Attendance – Every day Counts!

Regular attendance is essential if your child is to get the maximum benefit from his/her time with us together with good punctuality.

We follow the Local Authority’s Fast Track procedures as recommended by Birmingham City Council to highlight any issues surrounding leave in term time and persistent absence and further information regarding this can be found on the School’s website. Parents will be invited in for regular Attendance Reviews with the Head teacher and our Welfare Officer if your child’s attendance gives cause for concern.  All children are expected to attain 97% or above attendance throughout the school year and issues with attendance will be closely monitored.

   Leave in term time is not allowed.

If you take your child on a term-time holiday, it will be recorded as unauthorised absence.  The Head Teacher is only able to authorise absence in extremely exceptional circumstances.  If you take your child out of school during term time you may risk losing your child’s place at this school and/or receiving a fixed penalty notice which will result in a fine.

We reward good attendance by presenting certificates to classes on a weekly basis and to individuals each half term.

Children who have a year’s full attendance receive a special certificate at the end of the year and have a special treat at the end of the Summer Term.

All absences should be accounted for by parents – you should telephone school as early as possible to inform us of the reason for the absence.  Medical Appointments should be notified to the School Office, where a copy of the Appointment Letter will be taken. We have to keep an accurate record of attendance which can be inspected at any time by the Education Welfare Officer. Absence returns for the school now have to be sent to the DfE.

Birches Green works closely with CSAWS (Central School Attendance and Welfare Service) in partnership to raise levels of attendance across the School.  Research shows that attendance and punctuality are the single most important factor in school success. 

Unauthorised Absences

It is now a legal requirement for schools to publish their figures for unauthorised absence, together with information on when a Penalty Notice has been issued. This is displayed in our weekly Newsletters along with other attendance data.

An authorised absence (usually in the case of illness) is one for which we have notification from parents either verbally, in writing or by telephone.

Truancy, leave taken during term time and absences without an explanation are recorded as unauthorised absences.