SCHOOL ATTENDANCE GOOD PRACTICE PROCEDURES

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

GOOD PRACTICE

&

PROCEDURES

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CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION 2 BACKGROUND 2 EQUALITY & DIVERSITY 3 SCHOOL ETHOS 3 SCHOOL BASED PROCEDURES 4 Whole School Attendance Policy Parents/Carers Pupils Governors 5 DATA ANALYSIS 5 Providing Data PRO-ACTIVE INTERVENTIONS 5 First Day Response 5 Gate Duty 6 Certificates/Incentives 6 Letters to Parents 6 Meeting with Parents/Carers and Pupils 6 Holidays in Term Time 6 EXTENDED TRIPS OVERSEAS DURING TERM TIME 7 Failure to return on the agreed date 8 Gypsy and Traveller Families 8 OTHER STRATEGIES 9 Fast track Penalty Notices 9 Looking at the Individual Circumstances 10 SUPPORT FROM THE LOCAL AUTHORITY EARLY INTERVENTION TEAM 10 Troubled Families Initiative 11

Cross Border Issues 12 Removing pupils from school role 13

Children Missing Education – CME 13 CME Process Flow Chart 16 ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION 17 Legal Context Reasons for EHE 17 Parents Responsibility 17 Flexi – Schooling 18 Request for Involvement for Locality Support 19 How to get Support from your locality team flow chart 20 How to Get Support from Your Locality Team Flow Chart Penalty notices and Prosecution 22 RESOURCE SECTION 23

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SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

INTRODUCTION We have an improving picture regarding attendance in Dorset schools, and colleagues are to be congratulated upon their attempts to bring absence levels down. However there has been a significant drop in the national rankings for primary schools and a slight change for secondary schools. The persistent absence threshold, as defined by the Department for Education (DfE ) has changed from this year from 20% to 15%. To give a consistent picture across all of our schools, the last two years are provided as a comparison. Persistent absence (old definition )in our primary schools for 2010/11 was 1.3 % and ranked Dorset 13th out of 152 Local Authorities. For overall absence rates our primary schools were ranked 56th out of 152 Local Authorities. Persistent absence (new definition) for 2010/11 would have been 3.9%. For 2011/12 the figure is 3.2 % which is a drop of 0.7 % but 91st out of 152 Local Authorities. For overall absence rates our primary schools were ranked 120th out of 152 Local Authorities. For secondary schools the persistent absence (old definition ) for 2010/11 was 4% and ranked 31st out of 150 Local Authorities. For overall absence rates our secondary schools were ranked 67th out of 150 Local Authorities. Persistent absence (new definition) for 2010/11 would have been 8.3%.For 2011/12 the figure is 7.3%, which is a drop of 1% but 70th out of 150 Local Authorities. For overall absence rates secondary schools were ranked 91st out of 150 Local Authorities. This document has been written to help schools understand the legalities of pupil attendance, the Local Authorities structure and support in attendance matters and to provide some examples of the good practice that is taking place in schools across the County, and nationally. It reflects the folder and leaflets previously provided by the Education Social Work Service.

BACKGROUND

The role of the Local Authority in attendance matters has been significantly reduced by the current Government. In Dorset non-attendance in school will in future be part of the wider safeguarding and well-being of children agenda. Concerns about non-attendance have therefore moved from being school focussed to a child/family issue. Non-attendance at school is rarely a single issue, so the most effective way to improve attendance is by addressing the underlying issues.

This document is concerned with sharing good practice and procedures in schools. It also provides considerations and actions that need to be taken before a school involves the Early Intervention Locality Team.

However, it is important to recognise that all of this is against a backdrop of unprecedented financial times, schools becoming far more autonomous and the changing role of the Local Authority. Dorset County Council remains committed to supporting the improvements of school attendance and reducing persistent absence by working on initiatives and partnerships with schools and other agencies. Part of this new role will be about working in partnership with schools to support them in developing local solutions with other schools and partners as opposed to the Local Authority taking direct action.

Since summer 2012, Local Authorities and schools have no longer been required to set targets for persistent absence and overall attendance. However, the Department for Education (DfE) remains firmly of the view that unnecessary absence is unacceptable and must be addressed robustly by schools. The Department therefore expects all schools and Local Authorities to continue focusing on reducing overall absence, particularly unauthorised absence and persistent absence. Absence will continue to be monitored closely via the pupil level school census, and the Secretary of State’s power to require an

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individual school to set absence targets where a school’s absence record is of particular concern is retained.

A new inspection framework for maintained schools and academies was introduced in January 2012 and subsequently updated in September 2012. The quality of teaching and learning judgement is linked to attendance because teaching cannot benefit pupils if they are not present.

More recently the government has taken further action to improve attendance in schools including:

• Provide staff with revised advice on school attendance.

• Tightened regulations on Term Time holidays.

• Increase the Penalty Notice fine levels for school absence and shorten the deadline to pay the fines.

There is also a proposal to introduce legislation giving academies the power to prosecute parents in relation to school attendance.

EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY

It is important that for all policies and procedures, schools and the LA are mindful of groups with protected characteristics, any communication issues parents and pupils may have, including language, and provide appropriate services for those with a disability. To arrange translation services via Dorset Direct dial 01305 221977, this contact will act as a broker and put callers in touch with appropriate translators.

SCHOOL ETHOS

Where schools maintain high levels of attendance issues of absence are evident not only in their school prospectus, policies and procedures but also their day to day expectations of pupils, parents, carers and staff and the consistency of messages being given. The following aspects are common in most high attending schools:

• The maintenance of a stimulating environment, climate and ethos that makes children and young people want to attend.

