Introduction...• Acknowledge and reward good attendance using masha Allah stars, certificates and in the termly Open Days. • Publish their childs attendance rate on her/his Target

“Attendance matters…”

Introduction

All children of compulsory school age have the right to an efficient full-time education, regardless of age,

aptitude, ability and any special needs s/he may have. Regular school attendance is essential if a child is to

make the most of the educational opportunity available to them in line with our ethos. The Islamic Shakhsiyah

Foundation takes seriously its responsibility to monitor and promote the regular attendance of all its children.

It acknowledges that irregular attendance seriously disrupts continuity of learning, undermines educational

progress and can lead to underachievement and low attainment within schoolwork. The school works to

ensure that children understand that their intention for learning is purely for the sake of Allah SWT’s Pleasure

and so should show dedication and commitment at all times to achieve this goal.

This policy has been developed in consultation with the ISF Trustees, Head Teachers and senior staff

management. It seeks to ensure that all parties involved in the practicalities of school attendance are aware

and informed of attendance matters in school and to outline the schools commitment to attendance matters.

This policy details the responsibilities of individuals and groups involved, and the procedures in place to

promote and monitor children’s attendance.

The policy will aim to raise and maintain levels of attendance by:

Promoting a positive and welcoming atmosphere in which children feel safe, secure and valued

Raising the awareness of the importance of following the Islamic ethos of the school and showing good Islamic Shakhsiyah at all times

Allowing children to learn different skills through the holistic, creative curriculum approach

Promote the love for Arabic through the use of bilingualism across the school

Promoting opportunities to celebrate and reward pupil’s successes and achievements, using masha Allah stars and certificates

Raising awareness of the importance of good attendance

Ensuring that attendance is monitored effectively and reasons for absences are recorded promptly and consistently

Good attendance is important because:

• Government statistics show a direct link between under-achievement and poor attendance

• Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically

• Regular attenders find school routines and school work easier to cope with

• Regular attenders find learning more satisfying

• Regular attenders have an easier transfer to secondary school

As a school we aim to:

• Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 95%

• Maintain parents’ and children’ awareness of the importance of regular attendance through good communication and co-operation.

• Record and monitor the punctuality and attendance of children for both the morning and afternoon sessions into class registers.

• The class register will record whether a pupil is present, engaged in an approved educational activity off site or absent.

• If a pupil is absent the register must record whether the absence was authorised or unauthorised

• To develop a range of effective strategies to follow up intermittent and long term absenteeism and promote good attendance

Parents can help us by:

• Keeping requests for their child to be absent to a minimum

• Ringing the school office on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return

• Arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks

• Sending in a note r an email explaining the reason for absence on their child’s return to school after an illness

• Keeping us updated by telephone or letter if their child has an extended period of absence due to illness

• To take family holidays (for example, for a wedding abroad etc.) during school holiday periods and be aware that requests for holidays during term time will be refused except in special /exceptional circumstances (such as a death in the immediate family), or at the discretion of the head teacher.

We shall:

• Follow up unexplained absences by phone calls, emails and letters as soon as possible.

• Remind parents of the importance of regular attendance and punctuality in newsletters, the school website and the Home-School agreement/Parents’ Contract.

• Acknowledge and reward good attendance using masha Allah stars, certificates and in the termly Open Days.

• Publish their child’s attendance rate on her/his Target Cards and Annual School Report to let parents know if we have concerns regarding their child’s attendance.

• If we continue to have concerns, make a referral to the local LEA School Attendance Officer for advice.

Authorised Absence

Some absences are allowed by law and are known as “authorised absences”. For example: if a child or his/her

parent is ill or family bereavement.

We realise that there are rare occasions when there might be a particular problem that causes a child to be

absent. We expect parents to let us know on the first day, and we shall try to deal with it sympathetically.

Parents are also required to fill in a ‘Time-off school request’ form (form 1), if they need to pick their children

up early from school for a medical or dental appointment that can’t be arranged outside school hours.

Unauthorised Absence

There are times when children are absent for reasons, which are not permitted by law. These are known as

“unauthorised absences”. Examples of unauthorised absence are:

• Waiting on a delivery • Going shopping or for a hair cut

• Going for a family day out • Because it is the child’s birthday

• Sleeping in after a late night • Unapproved Holidays

• Where there is no explanation for the absence or where the explanation or reason for the absence is considered unsatisfactory.

• Unauthorised Absences have to be reported to the Local Authority.

• The School Office may contact parents and consider taking legal action against them if their child has unauthorised absences.

Term Time Leave of Absence

We are always concerned about the amount of school time pupils’ miss as a result of family holidays. There is

no entitlement to time off in term time. Leave of absence is only allowed at the discretion of the head teacher

in accordance with the school policy as agreed by the board of ISF Trustees.

