Letters In Translatable Form
Norfolk County Council: Penalty Notices regarding school absence - Guidance for parents
Regular school attendance and parent’s legal responsibilities
At Lakenham Primary School our aim is to collaborate with parents to ensure that all our pupils receive the most from their education and reach their full potential.
This guidance is to remind all parents about the law that requires them to ensure that their child attends school regularly. The Government is clear that no child should miss school apart from in exceptional circumstances and schools must take steps to reduce absence to support children’s attainment.
The important legal information – New from August 19th, 2024
The Government have introduced a single national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England. This threshold is 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. These sessions do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence. The period of 10 school weeks can span different terms or school years.
In line with national guidance, the Local Authority (LA) retains the discretion to issue a penalty notice before the threshold is met. This might apply for example, where parents have taken several term time holidays below the national threshold. The LA also retains the discretion to consider going straight to prosecution where appropriate.
A maximum of 2 penalty notices per parent, per child can be issued within a rolling 3-year period. This period will start from the issue of the 1st penalty notice. The national framework also sets out the escalation process which applies to such penalty notices. If the national threshold is met for a third time (or subsequent times) within 3 years, another tool should be used. In Norfolk, where a pupil’s attendance has met the national threshold for a third time within 3 years and the parent/s have already been issued with 2 penalty notices within that period, consideration will be given to prosecution under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, which can result in a criminal conviction and fine of up to £2,500.
A parent includes any person who is not a natural parent but who has parental responsibility for the child or who has care of the child, as set out in section 576 of the Education Act 1996. Penalty notices will usually be issued to the parent/s with day-to-day responsibility for the child’s attendance or the parent/s who have allowed the absence (regardless of which parent has applied for a leave of absence).
The first penalty notice issued to a parent for a child will be charged at £160 to be paid within 28 days. This will be reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. Where it is deemed appropriate to issue a second penalty notice, the second penalty notice to the same parent for the same child within 3 years of the first offence, is charged at a flat rate of £160 and is payable within 28 days. There is no reduced sum available in this instance.
Part payments or payment plans are not acceptable, and fines must be paid in full within 21 or 28 days, at the rate specified within the penalty notice. There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice.
Requests for leave of absence
Working together to improve school attendance advises all schools that they should only grant a leave of absence during term time in exceptional circumstances, considering each request on a case-by-case basis. If a leave of absence is granted, it is for the headteacher to determine the length of time the pupil can be away from school. Although we recognise the value and benefits of family holidays, it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for a family holiday as the Government ‘does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.’
Requests for leave must be made in advance, otherwise schools will be unable to consider your individual circumstances and the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Headteachers are not obligated to reconsider authorising leave if an application was not made in advance.
Support with ensuring regular school attendance
If you require any support with ensuring your child’s attendance, please contact Mrs Coulson on 01603 877780.
Dear Parent or Guardian
Forthcoming Election of Parent Governor(s) at Lakenham Primary School
We are looking to recruit a new parent Governors to join our ambitious governing body. Do you want to make a real difference by helping our school to improve further?
If the answer to the above question is a resounding yes, this letter may well be of interest to you and we would like you to read on!
So how can you help?
School Governors are essential to guide and monitor the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team as well as developing the school for the benefit of the children and its community. Nominations are therefore invited to fill this vacancy. Should we receive more nomination than the available vacancy, an election will be held.
What does the role of Governor involve?
Governors have an important part to play in helping to maintain success and in raising school standards through their three key roles of setting strategic direction, ensuring accountability, and monitoring and evaluating school performance.
Vacancies for Governors do not always arise every year and the Governing Body welcomes interest from suitably motivated and committed individuals who believe they would make a positive difference and add real value to the school’s current well-being and future development.
Other than being at least 18 years of age, there are no particular qualifications or requirements, except that at the time of the election you must be a parent or have parental responsibility for a current Lakenham Primary School student.
We have, however, through our Annual Skills Audit, identified finance and human resources as particular areas of expertise in which we would like to strengthen the Governing Body within this election. Parents with skills and experience in these areas are particularly encouraged to apply. Most importantly, we are looking for individuals with commitment, vision and energy, who can add real value to the school and all its stakeholders.
The Governing Body at Lakenham Primary School now has greater responsibilities than ever before; it needs people of talent who can commit the time, in order to fulfil the role to the required standard. A full induction, regular on-going training and even peer mentoring will be provided throughout the first year.
Members of the Governing Body are asked to attend eight meetings per year, all of these are Full Governing Body meetings. The meetings are usually held on a Thursday between 4pm and 6pm.
