Attendance Policy

Last Updated – 28/08/26

(Annually Reviewed)

Introduction

Regular and punctual educational attendance is important. Students need to attend school regularly if they are to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law. One Nation Studios fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure students are in the AP setting and on time, therefore having access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours.

This policy applies to all students that attend One Nation Studios, whether they are part time or full time.

This policy has been written to adhere to the relevant Children Acts, Education Acts, Regulations and Guidance from the Department for Education in addition to guidance from the Local Authority.

Although parents and carers have the legal responsibility for ensuring their child’s good attendance, the CEO and Centre Leads, alongside commissioners and schools, and other agencies, work together to ensure that all pupils are encouraged and supported to develop good attendance habits. Procedures in this policy are followed to ensure this happens.

Students who are persistently late or absent soon fall behind with their learning. Students who are absent from the AP setting frequently develop large gaps in their learning which will impact on their progress and their ability to meet age related learning expectations.

Aims and Objectives

This attendance policy ensures that all staff, students, commissioners, and parents and carers are fully aware of and clear about the actions necessary to promote good attendance.

  • ●  Improve student’s achievement by ensuring high levels of attendance and punctuality.
  • ●  Achieve a minimum of 95% attendance for all students, apart from those with chronic
    health issues.
  • ●  Create an ethos in which good attendance and punctuality are recognised as the norm
    and seen to be valued at One Nation Studios by all.
  • ●  Raise awareness of parents, carers and students of the importance of uninterrupted
    attendance and punctuality at every stage of a student’s education.
  • ●  Ensure that our policy applies to every student.
  • ●  Work in partnership with students, parents and carers, staff, commissioners and local
    agencies so that all students realise their potential, unhindered by unnecessary absence.
  • ●  Promote a positive and welcoming atmosphere in which students feel safe, secure, and
    valued, and encourage in students a sense of their own responsibility.
  • ●  Establish a pattern of monitoring attendance and ensure consistency in recognising
    achievement and dealing with difficulties.
  • ●  Recognise a key role of all staff is promoting good attendance.

We maintain and promote good attendance and punctuality through:

  • ●  Raising awareness of attendance and punctuality issues among all staff, parents and students
  • ● Ensuring that parents have an understanding of the responsibility placed on them for making sure their child attends regularly and punctually
  • ● Equipping children with the life skills needed to take responsibility for good AP setting attendance and punctuality.
  • ●  Maintaining effective means of communication with parents, students, staff and referring parties on attendance matters.
  • ●  Developing and implementing procedures for identifying, reporting and reviewing cases of poor attendance and persistent lateness.
  • ●  Supporting students who have been experiencing any difficulties at home or at AP settings which are preventing good attendance.
  • ●  Developing and implementing procedures to follow up non-attendance at AP settings.

Definitions


  • Authorised absence
    “An absence is classified as authorised when a child has been away from school for a legitimate reason and the school has received notification from a parent or carer. For example, if a child has been unwell and the parent telephones the school to explain the absence.”

  • Only the AP setting can make an absence authorised. Parents do not have this authority. Consequently, not all absences supported by parents will be classified as authorised.
    One Nation Studios are unable to ‘authorise’ an absence through CLM; commissioners are primarily responsible for this.

  • Unauthorised absence
    “An absence is classified as unauthorised is when a child is away from school without the permission of the school.”

  • Therefore, the absence is unauthorised if a child is away from school without good reason, even with the support of a parent. It is essential for One Nation Studios and commissioners to complete investigations when there is an unauthorized absence and update CLM upon receiving information regarding these absences.

Procedures

One Nation Studios will undertake the following procedures to support good attendance:

  • ●  Maintain appropriate registration processes through CLM
  • ●  To maintain appropriate attendance data complied through CLM
  • ●  To communicate clearly the attendance procedures and expectations to all staff
  • ●  To have consistent and systematic daily records which give detail of any absence and
    lateness complied through CLM
  • ●  To follow up absences and persistent lateness if parents/carers have not communicated
    with One Nation Studios
    o All absences will be followed up with a phone call and or text message to parents and
    carers for each day their child is absent

o If this absence is for more than 3 consecutive days and One Nation Studios has not been able to communicate with the parent, the commissioner will be informed and a meeting will be arranged
o Further absence will be handed over to the commissioner for further investigation,

ACE will also be informed

Responsibilities

All members of AP setting staff have a responsibility for identifying trends in attendance and punctuality. The following includes a more specific list of the kinds of responsibilities which individuals might have.