However the trustees realise that, unlike other independent schools, we generally have quite long school-

terms. As the school has grown out of home-school initiatives, we encourage varied modes of holistic

education in school and at home, including that learnt during travel. We are also aware that many of our

parents have immediate family in other countries, and that they may be obliged to visit them. We support this

viewpoint as we encourage ‘silat ur rahm’, maintaining family ties, a duty from Islam. We see both these

opportunities as being beneficial to the character development of the children. Therefore we may authorise

educational / visiting family holidays up to 7 days as a maximum during the school year. This authorisation will

be made at the discretion of the head teacher.

Requests for long-term holidays of more than 10 days will not be authorised once children reach statutory

school age of 5 years old. Absence taken and not authorised could be liable for a Fixed Penalty fine of £100 per

child, at the discretion of the school. The school is obliged to inform the local LEA about a child’s unauthorised

or authorised leave over 10 days and can remove the pupil from the admission register if he/she is absent

without authorisation for twenty consecutive school days.

• Parents must bear in mind that the cheaper cost of holidays in term time is not an acceptable reason for an application.

• Parents wishing to apply for leave of absence for term-time holidays need to fill in an application form well in advance and before booking. Parents can ask the school office for a form and they must book an appointment with the Head teacher. The head teacher will consider the request and advise parents of her decision. Further time than allowed will be unauthorised and parents risk their child being taken off the school roll.

• Try to minimise time out of school by timing holidays at either end of a school break. Our holidays centre around the Islamic calendar and so Eid holidays fall into the school breaks.

• However, Parents must avoid taking a holiday in September, as it is very unsettling for a child to miss the start of the school year.

• If the school does not agree and parents take their child on holiday, the absence will be unauthorised.

• Parents are reminded that the more time their child misses from school, the more difficult it is for them to catch up with their work. Valuable learning time is lost.

• A good understanding of the work can only take place when the child is in the classroom ❖ `All forms of absence due to authorised time off school will recorded in the ‘holiday request log’

(Form 2)

Children Missing Education policy

A child missing education from school due to repeated or unexplained absence, or by leaving the school

unexpectedly is considered to be a Child Missing Education. The school has a responsibility to monitor daily

registration and absences in accordance with the school’s Attendance Policy. In addition the Local Authority

has a legal duty to carry out investigations, which will include liaising with Children’s Services (formerly Social

Services), the Police and other agencies, to try to track and locate the child. By giving the local authority the

above information, unnecessary investigations can be avoided.

The schools have drawn up this policy to deal with children who miss schooling in these circumstances,

particularly on repeat occasions and for those children who leave school without clear indications of where

they will be continuing their education (please use the chart below).

When children leave and parents do not give us the relevant information (reasons for withdrawal, the name

and address of the new school, the date of joining the new school), and we cannot contact the parents, the

school has a duty to report this to the local authority.

Parent’s responsibility

To notify the school in writing if they are home educating at any time of the Child’s compulsory school

education. The school then has a duty to inform the LA named person to deal with children missing education

information. In addition parents must inform the school of the change of guardian or parent the child will be

living with. The new address and the actual date this will take effect. This information will be updated on the

admissions register.

Schools Responsibility

The School will enter children’s names on the admissions register at the beginning of the first day of the child

joining the school. If a child fails to attend the school on the given date, the school should take reasonable

steps to find about the child’s whereabouts and notify the local authority at the earliest opportunity. The

school must keep a accurate and up to date admissions register and any child who enters or leaves the school

at a non-standard point of his/her primary education needs to be reported to the local authority named person

within five days of this transition point. This duty does not apply when the child is entered into the admissions

register at a standard admission point. Please see flow chart.

Legal Note

Parents have a legal duty to ensure the regular and full time attendance at school of registered children

(Education Act 1996). This policy is based on the law and on Best Practice guidance produced by the

Department for Education and Skills and the Local Authority. The School Attendance Service aims to work with

schools and families to promote good attendance and avoid legal action. However in some cases, parents are

prosecuted (taken to court) or have to pay a Fixed Penalty (fine) if unauthorised absences continue.

Staff should note that it is possible that a child missing education may be vulnerable in relation to safeguarding.

Please refer to the safeguarding policy for more information.

The named person for the London school to contact is:

Kevin Mousse – 0208 489 2445 / [email protected]

The named person for the Slough school to contact is:

Yasmin Dean – 01753 787670 / [email protected]

Reviewed July 2020

mailto:[email protected]

Reporting a child missing in education procedure

The following chart must be followed when a child enters the school or leaves the school at a non-standard transition point. This is when children leave or enter at any time other than at the end of reception and year 6.

