Attendance

Attendance process September 2020 Covid 19
The attached provides updated attendance advice for Secondary Schools
For guidance on completing DfE return click here

The use of online learning in schools
The attached guidance document produced by Lancashire CC details how online learning can be used to support improved attendance.

Data Capture sheet
Under The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations (England) 2006, schools must obtain certain details from parents when their child is admitted to school.

The data capture form produced by Capita which is currently available on SIMS does not contain all of the legally required fields.
Therefore, we recommend that, in order to ensure they are legally compliant, schools either develop their own form or use the form developed by the School Attendance Consultants which can be downloaded above.

N.B. this form was updated in May 2013 to include a tick box which indicates where the pupil normally resides, and again in June 2014 when the 'preferred surname' field was removed from the form (to avoid confusion as only the legal surname should be entered into the admissions register.
Further amendments have been made in October 2016 to reflect additional information which is requested via the Census, i.e. Country of Birth, Nationality on Passport and EAL status.
October 2018: The DfE has advised that there is no longer any requirement for schools to collect Country of Birth and Nationality data; the form has been updated to reflect this.

The SAC developed form contains all of the legally required fields and asks for additional information which will be useful to schools, particularly in the event that they need to pursue legal interventions.

A letter has been developed which schools may wish to send to parents along with the form which explains why the information is being requested. This can be downloaded here.

It is recommended that this information is gathered at the start of each academic year and that parents are reminded periodically throughout the year to notify school if any of their contact details change.

Admission to roll
In September 2016 new guidance was published by the DFE with regard to requirements.

The form which must be completed by all schools within five days of a student being added onto the school register is attached. This should be emailed via securemail to onroll@lancashire.gov.uk

This requires all schools to inform the local authority with regard to all admissions and deletions from roll (with the exception of standard transition times). For more information on procedures use the following link to the school's portal https://schoolsportal.lancsngfl.ac.uk/view_sp.asp?siteid=5049&pageid=48632&e=e

Deletion from roll
From September 2016 it became a requirement that all schools inform the local authority on the day of a non standard transition removal from roll (ie end of y11). The attached form must be completed and emailed via securemail to offroll@lancashire.gov.uk on the DAY OF REMOVAL.

The reason for removal must also be indicated.

Persistent Absence
In September 2015 the Government changed the definition of persistent absence.

A pupil who is persistently absent has 10% or more absence. Previously this threshold was 15%. This is shown as a percentage of the number of pupil enrolments. Data on persistent absence rates is collected via the school census and published in Raise Online, school league tables and the Statistical First Release document.

Calculations include those students off roll and also those in school on a dual registered basis.

The PA students should be calculated using a percentage report and NOT session thresholds as in the previous PA methodology.

Students can be considered to be PA even if they have only been on roll for a short period of time if in that time frame their attendance was 90% or lower.

Attendance guidance on use of codes and pupil registers
Click here to access the document detailing the appropriate use of attendance codes. This is the 2008 document. It provides greater detail than the more recent document below. However, take care as the sections on the codes F , G , H and C should be discounted.

Click here to access the 'Keeping Pupil Registers' document which gives guidance on removal from roll. This guidance is not the most current but it provides greater detail. However, it should be checked against the current document below.

Click here to access the new DFE guidance document 'Advice on School Attendance'. This document provides a summary of all main legislation and a revised use of attendance codes.

Removal from roll- Elective Home Education
Children thought to have moved out of the area or whose whereabouts is unknown should be referred to the Lancashire Elective Home Education team- follow the link below:

Pupils for whom parents have requested Elective Home Education should be referred to the Lancashire EHE team. Please be aware that parents must indicate this choice in writing and should be advised by the school of the implications of this decision. The Lancashire website can be accessed via this link. There are useful downloadable documents in the Zip file above. The e form on the Schools' Portal under E (Elective Home Education) should be used to refer EHE requests.

Did you know?

•Only 3% of pupils with less than 50% attendance achieve 5 A*- C incl EM

•Of those with 80- 90% attendance only 35% achieve 5 A*- C incl EM

•73% of pupils with over 95% attendance achieve 5 A*- C incl EM