters to parent(s) or carer where attendance is becoming a concern
• discussions with the pupil
• home visits to speak with parent(s) or carer in attempt to resolve issues
• reminding parent(s) or carer of their responsibility in making sure their child's attendance at school

An Early Help Assessment and plan should be completed at this point to assist the parent(s), carer and pupil with any issues.

Other services should be considered and referred to as relevant, examples include:

• Education Psychology Service
• SEND Team
• Early Help Team
• Youth Justice
• School Nurse
• Mental Health Services
• Social Care for Family Support

Where a pupil's absence continues following letters and home visit(s), a member of school staff should invite the parent(s) / carer into school to an attendance improvement support planning meeting.

This meeting should be recorded and minutes produced detailing the discussion, the key issues / barriers to attendance, actions that each member will take to resolve the issues and an attendance target set. 

Parent(s) or carer(s) should receive a copy of the minutes from this meeting. A review date should be set and agreed with parents.

The attendance improvement plan should run for no less than 4 school weeks.

During the attendance improvement support plan meeting, school staff should detail how contact with the parent and pupil will take place and who will make the contact. This may be a weekly support meeting, a home visit or, if this is not feasible, a telephone contact as a minimum.

It is advisable that from this meeting, further absences are unauthorised unless evidence is provided to school to inform that the absence is for a serious and unavoidable reason.

If the absence is for reasons of illness, acceptable medical evidence that should be considered include:

• prescription slip
• sight of medication prescribed by the GP
• note / letter from the GP
• medical or dental appointment letter
• evidence that the pupil was sent home from school too ill to remain in school

In these instances, the absence for the day the child was sent home should be authorised and a common-sense approach taken for any further related subsequent absence.

Parent(s) / carer should be made aware that continuing unauthorised absences can result in a referral to the attendance team.

On review, the school should decide to extend the attendance improvement support plan, make a referral to the local authority for legal proceedings to commence, or end the attendance improvement support plan if absence is no longer an issue.

The Local Authority threshold for referral is 10 unauthorised absence sessions in the previous 6 school week (30 days) period.