• The creation of an environment where problems and issues can be shared in a supportive, trusting and confidential manner.

• There is a collegiate approach to attendance by all staff.

• Good or improving attendance is encouraged, promoted and rewarded.

• Trends in attendance are regularly monitored and shared with stakeholders.

• Children, young people and their parents/carers are helped to understand the impact of non attendance on learning and achievement.

• Mechanisms are in place to encourage promptness and readiness to learn.

• Schools have a clear agreement with neighbouring schools regarding holidays taken in term time

• Mechanisms are in place whereby parents can easily inform the school when their child cannot attend.

• Close liaison and support is in place for families for whom attendance is an issue.

• Parents are fully aware of the legal requirement to send their children to school and the legal consequences of not doing so.

• Governors and senior leaders regularly monitor the policy and attendance trends.

• Robust anti bullying policy. Bullying can have a significant effect on a pupil’s attendance and research highlights the fact that some people are more likely to be bullied than others e.g. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT).

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SCHOOL BASED PROCEDURES.

WHOLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE POLICY

It is important to have a consistent and robust attendance policy which clearly outlines the expectations and responsibilities of the school, parents/carers and the pupil. Many schools find it helpful to have similar policies to their neighbouring schools so that parents/carers get the same message wherever their children attend. A policy could be organised under the following headings:

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS / CARERS

• Parents have a legal responsibility for ensuring that their child attends school regularly, punctually, properly equipped and in a fit condition to learn.

• If a child is prevented for any reason from attending, or is late, parents must notify the school as soon as possible on the first day of absence.

• A pupil's absence from school will be considered as unauthorised until a satisfactory explanation is received.

• Attendance issues will be raised with parents through Parents' Evenings, Governors/PTA, AGM, school prospectus, newsletter, and/or letter prior to commencing school.

• Parents will be promptly informed over concerns about attendance and given the opportunity to discuss this with a member of staff.

• Attendance will be discussed with individual pupils if there is a level of concern or pattern of absence and with parents if necessary.

• Pupils who do experience attendance difficulties will be offered prompt and sympathetic support, initially from class tutor/teacher, and should the need arise, from a senior member of staff.

• All families will inevitably go through periods when life can be very challenging. This could be to do with a family bereavement, redundancy and debt, children’s challenging behaviour etc. In these circumstances it is important that you talk to staff in confidence as to how this might be affecting your child’s ability to focus at school, their behaviour and attendance. It may also be that a Common Assessment might be a supportive way forward. A Common Assessment is a way of gathering information and appropriate agencies together to see what kind of support is needed. This is something that happens with you and can only be done with your consent.

• Children and young people who are unable to attend school because of medical needs have access to as much education as their medical condition allows so that they are able to maintain the momentum of their education and to keep up with their studies. Below is a link to further guidance: Access to Education for Children and Young People with Medical Needs

• An explanation of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) process should be given so parents and carers understand how this can support them. Further information on the CAF process and related leaflets are available on www.dorsetforyou.com/caf

PUPILS

• Pupils should be aware of the importance of maintaining their attendance at the highest possible level. This can be encouraged through positive strategies and rewards which many schools already have in place. However, for colleagues who may be new to this area of work some ideas are provided in the Resource Section.

• All pupils are expected to attend school regularly and punctually.

• Attendance will be monitored using individual attendance records.

• Pupils should be aware that bullying will not be tolerated but also if they find they are being bullied they know how to get support.

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GOVERNORS

• Attendance will be an agenda item at the first Governors' meeting of each term.

• The Governors will nominate a member to liaise with the head teacher on attendance issues.

• The school’s policy should be ratified by the governing body.

• The policy should also include an explanation of types of absence and the method the school will use to tackle different reasons for absence:

• Actions to be taken for pupils who are identified as persistent absentees.

• The school’s policy on punctuality.

• An explanation of hierarchy of actions the school takes in the event of an absence, including referenced Penalty Notices.

• Regular review process should involve pupils and parents/carers.

• It is good practice to identify a ‘school attendance leader’ (who is a member of the senior leadership team) to ensure there is a strategic lead for attendance within the school. However, it is important to emphasise that this is ‘everyone’s responsibility’.

DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis plays a central role in all schools and the vast majority will have effective procedures and systems for gathering and analysing absence data. Consideration might be given to the following:-

• Issues with any particular subject, classes or year groups.

• Attendance patterns of children in care.

• Number of pupils with short but sporadic absences.

• Comparing data with school that siblings may attend.

Awareness may need to be raised where ethnicity, religion or beliefs may affect school attendance on certain days and festivities.

Please note that the checking of registers is no longer part of the remit of Locality Social Workers.

Please be aware also that the CA2SD project is no longer in existence so our teams cannot access your attendance data via Impulse. If you require any help and support your ‘request for involvement’ (see later) must be accompanied by the appropriate attendance data, otherwise any potential intervention will be delayed.

PRO-ACTIVE INTERVENTIONS

FIRST DAY RESPONSE

Parents/carers should know that you expect them to call school on the first day of absence to let you know that their child will not be in school and giving the reason why. If they do not call then they can expect a telephone call from the school at an appropriate time.

When using First Day Response you might want to consider the following:

1. Is this for all pupils or targeted groups?

2. Who carries out First Day Response?

3. Communication is key – Do staff involved know which pupils have caring responsibilities? What other underlying issues might there be?

4. How is the information used to update the register?

5. How is the information from First Day Response collated and documented? – What does the data tell the school? Are there any patterns?

