Information on school attendance expectations
School attendance has been mandatory, for all registered pupils, since 8th March 2021. Schools should record attendance in accordance with the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended). Further information on DfE coding guidance, expectations and absences relating to COVID-19 is available here.
Parents/carers have a legal duty to ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive a suitable full-time education. They can do this by enrolling them at a school or taking responsibility for their learning at home (elective home education).
To promote excellent attendance this term, the government expect schools and local authorities to continue to:
- communicate clear and consistent expectations around attendance to families
- identify pupils who are reluctant or anxious about attending or who are at risk of disengagement and develop plans to re-engage them, especially those who are persistently absent or at risk of persistent absence
- use the additional recovery funding, attendance staff, resources and pupil premium funding, as well as existing pastoral and support services, to put measures in place for those families who will need additional support to secure pupils’ regular attendance
- work closely with other professionals to support regular attendance
Guidance for parents on school attendance can be found on WCC's website.
The DfE have updated the guidance, setting out how schools should record pupils who do not attend school for reasons related to COVID-19 (code X. The guidance is available here.
There have been some changes to the sub codes that schools can use to record non-attendance related to COVID-19. The updated codes can be found here.
COVID-19 Attendance Advice
If you have any specific questions about COVID-19 related absence, please feel free to email the Warwickshire Attendance Service:
was@warwickshire.gov.uk