Step 1

New children are entered on to the admissions register on the first day of attendance to school. Children leaving the

school are also taken off the register on the last day of attending school. The local authority will be informed within 5

days of any children entering or leaving the school at a non transition point. The administrator will contact the family

if the child does not attend school. The administrator will Closely monitor poor and irregular attendance through the

school absence procedure. If the family is not responding the administrator keeps a log in the absence records and

informs the head teacher.

Step 2

Between 1 and 7 days on non attendance the administrator will Contact parents daily via email, mobile phone and

inform the head teacher.

Step 3

After the 7th day of consecutive non attendance the administrator will write a formal letter to the parents explaining

that the local authority will be informed of their child’s unauthorised attendance and after 10 days or is absent from

school without authorisation for twenty consecutive school days their child no longer has a place at the school.

Step 4

After 10 days of non attendance the administrator will contact Haringey and Slough Borough councils Education

Welfare referral unit explaining the situation with the following information:

(1) The child’s full name (2) The full name and address of any parents with whom the child lives. (3) One telephone number of the parent with whom the child live. (4) The full name of the parent is going to live with and the date the child is expected to start living

there if applicable. (5) The name of the child’s destination school and the child’s expected start date if applicable. The named contact person in Haringey is: Kevin Mousse and Michael Welton:

[email protected] The named contact person in Slough is: Yasmin Dean:

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Step 5

After 20 days of authorised or unauthorised absence the child’s name is removed from the admissions register and all

class register after the school and the local authority have followed all reasonable steps to establish the whereabouts

of the child. The child’s records are kept locked in the filing cabinet under old students until a school requests them.

Punctuality and Lateness – for Parents

• You should also make sure that the children arrive on time, properly dressed, with the school bag and lunch-box and in a fit state to benefit from the education offered to them.

• Morning registration is at 8.50-9.00am. This is the time your child must be in the line in the classroom, so you need to ensure your child is coming through the school gate by 8.50am.

• It is important to be on time as the first few minutes of the school day are often used to give out instructions or organise schoolwork for the rest of the day.

• Morning Assembly begins at 9.00am as a time of collective worship recite Qur’an and dua’s, to discuss the naseehah of the week and to mention any important notices.

• If your child misses this short but vital session, their work for the whole day may be affected. Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole assembly and often embarrassing for your child. We take the view there are no late children, only late parents.

• Arrival after the close of registration may be marked as unauthorised absence in line with the DCfS guidance.

• We will let you know if we have concerns about your child’s punctuality.

• Children who remain uncollected at the end of school time will be referred to a place of safety if not collected or the school contacted by school closing time.

School Procedures for Recording and Monitoring Attendance

Recording

The class teacher will take the book register recording who is present and absent from school at 8.55am. At

9.00am the register is taken to the school office. Any late children should then enter the school through the

main entrance. If any pupil arrives late, the school administrator will ask the parent to sign a ‘Late Register’

book that records the name, class, time and reason for lateness. If a child arrives unaccompanied by a parent

the school administrator will complete the record asking the pupil to offer a reason. All staff needs to be aware

that any child arriving late MUST register at the office for purposes of fire regulations.

A reason for the lateness will need to be provided and a decision made by the school to mark it as an

authorised or unauthorised absence.

During the morning the absences from that morning and the previous afternoon will be recorded onto the

electronic registration system and all the present pupils

Marked present. The offered reasons for any ‘late’ from the previous day or any

Absences will be assessed and the appropriate code entered into the register.

Monitoring

The school administrator will give monthly feedback from the class registers to the Head teacher to view

attendance and punctuality rates of all children on the school roll. If low attendance for a particular child is

noticed, then a meeting will be called with the parents to explain the low attendance/repeated lateness.

Policy reviewed July 2020

Summary of ISF Punctuality/Lateness Policy

Weekly – Ongoing

Stage 1

Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 First Day of lateness

in a week

Second Day of lateness

in a week

Parent

Make sure that

their child/children

are punctual into

school between

8.50am and

9.00am

Parents have to sign

the lateness register

and provide a reason

for the lateness




for the lateness




for the lateness




for the lateness




for the lateness

School

Once a week each

class register will

be checked by the

administrator to

identify how many

children have been

late throughout the

duration of that

week.

The administrator

will tally the online

register with the

separate Lateness

Register

If a child has been

late once then no

action will be taken.

If the child is late a

second time within

that same week, a

formal letter will be

sent to parents in order

to inform and remind

that punctuality of

children is very

important and that

more effort must be

made to ensure that

the child is on time.

The process will be

repeated until a third

letter is sent home

after which the

school administrator

will call the child’s

parents at home or

at the gate to express

concern of the

continuous late

arrival at school.

