At Braeburn we have a robust approach to monitoring and managing poor attendance. The Department for Education (DfE) have a target for 96% attendance at school, and as a Trust we have an aspirational target of 97% attendance.
We recognise that at times children are too poorly to attend school. However there has been a national decline in attendance since the Covid pandemic, and all schools are working hard to try and ensure more children are in school all of the time.
When a child’s attendance drops below 90% they are defined as being ‘persistently absent’, and below 50% they are defined as being ‘severely absent’. There are steps that school has to take when children are persistently absent. We do this using a ‘support first’ approach. This consists of early communication with parents, telephone calls, informal meetings, wellbeing support, practical support, and targeted interventions with children to break down barriers. As a last resort, if all the early intervention strategies fail, we may have to request that the Local Authority intervene through their Attendance and Enforcement Team.
Attendance & Persistent Absence Management Procedures
Informal Stage
Letter 1, 2 3 issued half termly
Invites to attend an informal meeting to discuss persistent absenteeism and agree an action plan (PA Plan)
PA Plan reviews
Formal Stage
Attendance Panel meeting with school & Governors
Attendance Panel review (optional)
Referral to the Local Authority for enforcement action
You can read more about our attendance procedures in the Trust Attendance Policy.
Enforcement Action
You can read more about the powers Local Authorities have to legally enforce school attendance here.
Government Policy on Attendance
The Government paper, Working Together to Improve School Attendance, is available to read here.
Attendance Team at Braeburn
The Senior Attendance Lead for our school is Mrs Laura Exton.
Our Attendance Administrator is Mrs Emma Wilson.
The Wellbeing Team at our school are Mrs Rebecca Ingle and Mrs Lindsey Bryant.
The Designated Safeguarding Lead at our school is Mrs Jodie Williams.
You can contact the Attendance Team via the school office 01723 582616