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GATE DUTY

School gate duty can be a useful way of targeting punctuality issues in conjunction with other methods to support and improve whole school attendance and punctuality.

Parents need to be informed that this is part of the School Attendance Policy. Senior members of the school staff should be involved in the patrols to emphasise the importance but also to have knowledge of those pupils who may have a genuine reason for being late. Are there particular days when ‘lateness’ is an issue? Does it relate to specific lessons? What sort of follow up will be required with pupils/parents/carers and staff?

CERTIFICATES / INCENTIVES (please see the Resource Section).

• Certificates and incentives are often given to pupils with excellent and/or improved attendance or punctuality.

• An element of competition can sometimes be appropriate and effective whether using your group, tutor group, house system etc. Having random unannounced days when additional points are given to groups or targeted individuals.

• Local business may offer incentives as well as talking to young people about how important attending school is to their future employability.

• Staff should be aware and sensitive to the fact that some pupil’s attendance and punctuality may be affected by their disability or their medical needs (see page 14 of the Part Time School Time Table).

LETTERS TO PARENTS

Letters to parents of pupils with poor attendance are often very effective – for example those falling below 90% attendance without adequate explanation.

MEETING WITH PARENTS CARERS AND PUPILS

It may be appropriate to invite the parents/carers and pupils to a meeting with a member of staff to discuss reasons for poor attendance, strategies to address it, targets to achieve and the date for review. This is an ideal opportunity to ascertain any underlying issues and where appropriate consideration should be given to the CAF.

MEDICAL EVIDENCE FOR PERSISTENT ABSCENCE

Where there is significant absence with regard to minor illnesses e.g. coughs, colds, headaches etc then parents should be required to provide evidence e.g. appointment cards. It would also be good practice to offer an appointment with the School Nurse who will be able to advise on recurring ailments as it is important these are addressed and pupils attend school as much as possible. A refusal to provide evidence or meet with the School Nurse where there is a significant pattern would mean that further absences should not be authorised.

Some school clusters are beginning to try and work in partnership with GP Practices to try and address this issue.

HOLIDAYS IN TERM TIME

Amendments to the 2006 regulations remove reference to family holidays and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold 10 school days. The amendments make clear that head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during Term Time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Head teachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.

Head teachers must decide what they will accept as “exceptional”. Head teachers may find it helpful to discuss with other Heads within their locality as there maybe specific issues relating to the geographical area that they may wish to all see as “exceptional”. When making the decision the following factors should still be taken into consideration:-

• The pupil’s absence/attendance record.

• Amount of time requested and when it was made.

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• General welfare of the pupil and ability to catch up.

• Circumstances of the request.

• Proximity to SAT’s and public examinations.

• Purpose of the leave and its educational value.

• Religious holiday and festivities.

This significant change should be made clear in the School’s Attendance Policy and to make reference to the fact that parents could be issued with a Penalty Notice if they take unauthorised absence in relation to taking a holiday in term time.

If you require any further advice on whether something could be classed as exceptional circumstances then you can ring the Department for Education (DfE) on 0370 0002288, and keep a log of when you made the call and the advice that was given. Alternatively you can email them or check their website on www.education.gov.uk/help/contactus.

The procedure for requesting leave of absence should be available to parents. Clear advice should be included within the school prospectus and attendance policy.

If parents take their child/children away without permission or even fail to apply for it the absence should be recorded as ‘unauthorised’.

The appropriate register symbol should be used.

F – Extended family holiday (agreed)

H – Family holiday (agreed)

G – Family holiday not agreed (or days in excess of agreement)

EXTENDED TRIPS OVERSEAS DURING TERM TIME

Amendments to 2006 regulations not only removed reference to family holidays but extended leave as well. As stated previously any leave of absence during term time can only be given where there are exceptional circumstances, and again if further clarification is needed on exceptional circumstances the DfE should clarify this for you.

While it is for head teachers to determine what exceptional circumstances are you may find the following helpful to consider in reaching your decision:

• A visit involving family overseas has an entirely different significance than the normal associations with a holiday.

• Visits may be very important in terms of a child’s cultural identity and self-esteem as they grow up.

• Parents may feel that the reasons for their visit outweighs the importance of their child’s uninterrupted attendance at school – maintaining family links in extended family situations may involve greater significance and greater pressures in some cultures than it does currently in many western cultures.

• The reasons for parents making a visit may be, for example, family illness or bereavement. It is less easy for parents to undertake these normal and necessary activities where long distances and high costs are involved.

• If it is possible to include school holidays in the leave of absence so as to limit the amount of term time the pupil is absent.

• Governing bodies may wish to consult with local minority groups.

NB: Schools need to be aware that any Ofsted judgement on the impact of prolonged absence on pupil achievement is highly unlikely to take mitigating circumstances into account, other than in the most exceptional of cases.

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If leave of absence is authorised schools might want to consider:

• Explaining the work the pupil will miss how it can be made up on return and how the parents could help the pupil.

• Whether work can be given to the pupil while he or she is away.

• Preparing a study pack.

• Asking the pupil to make notes and observations on a class topic.

• Going through any work done by the pupil on return.

• Sharing experiences in a positive way with the class and teacher on return.

Parents should be informed of the regulation on removal from the school roll if the child does not return on the agreed date. Parents should be asked to contact the school if the return is delayed. Schools should ensure that they have a contact number in the UK so that they can make enquiries if the pupil does not return at the agreed time.

