Your legal responsibility as a parent or carer is to ensure that your child or children of school age receive a suitable full-time education, by either enrolling your child or children at a school or by making other arrangements such as elective home education.
Once enrolled at a school, it remains the parent or carer's legal responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly and arrives on time each day.
Parents and carers are encouraged to maintain good attendance by:
making sure they and their child understand the importance of school attendance and punctuality and know what the school rules are
talking to the school to discuss what support is available if your child has any issues which could affect attendance levels
avoiding making appointments during the school day, and if this is unavoidable, provide evidence (where possible) that an appointment was attended - this will enable the school to authorise the absence
not taking holidays during school term-time
If you're a parent of a child of statutory school age (between 5 and 16 years) who is registered at a school you are responsible for making sure they attend school regularly.
Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good routines for later life and the working world, as well as giving them the opportunity to:
make new friends and feel included
learn new things and develop skills
increase their confidence and self-esteem
improve social skills
achieve their potential and fulfil aspirations
Every single day a child is absent from school equates to a day of lost learning.
Attendance, absence and days of learning missedAbsence and days of learning missed100% attendanceNo days missed95% attendance9 days of absence, 1 week and 4 days of learning missed90% attendance19 days of absence, 3 weeks and 4 days of learning missed85% attendance28 days of absence, 5 weeks and 3 days of learning missed
Attendance | Absence and days of learning missed |
100% attendance | No days missed |
95% attendance | 9 days of absence, 1 week and 4 days of learning missed |
90% attendance | 19 days of absence, 3 weeks and 4 days of learning missed |
85% attendance | 28 days of absence, 5 weeks and 3 days of learning missed |
In accordance with pupil registration regulations, headteachers must not grant approval for any leave of absence during term time, including holidays, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
For more information click this link to visit the Derbyshire County Council School attendance page.