This policy refers to all pupils in New College School including those in the EYFS setting. The school’s statutory responsibilities are primarily set out in Working Together to Improve School attendance (2024) and The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. Where more detailed guidance on specific situations is required the school will refer to and abide by this legislation.

This policy should be read in conjunction with all other New College School policies but with specific reference to the Safeguarding Policy, Missing Pupil Policy and SEND and Learning Support Policy.

New College School believes that good attendance starts with school being somewhere pupils want to be and therefore the foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, orderly, safe and supportive environment where all pupils are keen and ready to learn. In order to do so, it is expected that pupils will, ordinarily, attend school for the duration of each school day and for certain specified school events which occur outside the normal school day. There will be occasions when pupils cannot attend school and this policy details the procedures to be followed on such occasions. 

Following ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’ we expect high standards of attendance, monitor attendance data, listen and understand when a pattern is spotted, facilitate support to remove barriers in school and help pupils and parents access the support they need, formalise support when absence persists, and enforce when all other avenues have been exhausted.

We:

• Build strong relationships and work jointly with families, listening to and understanding barriers to attendance and working in partnership with families to remove them.

• Develop and maintain a whole school culture that promotes the benefits of high attendance.

• Have a clear school attendance policy which all staff, pupils and parents understand.

• Accurately complete admission and, with the exception of schools where all pupils are boarders, attendance registers and have effective day to day processes in place to follow-up absence.

• Regularly monitor and analyse attendance and absence data to identify pupils or cohorts that require support with their attendance and put effective strategies in place.

• Share information and work collaboratively with other schools in the area, local authorities, and other partners where a pupil’s absence is at risk of becoming persistent or severe.

• Be particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or their special educational needs and/or disabilities, and provide them with additional support.

We also:

• Visibly demonstrate the benefits of good attendance throughout school life. Where used sensitively and without discrimination, this may also include praising and rewarding improvements in attendance at year group, class/form and individual level.

• Recognise that attendance is never ‘solved’ and is a continuous process by regularly reviewing and updating messages, processes, and strategies.

• Recognise children missing education can act as a vital warning sign to a range of safeguarding issues including neglect, sexual abuse and child sexual and criminal exploitation.

Registration times and responsibility for completion of registers

An electronic attendance register is kept for each form in the school. The register is completed at the start of each morning and afternoon session. The codes listed below are used.

Code / \: Present at the school / = morning session \ = afternoon session

Code L: Late arrival before the register is closed

Code K: Attending education provision arranged by the local authority

Code V: Attending an educational visit or trip

Code P: Participating in a sporting activity

Code W: Attending work experience

Code B: Attending any other approved educational activity

Code C1: Leave of absence for the purpose of participating in a regulated performance or undertaking regulated employment abroad.

Code M: Leave of absence for the purpose of attending a medical or dental

appointment

Code J1: Leave of absence for the purpose of attending an interview for

employment or for admission to another educational institution

Code S: Leave of absence for the purpose of studying for a public examination

Code X: Non-compulsory school age pupil not required to attend school

Code C2: Leave of absence for a compulsory school age pupil subject to a part-time timetable

Code D: Dual registered at another school

Code C: Leave of absence for exceptional circumstance

Code T: Parent travelling for occupational purposes

Code R: Religious observance

Code I: Illness (not medical or dental appointment)

Code E: Suspended or permanently excluded

Code Q: Unable to attend the school because of a lack of access arrangements

Code Y1: Unable to attend due to transport normally provided not being available

Code Y2: Unable to attend due to widespread disruption to travel

Code Y3: Unable to attend due to part of the school premises being closed

Code Y4: Unable to attend due to the whole school site being unexpectedly closed

Code Y5: Unable to attend as pupil is in criminal justice detention

Code Y6: Unable to attend in accordance with public health guidance or law

Code Y7: Unable to attend because of any other unavoidable cause

Code G: Holiday not granted by the school

Code N: Reason for absence not yet established

Code O: Absent in other or unknown circumstances

Code U: Arrived in school after registration closed

Code Z: Prospective pupil not on admission register

Code #: Planned whole school closure

Pupils are expected to arrive for morning registration no later than 8.20am (8.45am in pre-prep) and afternoon registration no later than 13.50.pm.