FAILURE TO RETURN ON AGREED DATE

When granting leave of absence for an extended trip overseas, schools should ensure they have a date when the pupil will return to school. Regulation 8(f) details in what circumstances pupils may be removed from roll if they do not return by the agreed date.

The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006

– Regulation 8(f) states that this applies -

‘In the case of a pupil granted leave of absence exceeding ten school days for the purpose of a holiday in accordance with regulation 7(3), that —

i. the pupil has failed to attend the school within the ten school days immediately following the expiry of the period for which such leave was granted;

ii. the proprietor does not have reasonable grounds to believe that the pupil is unable to attend the school by reason of sickness or any unavoidable cause; and

iii. both the proprietor and the local education authority have failed, after reasonable enquiry, to ascertain where the pupil is.

GYPSY AND TRAVELLER FAMILIES

Existing legislation (set out in Section 444 (6) of the 1996 Education Act) protects mobile Gypsy and Traveller families from prosecution for their children’s non-attendance provided that:

• they are engaged in a trade of business of such a nature that requires them to travel from place to place;

• the child has attended at a school as a registered pupil as regularly as the nature of that trade permits; and

• any child aged six or over has attended school for at least 200 half day sessions during the preceding year.

This is to recognise the fact that some occupational Travellers, such as Showmen, are required to move around with their families during school term time. The caveat is that there should be at least 100 days attendance across the year, and that the travelling is not for other purposes - e.g. visiting family.

The government is considering repealing this part of the Education Act (1996) and carried out a consultation on the matter last year but as yet no further guidance has been issued.

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OTHER STRATEGIES

Fast Track

The Fast Track to Attendance framework is a time-focused Early Intervention approach for dealing with absence from school, and where appropriate to commence legal action. The aim of Fast Track is to ensure that schools and, when necessary, Local Authorities deal with attendance cases quickly and in the most effective way to get the young person/child back to school. It is a mechanism for ensuring that, where appropriate, parents and carers are prompted to focus on their responsibilities to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school. The approach aims to ensure that rapid and appropriate action is taken to tackle absence problems as soon as they become apparent. It is not a process to be used where non-attendance is already embedded. Research has illustrated that the most effective use of Fast Track is as an Early Intervention tool but only when utilised alongside robust recording systems and other interventions. Due to the resource implications for the Locality you would need to discuss and reach agreement with the Locality Team Leader that this was part of a range of strategies to be utilised. It should be noted that due to cost and a reduction in the resource available to Children’s Services, a solicitor will no longer be present during this process. Below is a link to the Fast Track Policy:

Fast Track Document

PENALTY NOTICES

In certain circumstances Penalty Notices can be an effective alternative to prosecution for poor or non school attendance and enable parents to discharge potential liability for conviction for that offence by paying a penalty.

Amendments to the 2007 regulations in education (penalty notice England) amendment (regulations for 2013) The 2007 regulations set out procedures for issuing Penalty Notices (fines) to each parent who failed to ensure their children’s regular attendance at school or fails to ensure their excluded child is not in a public place during the first 5 days of exclusion.

Amendments to the 2007 regulations have produced the timescales for paying a Penalty Notice. Parents must, from the 1st September 2013, pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days; this brings attendance Penalty Notices in line with other types of Penalty Notices, and allows Local Authorities to act faster on prosecutions. Dorset County Council Penalty Notice code of conduct can be found on www.dorsetforyou.com and on Schoolsnet. You may wish to use some of the wording of the protocol to use in your schools attendance policies.

The main thing to consider is whether or not issuing a Penalty Notice will be effective in terms of that pupil attending school. There is evidence locally to show that a Pre-warning Letter can have a significant effect on improving attendance.

While Penalty Notices are initiated by the LA, head teachers must gain agreement from the governing body as stated in the School’s Attendance Policy before such action can be agreed.

Non payment of a Penalty Notice will lead to prosecution. It is important therefore that all appropriate procedures and actions have been carried out before a Penalty Notice, including consideration of a CAF.

Schools need to ensure that accurate records of all actions taken and registration at the school are maintained and kept up-to-date. These records should include any details of contact with the parent/carer in relation to the absence, and these should be kept in some kind of school log. Staff who are completing registers should be made aware that, if any pupil is subject to a fixed penalty warning period or a Fast Track process, there maybe requirements to validate illness or other absences such as those agreed on compassionate grounds. Schools Attendance Policy must explain to it’s parents the importance of full school attendance and that it will seek the statutory duties when required.

All correspondence should take account differing languages. Assistance is available with translation services via Dorset Direct. This contact can act as a broker and put callers in touch with appropriate translators.

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LOOKING AT INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Policies and procedures, while very important, are only part of the picture in relation to improving school attendance. For example:

• Talking to the pupil about your concerns may highlight other issues that are going on.

• Who might be the best person to speak to them?

• Inviting parents/carers in to a meeting may again highlight issues which staff were not previously aware of which may be affecting the pupil’s attendance.

• What support can the school offer?

• What other agencies are involved?

• Is a CAF appropriate and a positive step?

There is an Attendance Good Practice Grid in the Resource Section which some colleagues may find useful in identifying best practice with managing attendance in your school.

SUPPORT FROM THE LOCAL AUTHORITY EARLY INTERVENTION TEAM

Early Intervention means providing support and services to children and families as soon as problems start to emerge or when there is a strong likelihood that problems will emerge in the future. Early Intervention is not just for young children; family situations change and problems may emerge at any point throughout childhood and adolescence. The Service is concerned with issues pre-birth to 19 years of age or 25 if a young person has a disability. Fundamental to Early Intervention is integrated/partnership working to ensure an effective response, effective use of resources and so families only tell their story ‘once’. Achieving better outcomes for children, young people and families will only be achieved by a range of universal and targeted provision.

