Mrs. D Smith, is our Pupil & Family Support Manager.

 

Mrs. Smith works Tuesday - Friday  and is based in an office adjacent to the hall.

 

Pupil and Family Support

At St John Southworth we endeavour to support not only our pupils but also the families within our school community.

Sometimes, you or your children may need extra support and we can help you with any worries you may have about your child’s education and wellbeing.

Please contact myself in person, via telephone or email if you would like advice or just a chat.

I work very closely with the class teachers, Senco and senior staff so whether it’s to discuss your child or help on filling in forms or maybe what’s in the community that can help families e.g. help with uniforms, food banks, housing.

Any advice and support that I offer will be confidential, although concerns relating to the safe guarding of children will always be dealt with in accordance with school’s safe guarding and child protection policy.

 

Attendance

Mrs. Smith monitors the attendance of pupils and contacts parents if there is a concern.

Pupil Attendance – Leave in Term Time

Head teachers cannot authorise any leave of absence during term time unless they are satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances to warrant the granting of leave.

Unauthorised leave may result in a penalty notice being issued.

However an application form for leave must be completed for any leave requested. Please do not book holidays before you have completed this form and returned it to school.

Persistent Absence

Schools are 'measured' on their whole school attendance rate, and the level of persistent absentees within school. A persistently absent pupil is one whose attendance is at or below 85% at any point during the academic year. Schools should aim to intervene to improve a pupil's attendance prior to them becoming a 'persistent absentee'. The following thresholds are intended as a guide as to when a pupil may be classed as a persistent absentee and are roughly equivalent to an attendance rate of 85% at certain points throughout the year:

Half term 1: 10 sessions of absence

Half term 2: 22 sessions of absence

Half term 3: 30 sessions of absence

Half term 4: 38 sessions of absence

Half term 5: 46 sessions of absence

LCC Attendance Team

Pupils with poor attendance may be referred to the LCC Attendance Team.

The Attendance Team work directly with schools in improving the attendance of individual pupils, when existing school strategies have failed to make an improvement.

Penalty Notices

Penalty notices are fines that are issued to parents by the Local Authority for their child’s irregular school attendance. The notice will state the fine payable and the timescales for doing so. If paid within 21 days it will be charged at a rate of £160 per parent per child. This can be paid at £80 if paid within 21 days. All payments are made to the Local Authority.

Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days with no option for a discounted rate.

The threshold at which a penalty notice MUST be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. This may include absences as a result of arriving later after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.

A maximum of 2 penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions).

Unauthorised leave of 15 school days or more: The Local Authority will review any requests for penalty notices and may prosecute parents and not offer the opportunity to pay a penalty notice fine instead.

Where enough notice is given for a warning to be issued, and a request made is for 3 weeks (15 school days) or more out of school, the Local Authority may issue you with a warning explaining that you will not have the opportunity to pay a fine and that you will be prosecuted if the leave is still taken. Even if the authority doesn't send you a warning letter, you can still be prosecuted for the offence as there is no legal entitlement to a warning or a penalty notice.

Failure to ensure your child's regular attendance at school is a criminal offence, and this means that if you are convicted, this could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and you will have a criminal record.

How do I apply for free school meals?

 

Free_School_Meals_Form.pdf