{"id":16907,"date":"2023-11-08T10:20:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T10:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/educationandfamilies\/school-information\/school-attendance\/absence-from-school-penalty-notices\/attendance-advice-and-guidance-for-parents-and-carers\/"},"modified":"2023-11-08T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T10:20:30","slug":"attendance-advice-and-guidance-for-parents-and-carers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/education\/attendance-and-inclusion\/school-attendance\/attendance-advice-and-guidance-for-parents-and-carers\/","title":{"rendered":"Attendance advice and guidance for parents and carers: Attendance matters"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"document-download-list clearfix\" id=\"block_acf-block-67efdf4a184b0\"><ul class=\"content-download\"><li class=\"content-download-inner\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"icon\" data-name=\"Layer 1\" viewBox=\"0 0 99 140\"><path d=\"M12 12h75v27H12V12Zm0 47h9v9h-9v-9Zm0 18h9v9h-9v-9Zm0 18h9v9h-9v-9Zm0 18h9v9h-9v-9Zm18-54h57v9H30v-9Zm0 18h39v9H30v-9Zm0 18h57v9H30v-9Zm0 18h48v9H30v-9Z\" style=\"fill:#767676\/*b1b4b6*\/;stroke-width:0\"\/><\/svg><div class=\"details\"><h3><a href=\"https:\/\/devoncc.sharepoint.com\/:b:\/s\/PublicDocs\/Education\/Ed5zDCvUofRKq16qhjP00_sBuCBEl1M3ZPmfYwnA9sPbNA?e=Hc9UCO\" rel=\"noopener\">Download a printable leaflet version of this content<\/a><\/h3><p class=\"description\"><\/p><p class=\"meta\">PDF, 863KB, 2 pages<\/p><\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/section>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is good school attendance important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular and punctual school attendance is essential to supporting a child or young person to flourish, fulfil their potential and enables them to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>learn<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>make and manage friendships<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>develop new skills<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>have fun<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>experience new things in the world around them<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>develop awareness and respect of other cultures, religion, ethnicity, and gender differences<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>build confidence and self-esteem<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>achieve and thrive with a sense of belonging to their school community<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>prioritise their well-being and happiness<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>be given the best start in life, enabling the best possible choices in their future<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Missing school&#8230; missing out!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t let your child be the one to miss out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th scope=\"col\">Attendance during one school year<\/th><th scope=\"col\" colspan=\"3\">Equivalent number of missed:<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td>Days<\/td><td>Weeks<\/td><td>Average lessons<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>95%<\/td><td>9<\/td><td>2<\/td><td>54<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>90%<\/td><td>19<\/td><td>4<\/td><td>114<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>85%<\/td><td>29<\/td><td>6<\/td><td>174<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>80%<\/td><td>38<\/td><td>8<\/td><td>228<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>75%<\/td><td>48<\/td><td>10<\/td><td>288<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>70%<\/td><td>57<\/td><td>11.5<\/td><td>342<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>65%<\/td><td>67<\/td><td>13.5<\/td><td>402<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cWe are only a few minutes late\u201d &#8211; Does it matter?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Being late for school reduces learning time and does not prepare your child or young person for their future working lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arrival 5 minutes late every day = 3 days of learning missed each year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arrival 15 minutes late every day = 10 days or 2 weeks of learning each year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How you can help your child or young person to have excellent attendance in school<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Always inform the school if your child is absent.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Talk openly to your child about school and work in partnership with the school to best support them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage your child to attend regularly and advocate, speak up on behalf of their needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arrange medical or dental appointments outside of school hours when possible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Establish good morning and bedtime routines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Support your child to arrive at school on time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take truancy seriously &#8211; consider where are they? Who are they with? What are they doing?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where possible attend parent consultations and school events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Value and acknowledge achievements in school.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Take family holidays, visit family outside of term time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does the law say about attendance?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16 yrs) must get a suitable, full-time education. As a parent <strong>you are responsible<\/strong> for making sure this happens.<br>Parents and carers commit an offence if a child does not attend school regularly and the absence is not agreed by the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Will an absence be authorised by the school?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Schools can only agree absences for a limited range of exceptional circumstances, these are typically absences that are completely unavoidable. Absences that <strong>will not be agreed<\/strong> might include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Arrival after registers have closed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Absences that are not properly explained.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Day trips and holidays in term time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leaving the school without school authorisation during the day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Repeated unauthorised absences may be referred to Devon County Council for Parent Responsibility measures to improve attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who can help you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Do not be afraid to ask for help if a problem arises. Parents and carers should reach out to the school to explore how they can support and\/or contact other services available to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Devon safeguarding children partnership<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.devonscp.org.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\">www.devonscp.org.uk\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public health nursing hubs<\/strong> Tel: 03332 341 910  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/health\/public-health-nursing\/\">www.devon.gov.uk\/educationandfamilies\/health\/public-health-nursing\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Early help:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Northern Devon: <a href=\"mailto:Earlyhelpnorthsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk\">Earlyhelpnorthsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Southern Devon: <a href=\"mailto:Earlyhelpsouthsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk\">Earlyhelpsouthsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mid &amp; East Devon: <a href=\"mailto:Earlyhelpmideastsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk\">Earlyhelpmideastsecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exeter: <a href=\"mailto:Earlyhelpexetersecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk\">Earlyhelpexetersecure-mailbox@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Devon information advice and support<\/strong> <a href=\"mailto:devonias@devon.gov.uk\">devonias@devon.gov.uk<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why is good school attendance important? Regular and punctual school attendance is essential to supporting a child or young person to flourish, fulfil their potential [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":66622,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-16907","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-22 19:48:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16907\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/66622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}