Attendance and Absence

Every absence has to be classified by Cockermouth School as authorised or unauthorised. Absences are coded as authorised where reasons are considered valid and unauthorised where no explanation or unacceptable reasons are given.

This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required. Types of absence that are likely to be authorised are illness or emergencies. Medical or dental appointments will be authorised, although these should be organised outside of school hours wherever possible. Medical evidence may also be required.

Examples of absences which the school is unlikely to authorise can include:

• Shopping trips
• Care for Family Members
• Visiting family or friends
• Days off for birthdays
• Problems with transport
• Social visits e.g. to Theme Parks or Concerts
• Parents' work commitments / business trips
• Holidays taken in term time (including long weekends)
• Parental illness
• Travelling to non-school related evening or weekend events
• Non-health related, medical or dental appointments
• Additional time taken for medical appointments that does not include the appointment time or travel time.
• Absences where no specific reason is given.

Please note that this is not an exhaustive list.

The following attendance thermometer is a helpful guide that Cockermouth School will use as a simple reference point for students, parents and carers in order to promote good attendance:

Parents must contact the school if their child is not able to attend due to illness. Parents may be asked to provide medical evidence where there are repeated absences due to reported illness. This will usually be in the form of an appointment card, prescription etc.

Parents are advised where possible, to make medical and dental appointments outside of the school day. Where this is not possible, students must attend school for part of the day where they are not at the appointment and are asked to avoid making the appointment during official registration times first thing in the morning, or after lunch as this will affect your child’s reported attendance as shown on official reports and any references. Please prioritise attendance first thing in the morning, so attendance can be recorded as present and sign out of school to attend appointments so that attendance can be maximised at every lesson. We would ask that you avoid keeping a child at home until an appointment later in the day, as this will mean more missed lessons and an absent rather than present mark for the morning. The same is true in the afternoon, so attendance to period 5 after lunch is also particularly important. Parents should show a copy of the appointment card/letter to school.

Other types of absence are likely to be unauthorised.

Cockermouth School can, if needed, change an authorised absence to an unauthorised absence and vice-versa if new information is presented. Any changes will be communicated to parents/carers.

A link to our attendance policy can be found here.

Parents are expected to notify Cockermouth School on the first day if their child is unable to attend for any unavoidable reason, such as illness. Parents are requested to inform the school before 08:30 if their child is too unwell to attend school:

• by email: absence@cockermouthschool.org
• telephone reception on 01900 898888 or our Attendance Officer, Mrs Lesley Whittle, on 01900 898877 and leave a message, giving your child’s full name, form group and reason for absence (a telephone answering machine is in operation before 8am);

If the school does not receive notification, it will text/telephone on the first day of absence to try to ascertain the reason. First day contact will be carried out as early as possible in the school day in order to notify parents as quickly as possible that their child is not in school.

A record of attendance is kept for the whole of your child’s school life and will be used when references are requested by prospective employers, colleges and universities.

If a student arrives late to school, they must sign in at reception with a member of the school office reception team. Students arriving into school after 8.40 will be recorded as late and any student arriving from 9.15 will be recorded as U, meaning that they will be classed as absent from the AM session.

Any students leaving before the end of the school day for any reason must sign out at reception before they leave. Students may only leave early if the school has previously been advised by a parent by email absence@cockermouthschool.org, telephone (01900 898888 for reception or our Attendance Officer, Mrs Lesley Whittle on 01900 898877), letter or have a signed note from a parent or carer explaining the reasons.

Please be aware that persistent lateness (5 lates to any session) will be escalated to the whole school centralised after-school detention. Students arriving at school after 8.55 without a valid reason for their lateness will be issued with a lunchtime detention.

As part of a national drive to raise attendance because of its strong link to educational achievement, there has been an important change to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) regulations 2006 in that the word “holiday” has been removed. Parents and Carers of students at this school will understand that there is no entitlement to holidays during term time and such absences can only be authorised in a restricted number of “special circumstances”. The wording of the amendments now uses the phrase “exceptional circumstances” and Local Authorities will be monitoring very closely schools that appear relaxed in any way.

We work with the Local Authority to monitor this issue. In the meantime, please be aware of the following, which summarise the leave of absence regulations:

• Head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
• Head teachers will now determine whether the Leave of Absence is granted or not.
• When requesting Leave of Absence, Parents/Carers are asked to make clear how the circumstances leading to the request are exceptional.
• Leave of Absence must be requested in advance.
• If Leave of Absence is not granted the absence will be coded as unauthorised.

For any leave of absence to be considered, applications to the Headteacher must be made at least two weeks in advance using our downloadable form. There is an application form for Leave of Absence, which can be obtained from the school or downloaded here. Please contact Mrs Lesley Whittle, Attendance Officer, on 01900 898877 WhittleL@cockermouthschool.org for a Leave of Absence form if you are unable to download the form.

Each application for Leave of Absence will be considered on a case-by-case basis and on its own merit. We greatly appreciate parental support to reduce the total amount of days lost due to holidays. We are committed to working in partnership with you to enable your child to reach his/her academic targets and to support their social development. For this to happen we need to keep attendance a priority and for it to remain as high as possible. We would appreciate you communicating this information to close family members.

All unauthorised absences, including holidays that have not been authorised by the Headteacher, are accumulated and parents who fail to ensure regular attendance of their children at school can be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice. From September 2024, the amount is £80 if paid within 21 days and £160 if paid between 21 and 28 days. Failure to pay a Penalty Notice will result in prosecution except in limited circumstances. Unauthorised absences will be referred to the Local Authority.

We ask Parents/Carers to respect these changes under which we must now work.

Please click the link here for a list of frequently asked questions about Leave of Absence requests.

There are some occasions such as bereavements or family funerals, where it may be inappropriate for children to attend school; we will be sympathetic to such needs.

All students who have attendance below 90% (at any time throughout the school year) will be regarded as persistent absentees. As such, their attendance will be tracked and interventions will be made to try to ensure that their attendance returns to a level in excess of 90% as soon as is possible.

The school will work with parents/carers and will offer the necessary support; however, if the pattern continues then the student will move through a stepped process.

If attendance concerns persist then Cockermouth School will make a referral to the Local Authority.

For students whose attendance fails to improve, after a range of interventions and support measures have been tried by Cockermouth School, the ultimate consequences may be a penalty notice and fine issued by the Inclusion Officer for Attendance.