Each of the six localities in Dorset produce an annual Locality Plan in line with the Children and Young People’s Plan and other locally identified priorities and monitor performance against the plan. The following reflects the priorities identified in current plans:

• Targeted support for parents, including the delivery, co-ordination and quality assurance of evidence-based parenting programmes and one to one support.

• Targeted support at points of transition, including work with schools and early years settings.

• Targeted positive activities, including UK Youth Parliament and Young Inspectors.

• Supporting children and young people affected by domestic abuse, including the support/delivery of Freedom and Pattern Changing.

• Support for children and young people and their families with emerging attendance issues, including working with Health to identify those families who miss significant appointments.

• Support for children and young people who are disabled and their families, including assessing families for Short Breaks provision such as supporting one to one support and activities.

• Support for emotional health and well being of children and young people, including pathways for support for bereavement and loss and support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans gender or questioning young people.

While the Local Authority no longer has targets set by the Government for School Attendance we remain totally committed to the importance of attendance. We are looking at ‘Attendance’ in its broadest sense as it is rarely a single issue and it is important that we promote the notion that ‘Attendance’ is everyone’s business. There is rarely one solution to the underlying issues, therefore a multi agency approach and, where appropriate, the use of the CAF can be very effective in achieving better outcomes.

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This guidance has tried to provide ideas and examples of good practice. However, if you feel you would like some help and advice on your overall policies/practices/incentives etc, please email your Locality office making it clear what sort of advice you need (see the flow chart on page 15). We ask you to do this in the first instance so that work can be allocated to our teams effectively and equitably. The number of schools necessitates a systematic approach. Where you have a Team Around the School (TAS) model then this may well be something you discuss in your meetings.

In addition, if you have concerns about individual children or young people and you wish to request the involvement of the locality team you should complete a pre-CAF or a CAF and send it to the locality hub address. An electronic system has been developed and is available on dorsetforyou by entering CAF in the search area. The electronic system is currently available in Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset and Christchurch and will shortly be in place in all six localities.

Locality Emails:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

weymouth&[email protected]

As a Local Authority we still have some significant responsibilities in terms of attendance including Penalty Notices and prosecution, Elective Home Education and maintaining a robust system for Children who move out of the area/missing children.

You will be aware that the Education Social Work Service has been restructured within the Early Intervention Service. The Education Social Workers are now Locality Social Workers with a broader remit in line with the changed role for Local Authorities in relation to attendance. Locality Social Workers will no longer come into school to check registers as this is your responsibility and from September 1st 2012 the 80% attendance no longer exists in terms of referring to the ‘service’. The move to Early Intervention means that we are unlikely to prosecute year 10’s and 11’s as we need to use our resources ‘earlier’ otherwise the current pattern will remain the same.

TROUBLED FAMILIES INITIATIVE

DORSET FAMILIES MATTER

The Dorset Family Matters project is the local name for the national ‘Troubled Families Initiative’, which aims to turn around the lives of 120,000 of the country’s most troubled families by 2015. As part of the imitative, Councils across England have been given funding to work with the most complex families in new and innovative ways. Although Local Authorities have been given this funding, the initiative is a multi agency one. The overall aim of Dorset Family Matters is to support and empower families to improve their wellbeing and reduce their dependence on public sector organisations. The primary goals associated with Dorset Family matters are:

• Getting children back into school

• Reducing criminal and anti-social behaviour

• Getting parents back on the road back to work

• Reducing the cost to the taxpayer and the public sector of working with these families.

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For the families to be eligible for support from the Dorset Family Matters project they must first meet a set of national eligibility criteria. The national eligibility criteria are:

• Family member(s) not attending school

• Family member(s) on out of work benefits

• Family member(s) or family engaged in crime or anti-social behaviour

If a family meets all three of these national eligibility criteria then they are automatically eligible to take part in the project. If a family only meets two of the three national criteria then local eligibility criteria can be applied in lieu of the third national criteria. There is a wide range of local eligibility criteria that are being used. In Dorset, we have so far identified over 250 families that are eligible to take part in the Dorset Family Matters project. Work to identify more families continues.

Because of the targeted nature of this project, families cannot be referred into the project. The government has provided the national eligibility criteria which we must use along with the local eligibility criteria to identify families who can part. However, there is a small project team that have a number of additional resources in place that can be utilised by eligible families, these include key workers to coordinate all support around the family, access to family link worker to provide intensive support to the family, access to employment and benefit adviser to provide employment and benefit support and guidance to the family and access to a range of family support packages provided by a range of providers such as:

• Relate

• Family Therapy

• Dorset Youth Association.

Some of the Key Workers are being employed by locality teams. Obviously if any families identified for the project attend your school then you will be contacted by one of the key workers at the point it has been agreed to work with that particular family.

CROSS BORDER ISSUES

We are very aware that for a significant number of our schools cross border issues continue to be problematic. While we are able to support school based issues, if for example ‘parenting’ is an underlying issue, this would need to be resourced by the Authority in which the child resides. Some of the surrounding Authorities do not have an Early Intervention Service or equivalent and this can disproportionately affect some of our schools who are on the borders of the County. However work is continuing to develop Cross Border protocols with neighbouring Local Authorities to enable joint work where possible and information on how to access resources. Some schools have included schools from other Local Authorities in their Team Around the School arrangements and this seems to work very well. In the meantime your locality team will be able to inform you of potential routes of support from your neighbouring Authority which you may need to develop.

