Attendance Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 click here

We recognise that high levels of school attendance are significant to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential.  It is an assumption so widely understood but insufficiently stated that children and young people need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.  Missing out on lessons leaves pupils vulnerable to falling behind and achieving less in both primary and secondary school.

The overall aim of the attendance policy is to:

  • Keep children safe and ensure their welfare needs are met in accordance with safeguarding practice. 
  • Provide a stable environment in which our children can learn. 
  • Support parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children who are of compulsory school age and registered at the academy, attend school regularly.
  • Maximise educational opportunities for all our pupils, ensuring there is a consistent and fair approach with equal opportunities for all.
  • Encourage good habits of school attendance with a vision on early intervention by supporting families with children in the Early Years Foundation stage.

 We do this by:

  • Applying a robust attendance process across all four academies. 
  • Notifying parents at the earliest opportunity where attendance is below expected national standards.
  • Ensuring pupils are punctual to their lessons and attend school on time.
  • Working with parents to reduce illness and medical absence
  • Working in collaboration with partner agencies, such as health visitors, school nurses, children’s services and youth services across all levels of the needs assessment.
  • Ensuring every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; which includes individual education plans.
  • Identifying vulnerable children who may have a specific area of need to enable them to attend school
  • Analysis of attendance data to highlight areas of concern, particularly amongst vulnerable groups, including the identification and tracking of persistent absence pupils
  • Working with the families of children in the early years’ foundation stage to ensure there is a readiness to learn. 
  • Highlighting the importance of attendance with pupils through achievement and rewards. 
  • The legal powers and duties that govern school attendance and explains how they apply to local authorities, academies, head teachers, school staff, governing bodies, pupils and parents, are contained in:
  • The Education Act 1996, sections 434(1)(3)(4) & (6) and 458(4) & (5)
  • The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
  • The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010
  • The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2011
  • The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

Please download a leave of absence form Leave of Absence Form 2025-2026

All schools within Redcar and Cleveland are encouraged to adopt a common leave of absence policy to ensure legal compliance;

The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024 sets out the law in respect of leave of absence during term time.

An application for leave of absence in term time should be made to the Headteacher for the school at which the child is on roll, by a parent/carer with whom the pupil normally resides and giving at least 20 school days notice.

Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust requires an application for leave of absence in term time to be completed whenever a child is to be absent from school, for any reason, other than medical or illness absence. This ensures the academy is aware of the absence and the appropriate safeguarding procedures have been followed

A Headteacher will not grant leave of absence during term time unless there is an exceptional circumstance

The exceptional circumstances will focus on:
● A recent serious illness or bereavement of an immediate family member
● A member of the Armed Forces whereby they need to undertake a tour of duty, which conflicts school holidays
● Restrictions on Police leave or other emergency services where specific duties are undertaken in relation to a national event, which conflicts with school holidays

Please provide evidence of any exceptional circumstance with the application

More information is available on the Local Authority Website here

The school should publish the formal leave of absence (holiday) policy on an annual
basis to all parents. Leave of absence taken without approval for the purposes of a
holiday will be recorded as an unauthorised holiday absence (code G).

Attendance Policy June 2026 Update

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