{"id":74724,"date":"2024-08-19T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-19T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?p=74724"},"modified":"2024-08-27T14:56:10","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T13:56:10","slug":"importance-of-school-attendance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/importance-of-school-attendance\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Importance of School Attendance?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As a child, you may remember being dutifully sent to school every single day, regardless of whether you wanted to or not, because your parents saw 100% attendance as essential to your education. On the other hand, you may have regularly taken weeks out of school during term time so you could go on holiday, because it was cheaper to do so and your school work could easily be caught up on later – which of these scenarios is most familiar to you? Which do you think is the right approach?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll look at the importance of school attendance and why, as a parent or carer, you have a responsibility to ensure your child attends school every day of the week. We\u2019ll also look at the effects of poor school attendance on educational attainment and provide teachers with a few ideas on how to improve attendance in their setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is School Attendance Mandatory?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, all children of compulsory school age (5 to 16) are legally entitled to a full-time education based on their age, aptitude and special educational needs. For parents and carers, it\u2019s a legal responsibility to ensure that their child receives that education, whether by attending a school or by home-schooling. For children who attend a school, parents are legally required to ensure their child attends school regularly – meaning every day the school is open.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The UK government<\/a> provides only a few specific circumstances where it\u2019s permitted for your child to be absent from school:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Your child is too ill to attend. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. You have asked in advance and been given permission by the school for your child to be absent on a specific day due to exceptional circumstances. Note that school leaders are responsible for determining what counts as an exceptional circumstance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Your child cannot go to school on a specific day because they are observing a religious event. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Your local authority is responsible for arranging your child\u2019s transport to school and it\u2019s not available or has not been provided yet. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Your child does not have a permanent address and you are required to travel for work. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Holidays are not considered an exceptional circumstance or an acceptable reason for a child to miss school and you may receive a fine for taking your child out of school for a holiday. Currently, the national framework requires schools to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Working Together to Improve School Attendance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The Working Together to Improve School Attendance<\/a> guidance from the Department of Education is non-statutory guidance that aims to to help schools, trusts, governing bodies and local authorities maintain high levels of school attendance. The latest version<\/a> of this guidance was released in August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In 2021\/22<\/a>, the overall school absence rate was 8.5%, with 22.5% of pupils being \u2018persistently absent\u2019 from education, equivalent to 1.6 million children. The absence rate is estimated to be 6.9% for 2023\/24. Furthermore, in 2019, data showed that 84% of Key Stage 2 pupils with 100% attendance achieved the expected standard, compared to just 40% of pupils who were persistently absent.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Working Together to Improve School Attendance states that \u2018improving attendance is everyone\u2019s business\u2019. This means it is the responsibility of everyone involved – parents, carers, schools and the local authority – to ensure children access the education they\u2019re entitled to.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are many reasons why children may miss education, so the aim of the school should always be to create an environment that is supportive, calm, orderly and safe where all children are welcomed and keen to learn. Schools should work alongside parents and families to help remove any barriers to school attendance – ensuring children feel safe and supported in the classroom is an essential first step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Working Together guidance explains that schools, teachers, parents, carers and local authorities should work collaboratively to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n