Attendance

Meet The Attendance Team 

Attendance Officer

Attendance at Holbeach Primary Academy

At Holbeach Primary Academy we strongly believe that pupils benefit from regular attendance both in terms of academic and social growth. Attending every day is the best way to achieve, succeed and get the most out of all the Academy has to offer. With the support of our parents and carers, our aim is to minimise the amount of time lost due to absence so that every child is able to experience the benefits of attending school and the academy are able to maximise your child/children’s potential.

As an academy our target for the year is to reach 97% or above as an indicator of excellent attendance.

What you do if your child is absence?

Each day your child is absent we ask for you to ring the school office on 01406 422397, if you cannot get through then please leave a message on the school answer phone. Alternatively, you can email the academy  enquiries@holbeachprimaryacademy.co.uk stating in the subject line Attendance of… If there are any issues regarding getting your child into the academy please get in touch  as soon as possible. We can arrange support from the attendance team and/or pastoral team.

We ask if you could please try and avoid making dental and hospital appointments in school time. We understand this can sometimes be difficult but minimising the time absent from school is crucial. Any child that has an appointment during the day, please contact you ensure you have informed the front office and have handed in medical evidence to go along with this. Any other absence needs to be put into writing and handed into the office.

If contact is not made regarding an absence by 9.30am, the front office will be contacting you. If we receive no contact, then we will look to complete a home visit.

Withholding a Child from the Academy
As an Academy, we work closely with the Local Authority to maintain good attendance. It is unlawful to withhold your child from education. This includes persistent lateness, repeated early collection, or refusal to send your child due to personal issues. The Local Authority may take legal action against parents where schools identify children being withheld from education.

Supporting Every Child
We strive to ensure all children feel included. Some may find busy mornings or changes to the school day challenging, but our Pastoral Team is here to help. They work with Mrs Fawcett (SENDCO) to support children with special educational needs and make school a positive experience. If you need support, please call 01406 422397.

Holidays

We ask that holidays are not taken in term time. As in accordance with our policy any holiday taken in term time will be unauthorised unless deemed exceptional circumstances and you will be issued with a  penalty notice. Leave of Absence forms must be completed and handed into the office two weeks before.

Lateness

The school day starts at 8.50am, any child that is not in school when the register is completely at 9am they will be recorded as L (late). Any child that is bought into school after registers close at 9.20am, they will receive an unauthorised absence mark. As an academy we will now be issuing a  penalty notice for children that receive 10 or more unauthorised lates within a 6 week period.

Persistent Absence

Children that have an attendance figure lower than 94% will automatically receive a letter from the academy, advising you that your child’s attendance has slipped below an acceptable standard and that this will be monitored closely. If your child’s attendance figure continues to drop you will be invited to attend an Attendance Panel Meeting with the Attendance Champion.  If your child’s attendance continues to drop and there has been no effort to improve this, we will look to issue a penalty notice which could then lead to prosecution.

How do we reward excellent attendance?

As an academy we really enjoying rewarding children and parents that support attendance and who attend  regularly. We endeavour to ensure that we post a letter of improvement to parents that have supported the academy. We aim to reward pupils every term who have an attendance of 97% or above with a certificate, at the end of the winter, spring and summer term. At the end of the summer term, those pupils who have 100% for the whole year will  receive a special certificate.

As an Academy we think it is really important to award the pupils who continually attend school.

Policies and Key information

Click on the links to view

• HPA Attendance Policy 2025 2026 Inc UoLAT Attendance Policy Statement
• LCC Penalty Notice Poster
• Penalty Notice Letter July 2025
• HPA Attendance Policy Appendix 1
• HPA Attendance Policy Appendix 2

100%

Well done Oak Class!