In relation to prosecution for non school attendance, this responsibility remains with the Authority where the pupil goes to school but, of course, before going to court we need to be able to evidence that a range of support and interventions have taken place. It is this particular issue, including home visits, that we are discussing with our neighbours.

REMOVING PUPILS FROM SCHOOL ROLE

Removing a pupil from the school roll is a very important decision and may have far reaching consequences if the correct procedures are not followed. For instance:

• A school could fail in its legal duty

• Children could become missing from the education system

• The safeguarding of children can be affected

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• Children could be denied access to education

The same applies if the school does not follow the correct procedures when admitting a child to school.

The Education (Pupil Registration) England Regulations 2006 (S12006/1751) replaced the 1996 regulations an associated amendments apply to all schools.

Regulation 5 specifies that pupils joining the school roll (i.e. must be listed in both the admissions and attendance registers on the expected first day of attendance) therefore if a pupil does not arrive on the expected day, and in fact does not arrive at all, they should not be deleted from the register but appropriate procedures should apply and if necessary this may lead to a ‘child missing education’ procedure. It is vital for the safety of those pupils that you inform the Admissions Team where pupils have been allocated a place but do not arrive. Pupils have been found to be out of school for a significant amount of time where these regulations have not been followed.

Regulation 8 sets out the only circumstances in which pupils of compulsory school age can be deleted from the register and schools may not delete pupils from the attendance register until they are deleted from the admissions register.

• The school is replaced by another school on a school attendance order

• The school attendance order is revoked by the Local Authority

• Completion of compulsory school age

• Permanent exclusion

• Death of the pupil

• Transfer between schools

• Pupil withdrawn to be educated outside the maintained school system

• A medical condition prevents their attendance and return to school before the ending of compulsory school age.

• A pupil is served a custodial sentence of more than four months (not on Remand)

The Local Authority and the schools are required to ensure safeguarding policies and procedures are in place to ensure that all children remain safe and fully engaged in education provision.

CHILDREN MISSING EDUCATION (CME)

The Government has placed a duty on Local Authorities to make arrangements to establish (so far as it is possible to do so) the identities of children in their area who are of compulsory school age and not receiving a suitable education. In relation to children, by suitable we mean efficient full time education suitable for her/his age, ability, aptitude and any special education needs the child may have. The duty does not apply in relation to children who are registered at school who are not attending regularly.

These children are referred to as Children Missing Education. Children are identified as missing from education when they are of compulsory school age and are:

• Not on a school roll

• Not being educated other than at school

• Identified as having been out of any educational provision for a substantial period of time

Children go missing from education for a number of reasons including:

• They do not start school at the appropriate time and so they do not enter the education system

• They are removed from school by their parents

• They fail to find a suitable school place after moving to a new area

• The family move home regularly

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• Family breakdown

• Children who do not make the transition between key stages, e.g. Nursery to Primary, Primary to Secondary

Children and young people in the following groups are more likely to be missing from education

• Young people who have previously committed offences

• Children living in women’s refuges

• Children of homeless families perhaps in temporary accommodation or housing

• Young people who run away from home

• Children with long-term medical and emotional needs

• Unaccompanied asylum seekers and refugees and child who are from asylum seekers/refugees families

• Children of immigrant families not yet established in the UK

• Looked after children

• Children with Gypsy/Traveller background

• Young carers

• Children from transient families

• Teenage mothers

• Excluded pupils

Children missing from education are at a much greater risk of

• Physical harm

• Becoming involved in crime

• Demonstrating anti-social behaviour

• Abusing drugs and alcohol

• Sexual exploitation

• Being illegally employed

• Forced marriages

An effective partnership between schools and a Local Authority is essential if we are to minimise the risk to children, maximising engagement and desired outcomes for learning and to protect professionals working to support children. It is vital that the Local Authority and partner agencies also work closely together to help safeguard children.

A chart is provided (page16) which illustrates the process you need to follow should you feel that one of your pupils is missing from education. In the first instance the school should make every effort to ascertain the whereabouts of the pupil, this might include telephoning home, contacting the GP, friends, other relatives that are known. It is imperative that guidelines are followed in relation to ‘children missing education’, particularly as some of our most vulnerable families who frequently change addresses are likely to get lost in the system if the appropriate action isn’t taken by our schools.

If you have reason to believe that a child has transferred to another school please make every effort to contact that school to ascertain whether or not your information is true or false. If any members of the school staff have any reason to believe that there may be any child protection issues involved then they should contact their local office straight away and if necessary notify the police.

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After 4 weeks, should the school and the Local Authority be unable to locate where the child has moved to, the school should be advised by the Local Authority to remove the child’s name from it’s roll. It is imperative that no children are removed from the school roll unless authorised to do so by the Local A

The flowchart on the next page is easy to follow and, as you can see, if the appropriate actions are not followed there are significant safeguarding issues. You will find in the Resource Section the CME referral form that needs to be returned to the CME administrator. Can you please ensure you only use this form, as any other form is now out of date.

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Yes

No

No Yes

No Yes

Contact made

No contact made No contact made

No

Contact made

Has parent/carer provided the name of a forwarding

school?

School attempts to contact parent/carer via telephone and letter and makes enquiries with

friends/relatives

Has confirmation been received from forwarding

school that pupil has been added to their roll?