CEO

  • ●  Overall monitoring of AP setting attendance
  • ● Trends in authorized and unauthorized absence
  • ●  Contacting families where concerns are raised about absence including arranging
    meetings to discuss attendance issues
  • ●  Monitoring individual attendance where concerns have been raised
  • ●  Developing and implementing procedures for identifying, reporting and reviewing cases
    of poor attendance and persistent lateness.
  • ●  Developing and implementing procedures to follow up non-attendance at One Nation Studios.
  • ●  Liaising with other professionals to determine potential sources of difficulties and
    reasons for absences
  • ●  To refer to commissioners and the ACE Team any child whose attendance causes
    concern and where parents/carers have not responded to AP setting’s initiatives to improve.

  • Centre Leads
    • ●  Keeping an overview of individual attendance looking particularly for either poor overall attendance, abnormalities in patterns of attendance and/ or unusual explanations for attendance offered by children and their parents/ carers
    • ●  Liaising with other staff in regards to the overall monitoring of attendance
    • ●  Informing the CEO where there are concerns and acting upon
      them
    • ●  Providing background information to support referrals to commissioners and other
      agencies
    • ●  Monitoring follow-up once actions have been taken to correct attendance concerns
    • ●  Emphasising the importance of good attendance and promptness to the students.
    • ●  Following up absences with immediate requests for explanation which should be noted
      on CLM
    • ●  To discuss with parents what constitutes as authorized and unauthorised absences
    • ●  To strongly discourage unnecessary absence through holidays taken during term time.
    • ●  To work with parents and pupils to improve individuals attendance and punctuality
    • ●  Equipping children with the life skills needed to take responsibility for good AP setting
      attendance and punctuality.
    • ●  Supporting pupils who have been experiencing any difficulties at home or at AP settings
      which are preventing good attendance.

    • Registration
      Students at One Nation Studios have various start times therefore students are considered as late if arriving later than 30 minutes after their specific start time.
      Each Senior Team Leader has the responsibility for keeping an accurate record of attendance.

      The attendance must be clearly passed on from the Centre Leader and to the Business Manager within 10 minutes of 30 minute grace period.
      All attendance records are documented using CLM software, which is supported by the Local Authority.

    • Absences
      Parent and carers should contact One Nation Studios on the first day of their child’s absence either via text or phone, and everyday thereafter. It is important that parents and careers notify us of the details for their absence.

All absences are recorded as unauthorised absences on the CLM tool (with parents reason), then commissioners are able to change this to authorised where appropriate and where appropriate evidence is shown.

Absence Communication

Where a child is absent from One Nation Studios and we have not received any verbal or written communication from the parent, then we initiate a process of communication, whereby the Centre Lead and or Business Manager will contact the parents or carers for the reasons as to why their child is absent.

Illness

One Nation Studios operate a 48 hour sickness and diarrhea policy, whereby a child should have not had such symptoms for at least 48 hours before returning to One Nation Studios.

When a student has an illness, which means they will be away from One Nation Studios long term, One Nation Studios will make commissioners aware of situation and activate a ‘keep in touch’ process, which would involve the following:

o Weekly update visits or calls.
o Work being sent home for the student to complete.

Parental Request for Absence from School for Holiday

With effect from September 2013 the government abolished the right for Principals and Headteachers to authorise absence specifically for holidays of up to 10 days per year if special circumstances exist. Instead, headteachers will only be allowed to grant leave of absence for any reason if they are satisfied exceptional circumstances exist. Applications must be made to the commissioner or One Nation Studios to authorise this.

Addressing Attendance Concerns

One Nation Studios expects attendance of at least 95%. In addition to the support One Nation Studios provide parents and students improving their attendance, support might be sought by One Nation Studios from the LA through the Magistrates Court as an Ancillary Order following a successful prosecution by the LA for irregular attendance or breach of a Schools Attendance Order. This will be in conjunction with an ACE referral.

Monitoring Attendance

The CEO, has the responsibility for ensuring that all of the attendance data is accurately recorded on the CLM attendance software with the support of One Nation Studios’s Business Manager. Weekly meetings are held with the CEO to discuss all attendance concerns and appropriate actions are taken following these meetings such as letters sent to parents or meetings arranged to discuss attendance concerns with parents.