Subject to their work and other commitments, Governors may also participate in initiatives that link the skills and interests of individual Governors with specific curriculum areas or subjects. This may involve termly or more frequent meetings in school. From time to time, Governors may also be involved in interview panels for disciplinary purposes. You will also be encouraged to regularly visit the school.
There is immense satisfaction to be gained from working alongside like-minded individuals on the Governing Body and influencing the future development and direction of our school. Want to know more or to simply discuss the job description for the role? If so, please contact the Chair of Governors Mrs Jane Merrett or the headteacher Mrs Cassandra Williams, for more information or to simple arrange to meet for an informal chat via chairofgov@lakenham.norfolk.sch.uk
You can find more general information about the role of School Governor at:
Be a school governor or trustee - National Governance Association (nga.org.uk)
Interested? Nominations are invited not later than 12 on 24th of September. All forms should be returned to the Clerk to the Governors via Reception.
Should we receive more nominations than the available vacancies, an election will be held. In this instance, the Election will be conducted electronically online. An email containing the link to the electronic ballot paper will be sent directly to you. Those for whom we do not hold current email addresses can request a hard copy ballot form to vote.
Yours sincerely Mrs Cassandra Williams
Headteacher and Returning Officer
ELECTION TIMETABLE Nominations close 10am Friday 24th September
If no ballots required, results published on website Monday 27th September
If ballots required, ballot papers will be issued Monday 27th September
Ballots will close 10am Friday 8th October Count 13.00 Friday 8th October
Result published on website & school Facebook page PM Friday 8th October Elected Governors training & induction From 11th October Elected Governors attend first meeting Thursday 11th November
NOTES FOR PARENTS TAKING PART IN PARENT GOVERNOR ELECTIONS
There will be no need to hold an election (i.e., no ballot will be needed) if the number of nominations received are equal to, or less than, the number of vacancies. The composition of the governing body detailing the number of parent governors is set out in the Instrument of Government of the school. After reconstitution a parent governor will have a term of office of four years unless the Instrument of Government states otherwise. Under the 2012 School Governance Regulations, a person is disqualified from election or appointment as a parent governor of a school if they are an elected member of the LA (a County Councilor) or if they work at the school for more than 500 hours (i.e., for more than one-third of the hours of a full-time equivalent) in a school year (at the time of election or appointment). Any governor may resign at any time during their period of office. A parent governor does not have to resign when his/her child leaves the school, but is able to complete his/her term of office. Parents standing as candidates in the election may not propose or second themselves. Each parent/guardian shall be entitled to return one ballot paper irrespective of the number of children in the family attending the school. Each parent/guardian shall be entitled to vote for as many candidates as there are vacancies in the election. No arrangement shall be made for proxy voting. Each ballot paper must be returned by the date and time fixed by the Headteacher, in a sealed envelope, addressed to the Headteacher of the school, indicating it contains a ballot paper and bearing no other mark. Any ballot papers received that are not in sealed envelopes will be invalid. The ballot papers will remain unopened in a secure place until the count commences. All candidates or their representatives will be invited to attend the counting of the ballot papers. A notice of the result of the election will be posted on the school notice board for a period of 14 days from the "date of the election". During this period any candidate, proposer or seconder of a candidate, or any ten parents may object to the result of the election
Children in Need
Dear Parents/Carers,
Friday 13th November 2020 is Children in Need and the focus this year is on supporting children’s wellbeing and mental health.
At school this year, we will be supporting Children in Need by inviting children to come into school wearing non-uniform and by providing children in class with a Thrive activity, which aims to promote and support children’s wellbeing.
During this challenging time of lockdown, we will not be asking for money to fundraise for the BBC. Instead we are kindly asking for children to bring in 1 item of non-perishable goods (items that will not go off – e.g. tins, pasta, cereal, soup, soap and body care products etc.) if you can.
These donations will then be used to create hampers to help our school families, who need support at this time.
We hope you can support us with, as this year the children we want to support the most are the ones from our school community!
Miss Plummer & The School Council
Head Lice Letter
November 2019
Dear Parent/Carers
We have noticed that there are a few children in the school who currently have head lice and we would like your help in this matter.
We are asking all our parents to examine their children’s hair tonight, and to take action accordingly. With all of us doing this on the same day, it is hoped that the current infestation will be brought to an end. A cheap way of doing this is by wet combing —wash hair with ordinary shampoo, apply lots of conditioner (any conditioner will do), comb the whole head of hair, from the roots to the ends. PSAs can help with hints and tips. We want to stop this as soon as possible.
Many thanks for your co-operation in this matter.