Yes

School waits for up to 10 days to see if they are

contacted by another school

School keeps pupil on roll and completes CME form to notify Local Authority,

providing as much information as possible

Local Authority makes reasonable enquiries and at appropriate time (4 weeks) notifies school to take pupil off roll

School takes pupil off roll with effect from date of

confirmation.

Has parent/carer notified school in writing that they intend to home educate?

Please complete ‘Notification of

Request for Elective Home Education’

available on schoolsnet website (under ‘policies and

guidance’)

Has parent/carer informed school that pupil is

moving to another area?

CHILDREN MISSING EDUCATION FLOW CHART

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ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION LEGAL CONTEXT Article 289 of the UNCRC - United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child - recognises the right of the child to an education. Education is compulsory in England and it can be provided at school or 'otherwise'. The responsibility for the provision of a child's education rests with the parents who have also a duty to ensure that any education provided is 'efficient', 'full time' and 'suitable'. This is set out in Section 7 of the Education Act 1996. The terms 'efficient' and 'suitable' are not defined in law. Case law has broadly described an 'efficient' education as one that 'achieves that which it sets out to achieve’. A 'suitable' education is one that 'primarily equips a child for life within the community of which he is a member, rather than the way of life in the country as a whole, as long as it does not foreclose the child's options in later years to adopt some other form of life if he wishes to do so'. REASONS FOR ELECTIVE HOME EDUCATION Parents may choose home education for a variety of reasons, e.g. philosophical or ideological views, or a child’s unwillingness to go to school, but for many parents the decision to home educate is a positive one whilst for others it may reflect a lack of confidence in the system. The Local Authority’s primary interest should lie in the suitability of parents' education provision and not their reason for doing so. PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY Parents may decide to exercise their right to home educate their child from a very early age and so the child may not have been previously enrolled at school. They may also elect to home educate at any other stage up to the end of compulsory school age. Parents are not required to register or seek approval from the Local Authority to educate their children at home. Parents who choose to educate their children at home must be prepared to assume full financial responsibility, including bearing the cost of any public examinations. However, Local Authorities are encouraged to provide support where resources permit. While any parent or carer is entitled to make the choice, it is obviously a very serious commitment. We need to ensure that staff do not encourage a family to leave a school and educate their children at home. Inevitably parents will, at times, state they are going to do this rather than sort out the issues with a school but this is obviously not a good starting point. Our Locality Social Workers do visit families who have elected to home educate and the focus of the assessment is on the child or young person’s access to the five ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes. These visits are not compulsory and parents are not legally required to give the Local Authority access to their home. Visiting inspectors offer support in relation to the education provision. It is really important, therefore that, as stated on the flowchart, you complete the ‘Notification of Request for Elective Home Education’ available on the schoolsnet website (under ‘policy and guidance’).

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FLEXI – SCHOOLING Flexi-schooling is not the same as elective home education. Parents/carers who request flexible attendance are asking for a pattern of provision which will involve both attendance at school as well as times when the child will receive educational provision at home. In November 2007 the DCSF issued “Elective Home Education - Guidelines for Local Authorities” which contained the following paragraph (5.6):

“Flexi-schooling” or “flexible school attendance” is an arrangement between the parent and the school where the child is registered and attends the school only part time; the rest of the time the child is home educated (on authorised absence from school). This can be a long-term arrangement or a short-term measure for a particular reason. “Flexi-schooling” is a legal option provided that the head teacher at the school concerned agrees to the arrangement. The child will be required to follow the National Curriculum whilst at school but not whilst he or she is being educated at home. Local Authorities should make sure that head teachers are made familiar with flexi-schooling and how it may work in practice.

The flexi-schooling guidance can be found on the following link:

Flexi Schooling Part Time School Time Table There are rare occasions when temporary or part time provision may be considered an option. This may be when there are identified and specific medical issues which mean that the child is unable to attend school full time. Other examples might be a time of transition or induction to ensure that the child may experience success. The ‘Protocol for Attendance of Children and Young People on a Part Time School Timetable’ can be found on the following link: Policies & Guidance for Schools Inclusion Guidance & Templates

REQUEST FOR INVOLVEMENT FOR LOCALITY SUPPORT As set our earlier in this document, before making a request for involvement you need to have considered the following good practice.

• The school should have in place a robust attendance policy which is regularly reviewed.

• A range of interventions should be evident such as first response, general letters to parents, and incentives such as certificates etc.

• Evidence of monitoring of interventions and data e.g. emerging patterns such as certain times or days, siblings with similar patterns or not.

• Discuss with pupil/parents/carers to ascertain what the underlying issues might be.

• Discuss with school staff in relation to any current welfare issues, who has got the whole picture?

• Setting of targets with pupil/parents/carers about expected improvement which is monitored over time.

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• Where appropriate a letter should be sent to parents/carers expressing concern and expectation of improvement in the following two weeks. If there is no improvement and all other strategies have been tried, you may then want to request the involvement of the locality team (Pre-CAF form). Please ensure that you provide information of what has happened to date including records of attendance. An example of a request for involvement is provided within the Resource Section which gives an illustration of the kind of information we need.

• Where other issues are identified such as financial, caring responsibilities and there are other agencies involved, consideration should be given to initiating a CAF.

• Where you have a TAS you may wish to gain advice and discuss individual pupils at your meeting as well as filling in the Request for Involvement.

HOW DO I GET SUPPORT?

• If you would like some support and advice in relation to school policies and procedures please email your locality team or discuss at your TAS. This is so that work can be allocated appropriately and efficiently within the team.