The school teaching day finishes for pupils in Pre-Prep at 3.30pm and for pupils in Years 3-8 at 3.45pm. However, there are a range of after school activity options with alternative collection times and these are set out at the start of each term in the enrichment activities brochures. All pupils need to be collected from school by 6pm each evening (unless they are choristers in a chorister activity in New College) and pupils in Reception by 5.30pm.

Form teachers have a statutory responsibility to ensure the register is complete for each morning and afternoon session. It is the responsibility of the Headmaster, assisted by the Registrar and office administrator, to ensure that registers have been completed.

At the end of each registration session, the registrar will print out a hard copy of each class’s attendance register, replacing the previous hard copy. This will be used in the case of evacuation (see below).

Amendments to the register

The attendance register is a record of pupils’ attendance and absence at the time it was taken and cannot be altered.The only exception is if ‘no reason given for absence’ (N) has first been entered on the register and the reason for absence is obtained, the ‘N’ must be changed to the correct code and the new information is regarded as the first entry in the register. No additional action is taken.

Marking a pupil as ‘present’

A pupil is considered ‘present’ if they are within the school though not necessarily in the form room when the register is taken. This includes pupils who are attending on-site music lessons, other 1:1 lessons, in a meeting with another teacher or otherwise present on the school premises. The registering teacher must be satisfied that the pupil is in school before marking them as ‘present’ and this may require checking with a music teacher or 1:1 teacher.

Parental responsibilities

Parents whose children are registered at the school have a legal duty to ensure their child attends school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an exceptional circumstance in advance.

Late Arrival of a Pupil

If a pupil arrives at school after registration ends or after the registering teacher has taken the register, they must go straight to the office and notify the staff of their arrival and reason for lateness. If assembly is running at that time, they then go straight to assembly so they are not unsupervised. The office staff will then enter the appropriate symbol on the register and, if appropriate, seek confirmation of the reason given or notify the form teacher who can seek confirmation of the reason given.

Pupil illness or unplanned absence

If a pupil is ill or unable to attend school for any other reason and the school has not been previously notified, parents should telephone or e-mail the school office by 8.45am at the latest. If telephoning early, before the office is staffed, parents may leave a message on the answerphone. The office phone number is 01865 285560 and the email addresses are office@newcollegeschool.org and jemma.kilkenny@newcollegeschool.org.

Though parents are encouraged to provide more information to the registering teacher regarding a pupil's absence, particularly in the case of Pre-prep pupils, they should not rely exclusively on e-mailing the teacher as a means of communicating the absence. Teachers may be unable to check e-mails at the time of registration.

If a pupil is ill for more than one day, parents should telephone the office each morning to confirm the pupil will be absent for that day.

The following email addresses are for form tutors:

Reception: rosemary.cox@newcollegeschool.org
Year 1: caroline.hitchings@newcollegeschool.org
Year 2: Hannah.hopkins@newcollegeschool.org
Year 3: Victoria.hayter@newcollegeschool.org
Year 4: zoe.parsons@newcollegeschool.org
Year 5: Stephen.young@newcollegeschool.org
Year 6: Thomas.neal@newcollegeschool.org
Year 7: Nicholas.hanson@newcollegeschool.org
Year 8/8S: Christopher.gausden@newcollegeschool.org

Requests and Permission for pupil planned absence

New College School values the strong relationship it has with parents and the support they afford in ensuring their children are in attendance throughout the school day. There are, however, occasions when a pupil may need to be absent for all or part of the school day. If a parent needs to take a child out of school for a pre-arranged medical appointment, the pupil’s form teacher or relevant staff need to be notified either in writing, in an e-mail or in person, in advance.

Parents wishing to take their child out of school for any other exceptional reason (such as attending a funeral or wedding, religious observance, elective surgery or involvement in a regional or national extracurricular competition) must seek authorisation for the absence from the Head in writing. The Head will confirm whether the circumstances are ‘exceptional’ and the leave of absence granted. The school will not generally authorise term time holidays and leave of this nature will be marked as unauthorised absence. The Head will ensure that the office staff and relevant staff are notified of approved absences.

Leaving school during school hours

If a pupil has permission to leave school, with a parent, during school hours, their parent or carer must go to the office and notify the secretary that they are leaving.

The secretary will sign the pupil out after checking with the relevant member of staff that this has been authorised. If pupils are accompanied on a school trip by a member of staff during school hours, it is the responsibility of the member of staff to notify the secretary that they are leaving and that the parent/carer signs the book.

