Working Together

Students, parents/carers and the Academy need to work together to improve attendance and punctuality. We can all play our part to ensure this happens.

At Maltby Academy we give the achievement of good attendance and punctuality high priority. Students who do not attend school cannot take advantage of educational opportunities and rarely achieve their potential. We expect every student to achieve 100% attendance during an academic year.

Every child has a right to access the education to which they are entitled. Parents/carers and teachers share the responsibility for ensuring that attendance rates at Maltby Academy are maximised and that rates of unjustified and unauthorised absenteeism are kept to a minimum.

What to do if your child will be absent from school

If your child is ill and does need to be off school please contact attendance on 01709 812864 Option 2.  We will need to know:

• Your child’s name.
• Why they are not in school (if it is through illness we will need to know what the illness is)
• When they will be back in school.

Please ensure that you call in and record your child’s absence each day if they are going to be off school for multiple days. Please note that you may be asked for confirmation of a medical appointment.

If patterns of attendance cause concerns you will be visited by an Attendance Officer from Maltby Academy to discuss the problem, they are there to help you.

Attendance and the Law

As a parent/carer, you have a legal responsibility to make sure that your child gets a full time education between the ages of 5 and 16.

• You can be fined up to £2,500 or imprisoned if your child has a poor attendance record.
• A Fixed Penalty Notice should be issued for holidays in term time when a child’s attendance falls below the combined national average percentage (currently this is 95.3% for 2016-2017). 
• The time period considered has been amended to include the holiday period and the previous 12 months attendance.
• You may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice of £120.00 (£60 if paid within 21 days)
• Parents/carers do not have the right to take their child out of school for holidays during term time.

Requests for leave can only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and in many cases a holiday would not be considered exceptional.

If a request for leave of absence is unauthorised and you still take your child out of school a request can and in some cases, will, be made to the Local Authority to consider issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN).  From 1st September 2013, Fixed Penalty Notices were set nationally by the DfE at £60 per parent per child if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice increasing to £120 per parent per child if paid within 28 days of receipt of the notice.

Did you know?