Attendance at our school is excellent. Please follow the below guidance for any occasion when your child is unable to attend school.

Sickness absence
If your child is absent from school due to illness, please report this to school via the Arbor Parent App. If you do not provide a valid reason for absence it will be recorded as unauthorised. 

Other absence
All planned absence requests must be submitted using the 'Request for Absence Form.' This can be requested from the school office: enquiries@barrowby.lincs.sch.uk.

This form should be used for planned absences, including:

• medical or dental appointments;

• exceptional circumstances; and

• any other planned events.

Once you have submitted the form, our Administrative Team and the Headteacher will review your request. You will be contacted if the absence is unauthorised or if we require further information. Authorised absences will then be added directly to your child’s attendance record, on Arbor.

We would also like to remind parents that pupils must arrive at school on time each day. Children should not be taken out of school during registration periods (8:45–8:55am and 1:15–1:25pm), as they are expected to be present and any absence during these times will be recorded. Late arrival can disrupt learning and may also affect your child’s attendance mark. We appreciate your support in promoting regular and punctual attendance.

Parents and carers can view all recorded absences within the Arbor Parent App. To do this:

• open the app;

• select your child’s profile;

• tap attendance to view statistics; or

• tap on the menu tile (bottom left of the screen)

• select Attendance

• by Date

• tap Attendance Certificate (top of the screen) to view your child's complete record, including absence requests and codes

If you have any questions or require assistance with the new form or the Arbor system, please contact the school office.

Important Note
Regular, uninterrupted attendance at school is in the best interests of your child. When children are away, they inevitably miss out on what is happening in school, which means that as well as coping with new learning on their return, they have to catch up on what has been missed; new learning  frequently depends upon building blocks and steps in learning, so gaps in learning can cause problems for a child as they move through school.

Penalty Notices
We may issue a Penalty Notice for any unauthorised absence where the student has been:

• Absent or late for 10 or more half day sessions (five school days) during any 100 possible school sessions (10 school weeks) – these do not need to be consecutive

For each case of unauthorised absence, the school will decide whether a Penalty Notice is issued to one or more parents/ carers for each child. This could mean four penalty notices for a family with two siblings both with unauthorised absence for holiday      (one penalty notice for each child to each parent). Each Penalty Notice carries a fine of £80 if paid within 21 days of the penalty notice being posted. If the fine is not paid within 21 days, the penalty is automatically increased to £160 if paid within 28 days. If the fine remains unpaid Lincolnshire County Council will consider prosecution for the non-attendance.

Following up absence
Where any pupil we expect to attend school does not attend, or stops attending, the school will:

• Follow up on their absence with their parent/carer to ascertain the reason, by phone call / home visit;
• Identify whether the absence is authorised or not; and
• Identify the correct attendance code to use.

Facts, from Lincolnshire County Council

• 95% attendance = 10 days absence in an academic year
• 91% attendance = 17 days absence in an academic year
• 80% attendance = 38 days absence in an academic year
   
• 95% - 100% attendance -  Expected
• 91% -84% attendance - At risk of persistent absence
• 80% - 90% attendance - Persistent absence
• 51% - 79% attendance - At risk of severe absence
• Below 50% attendance - Severe absence