Returning to school during school hours

If a pupil, who has been marked absent on the sign out sheet, returns to school during the school day but outside a registration period, they (or if appropriate their parent) must go to the school office and notify the secretary of their return.

If pupils return from a school trip during school hours but outside a registration period, it is the responsibility of the member of staff to notify the office staff that they have returned.

Unauthorised absence

It is expected that all parents will notify the school of any absence in accordance with this policy in order that the school can safeguard the welfare of all pupils. It is therefore unlikely that there will be an unexplained absence by the end of a registration period.

If a pupil has been marked ‘N’ on the register at the close of registration because no reason for the absence has been given, it is the responsibility of the Registrar, assisted by other office administrators, to make contact with parents, as a matter of priority, to establish a reason for the absence.

In such situations, the school office will seek to contact parents between 9.00am and 9.30am once the registers have been checked.

If a reason for the absence is established, the relevant code must be entered in place of the ‘N’ on the register. The correct code should be added as soon as the reason is ascertained but no later than 5 working days after the registration session.

In extremely rare cases and, if appropriate, reference may need to be made to the Missing Pupil Policy.

Promoting and Incentivising Good Attendance

In accordance with the DfE’s non statutory guidance Working Together to Improve School Attendance (2024) the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) (Rosemary.cox@newcollegeschool.org, 01865 285560) as a member of the Leadership Team, promotes good attendance.

They will monitor and analyse attendance and absence with the Registrar and Headmaster. Form teachers and staff more widely will also help to identify any concerns they have regarding a pupil’s attendance and report this to the DSL, Headmaster and/or office.

Where pupil attendance falls below 95% or there are other concerns regarding attendance, a child’s form tutor will contact the parents for an initial discussion. If attendance then falls to 90% or below the Headmaster will contact parents to arrange a supportive meeting. The DSL will oversee any support for families with identified barriers to attendance. This ensures that the school can identify and target attendance improvement efforts to the pupils or pupil cohorts who need it most.

Where a pupil or family needs support with attendance, it is important that the best placed person in the school works alongside and supports the family and the DSL and Deptuy Head Pastoral will help identify who is best placed within the school for this role.

It is understood that certain pupils may have specific needs which may impact their attendance which may include (but not be limited to) mental or physical ill health, special educational needs and/or disability. This policy will be applied fairly and sensitively with the school considering the individual needs of pupils and their families who have specific barriers to attendance. The school will consider its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

New College School has a whole-school culture of promoting excellent school attendance. It underlines the importance of attendance to a pupil’s academic progress and mental health, and their development of being a healthy and active citizen. This is underlined in particular when a persistent case of non-attendance has been identified through the channels outlined in this policy.

Evacuation

In the event of a fire drill or other evacuation, the office staff will take out the most recent attendance register for each class to the evacuation point.

The secretary will also take out the hard copy attendance registers so that pupils who have left the school during the day and since the most recent registration period can be accounted for. This policy should be read alongside the Fire Drill policy, which outlines the individuals responsible for each part of an evacuation.

Preservation of Registers

Registers will be preserved for 6 years from the date the data was entered in accordance with the relevant legislation.

All electronic attendance registers are backed up each day via the New College School pupil management information system and are preserved for at least three years.

Duty to report absence to Local Authority

Local Authorities have a legal responsibility to identify children of compulsory school age who are not in education. Schools may therefore receive an enquiry about whether they are educating a specific child and the school is obliged to provide this information to the Local Authority.

Schools are required to provide the local authority with the names and addresses of all pupils of compulsory school age who fail to attend school regularly, have been absent for 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks (whether the absences are consecutive or not) or who have been recorded as ill and who the school has reasonable grounds to believe will miss 15 days consecutively or cumulatively because of sickness.

A staff member with any concerns about an absence should report the absence to both the Head and the Designated Safeguarding Lead. The Head or DSL will then report any appropriate concerns to the Local Authority.

Should absence persist, the school will access wider support services to remove the barriers to attendance, including the Oxfordshire County Attendance Team https://schools.oxfordshire.gov.uk/access-learning/county-attendance-team

This policy is also stored in the NCS staff handbook. Rev'd 09/24. To be rev'd 09/25.