Locality emails:

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] weymouth&[email protected]

• If your staff are inexperienced in the CAF process then you can request support for your members of staff to enable them to become proficient while they wait for a place on the training course. A member of the team could, for example, support the TAC meeting.

• An action from the TAC/CAF may require a request for involvement (Pre-CAF form) for example for a parent with issues to do with domestic abuse etc. The lead professional would need to do the request for involvement.

• On rare occasions, often to do with prior knowledge of a family, a member of the locality team may be the lead professional because the family/agency/young person requests this. However this will be time limited and will involve supporting, where necessary, the next person who becomes the lead professional. Given the potential number of CAF’s and the number of schools you can see why this would be necessary.

• If you have concerns, for example, about the home environment, or wish to investigate the possibility of some individual support for the pupil, you need to send in a request for involvement (Pre-CAF Form). Please ensure that you put all relevant detail on the form as well as attendance data. Failure to do so will inevitably lead to a delay. An example of a Request for Involvement is provided for you in the Resource Section.

• If you have serious concerns with regard to neglect and other safeguarding issues then you should contact your Social Care local office.

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School identifies pupil

with attendance concerns.

School talks to pupil and family/carer to tackle the issue and to identify any underlying issues that

may be affecting attendance. Are there

any other agencies involved?

Where there are other agencies involved

consideration should be given to initiate a CAF and to check that there

isn’t one already.

If staff are inexperienced in the CAF process, email

locality team or discuss at TAS for support as well as establishing when next CAF training

takes place.

No apparent underlying issues or involvement of other agencies. School

sets targets with parents at a formal meeting and

follow this up in writing. Give three weeks period

for improvement.

CAF initiated and actions identified

require support from the locality e.g.

parenting. Send in request for involvement to the team or hand to member of the team at

TAS.

Pupil’s attendance improves but school continues to monitor.

No improvement in attendance. Request for involvement sent to locality team to include details of steps taken

by the school attendance data, letters

etc.

Locality Team member contacts school and

family for further discussion and

assessment of situation. This may include a home visit. If appropriate, new targets set & monitored

with school.

Where no progress is made and attendance does not

improve, warning letter sent with regard to Penalty

Notice. If Penalty Notice not appropriate consider legal

action.

School identifies that they would like support

with putting in whole school policies and

strategies for improved attendance.

Email relevant locality team: [email protected]

[email protected] [email protected]

[email protected] [email protected]

weymouth&[email protected] or discuss at Team Around the School (TAS).

HOW TO GET SUPPORT FROM YOUR LOCALITY TEAM

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NO PROGRESS MADE Unfortunately there are some families who, despite good practice and support, continue to collude in their children’s non-attendance. Where there is robust evidence that this is the case then more punitive measures will be taken. PENALTY NOTICES AND PROSECUTION The decision to issue a Penalty Notice or prosecute the parent is taken by the LA, in most cases, after extensive work with the family by the school, locality team and other agencies. Circumstances where Penalty Notice may be issued are:

• Penalty Notices can only be issued in cases where a pupil of compulsory school age has been absent and the absence has not been authorised by the school or where the pupil has persistently arrived late after the register has been closed.

• The level of absence that is necessary before a Penalty Notice can be issued is 10 or more half day sessions of unauthorised absence.

• The key consideration in deciding whether to issue a Penalty Notice will be whether it can be effective in helping to get the pupil, who is missing education, back into school.

A Penalty Notice of £60 (from September 1st) may be issued as an alternative to prosecution which must be paid within 21 days. If it is not paid in the specified time this rises to £120 and must be paid in 7 days. Failure to pay will normally lead to prosecution. The decision to use Penalty Notices rests with the Locality Social Worker supported by their Team Leader. A range of issues will be taken into account, particularly how engaged and compliant the parents/carers are. The LA is required to publish a protocol with regard to Penalty Notices. This is available on www.dorsetforyou.com and schoolsnet. Parents can be fined up to £2,500 or imprisoned for failing to ensure that the child attends school regularly. Magistrates can also enforce a Parenting Order, which means that the parent has to attend a parenting class. The Local Authority may apply for an Education Supervision Order (ESO) instead of, or as well as, prosecuting parents. This would be heard in the Family Proceedings Court. An ESO is made in respect of a child and makes the Local Authority responsible for advising, supporting and giving directions to a child and his/her parents in order to make sure that the child attends school regularly. There are sanctions against parents who fail to co-operate; Magistrates may also direct the Local Authority to consider applying for an ESO following a prosecution.

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RESOURCE SECTION

CONTENTS: Useful Web Links Attendance Certificate Attendance Traffic Lights Attendance Percentages Link to: Blank Pre-CAF form Example Letter – lateness Example Postcard Examples of Good Practice Grid Example completed Request for Involvement (Pre-CAF) Hyperlinks to Locality Leaflets: http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=174114&filetype=pdf WD http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=174113&filetype=pdf P http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=174115&filetype=pdf ND http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=171941&filetype=pdf C http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=174476&filetype=pdf ED http://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=171942&filetype=pdf W&P

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Useful Web Links

http://www.dorsetforyou.com/early-intervention - Early Intervention for children and young people aged 0-19

www.education.gov.uk/school/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance

www.education.gov.uk/school/pupilsupport/behaviour/a00208164/taylor-review www.education.gov.uk/school/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance/60010008/ pupil-registration-regulations-and-guidance www.ace-ed.org.uk - Advisory Centre for Education. An independent registered charity which offers advice on state education in England and Wales for parents. Useful for parents and schools. www.naswe.org.uk/nao-attendance - This is the professional association of Education Welfare Officers and has some useful information on it.