Attendance

NHS Guidance

There are times when students are not medically able to attend school and there are clear procedures to follow detailed below.

• To report your child absent, please email absence on absence@rodborough.surrey.sch.uk for EVERY day that your child is absent. Please email before 9.30am
• Please ensure you include your child’s full name, tutor group and reason for absence. 
• Please note that this is only for recording an absence and we are unable to respond to messages left in this inbox.

If you have not advised us of the absence, a text message will be sent to you regarding the whereabouts of your child. 

Upon the students’ return it is their responsibility to meet with all the subject teachers for the lessons they have missed, to ensure all lesson work and home study is completed. Work is not sent home during absent periods but may be available on Google Classroom.

The school employs an Inclusion Officer to work with students and their families who are experiencing problems with school attendance.

Should your child need to arrive late to school and miss morning registration due to an appointment please follow the process below.

• To report your child late for school, please email absence@rodborough.surrey.sch.uk and detail the approximate arrival time at school
• Please ensure you include your child’s full name, tutor group and reason for absence. 
• Please note that this is only for recording an absence or late arrival and we are unable to respond to messages left in this inbox due to the sheer volume left each day. 

Should your child need to leave the school during the school day for an appointment they will need to be collected by a parent /or carer. 

If you wish your child to leave the site with an alternative adult (including older siblings) we will need confirmation from you via email prior to them leaving the site. Please send an email providing details of the appointment to absence@rodborough.surrey.sch.uk 

Once the student returns back to school, they should sign back into Student Services.

Parents do not need to come back into school with the students if the above process is followed.

Parents are requested not to arrange family holidays during term time. Where it is completely unavoidable to take your child out of school, please complete the form below and email absence@rodborough.surrey.sch.uk well in advance of the date. 

The school will not authorise absences for holidays during term time and any such requests will be marked as ‘unauthorised’ on your child’s records.

Should you persist in taking your child out of school without approval, you may receive a Penalty Notice for failing to ensure your child in regular attendance at school

A Penalty Notice may be issued as an alternative to the prosecution of a parent/carer for their child’s unauthorised absence from school (absence without the agreement of the school or not covered by a medical note) and will be used by Surrey County Council in the following circumstances :-

1. Pupils identified by police and Inclusion Officers (formerly Education Welfare Officers) engaged on Truancy Patrols and who have incurred unauthorised absences.

2. Leave of absence in term time (5 days or 10 sessions or more).

• Please be aware that The Education (Pupil Registration)(England)(Amendment)  Regulations 2013, which became law on 01 September 2013 state that Headteachers may  not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

• The Headteacher is also required to determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if leave is granted.

• In such cases the Headteacher/Governing Body must decide whether there are exceptional circumstances.  They may request that the Local Authority issue Penalty Notices when the absence is not authorised.

If you consider that there are exceptional circumstances relating to your request, please let the school have full details. Each application for a leave of absence will be considered on a case by case basis.

Warnings will not be given where it can be shown that parents have been notified that such absences will not be authorised.

3. Finally, the issuing of a Penalty Notice will also be considered where it is judged that a parent is failing to ensure their child's regular school attendance.

This will be considered when a pupil has incurred 7 or more unauthorised sessions in the previous 6 school weeks, which may include a pupil arriving late after close of registration.

If you believe at any stage that your child’s absence from school may leave you liable to receive a Penalty Notice, it is extremely important that you act without delay to secure their regular attendance. 

If you have any questions or require further support to achieve an improvement in your child’s attendance, please contact your child’s school or the Inclusion Officer.

Penalty Notice relating to Exclusions

If a child is excluded from school, Section 103 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 places a duty on parents/carers to ensure that their child is not in a public place without justifiable cause during school hours. 

This duty applies to the first five days of each exclusion.  Failure to do so will render the parent/carer liable to a Penalty Notice. (Alternative education provision will be made available from the sixth day of any exclusion.)

Amount Payable for a Penalty Notice

The amount payable for a Penalty Notice issued in any of the above circumstances is currently £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the Notice, rising to £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days.

If the Penalty Notice is not paid, the local Authority must consider a prosecution in the Magistrates Court for the offence for which the Notice was originally issued.

Please be aware that each parent is liable to receive a Penalty Notice for each child who incurs unauthorised absences, for example, if there are two parents and one child, each parent will receive one Penalty Notice.

If there are two parents, and two children incur unauthorised absences, each parent will receive two Penalty Notices, which in this case would amount to £120 each if paid within 21 days.

Surrey County Council is not responsible for authorising pupil absence and therefore cannot withdraw any Penalty Notice requests without the written permission of the Headteacher.

Advice and support is available from an Inclusion Officer by contacting your local Education Office as follows :-    South West- Tel: 01483 517179

Students are expected to arrive at school on time and ready to learn by 8.40am. 

If a student is late three times within a half term without good reason, a sanction will be imposed.

Should a student start to feel unwell during the school day, they need to report to Student Services for assessment. 

Students are requested not to contact home directly. Should a student choose to break this rule and contact you, their mobile phones will be confiscated. We ask that you support us with this and request that you do not text or telephone them during the school day.