Upon three further

letters being sent to

any parent, the

child’s parents are

formally asked to

come into the school

and have a meeting

with the head-

teacher to discuss

things further.

Upon 3 further

letters, a warning

letter will be sent to

say that the child will

be sent home next

time. If the lateness

continues after this

warning letter, the

child will be sent

home immediately,

as an act of

discipline.

Summary of ISF Absence Policy

1st Day of

Absence

2 Days after

period of

absence

1 week after

period of

Absence due to

illness

2 week after

period of

Absence due to

illness

3 weeks after

period of

Absence due to

illness

Parent Contacts school

with reason by

phone, email

and/or

Letter

Parent provides

a letter stating

reason for

absence

Parent ring

school and

Attendance

Officer/School

Administrator

with reason, and

provide a

medical note

Parent ring

school and

Attendance

Officer/School

Administrator

with reason, ,

and provide a

medical note

Parent contacts

Head Teacher

with a medical

reason through a

formal hospital

information letter

School School may

phone parent to

inform them

that the child is

not in school

and enquire

about a reason

why

School sends

an informal

letter via the

child or through

the Homework

Diary requesting

a reason for

absence

School sends a

more formal

request via a

letter through

the post/ringing

home requesting

a reason for

absence

The Head

Teacher

contacts the

parent with a

formal letter

informing them

that the child’s

absence will be

recorded as

Unauthorized.

School contacts

the General

Practitioner to

confirm the

child’s illness.

Inform the

school’s Child

Protection

Officer to make a

record.

The register is

marked as an

unauthorised

absence if no

response from

Parent.

If no medical reason

is provided, then

the case will be

referred to the local

authority and the

school has the right

to remove the child

from admissions

register

School-time Leave Request for Child

Date: ................

I ....................................Parent /guardian of.................................

Class................ picking him/her early at................

Reason..........................................................................................

Sign: ..................................

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: ................



Reason..........................................................................................

Sign: ..................................

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: ................



Reason..........................................................................................

Sign: ..................................

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Form 2

Absence Record of all children

Date

Child’s

name/Clas

s

Time off

requested

Leave

Starting

Returning

to school Reason

Authorise

d or

Unauthori

sed

Branch.......

2020-2020

Shakhsiyah Schools and Tifly Day-care Attendance Policy

Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation Punctuality Lateness Form

Date Name of Child Class Time of

arrival Reason for lateness

Signature of

parent


LETTER TO PARENTS FOR PUNCTUALITY

RE: LATE ARRIVAL

…../……/202…

Dear Parent

عليكم السـالم

We Hope by the grace of Our Almighty Allah that you receive this letter whilst in good

health and strongest in Imaan Insha’Allah w Ameen ya Rub Al ’Alameen.

I am writing to you out of concern regarding the punctuality of your child’s/children’s

arriving to school. As you may already know children are to be at school by 8.50am, and

so children arriving after 9.00am will be marked late and after two such occurrences

within a week, our late arrivals procedure will be implemented.

So to save us all unnecessary meetings, we do hope late arrivals will not be a problem in

the near future, however if there is an incident/emergency and you can’t help being

late then please call the school to notify us.

Part of developing an Islamic personality is time keeping, we need to instil these qualities

into our children from a young age, and we as responsible adults should be ideal

examples.

Jazak’Allahu Khairun

W’ssalaamu`Alaykum w Rahmatullahi w Barakatuh

School Administrator


LETTER TO PARENTS FOR ABSENCE

…../……/202…

RE: NOTICE OF ABSENCE

Dear Brother / Sister in Islam,

السـالم عليكم

Our records show _________________________ was/were not at school on the dates listed below. Currently,

we do not have any explanation for this absence so it is marked as ‘unauthorised’. If you have already sent a

note please make sure ____________________ have given it to their class teacher. If no note is received, this

absence will remain unauthorised and this will be marked on their attendance record

Beside the dates below please enter the reason _____________ was absent. If you were unaware of the absence enter a question mark:

…../……/202… :

Signed Parent/Carer_____________________________________________________

To help us keep our information up to date please provide your current phone number

_____________________________________________________________________

Please return this letter to your child’s form tutor.

We would like to remind you about our absence procedures. Please call (Branch Tel Number

on the first day of absence and then ensure your child brings a note when they return to school.

If you have any queries or would like to talk to anyone about attendance please do not hesitate to contact us on

(Branch Tel Number)

Jazak Allah Khairun for your cooperation

Yours sincerely

School Administrator


LOST / MISSING CHILD POLICY

This very rarely happens but complacency is a hazard we must avoid at all costs. The welfare of the children in

our care is paramount. Children may go missing and EVERY member of staff has equal responsibility in ensuring

the safety of the children and knowing where they are.

Systems in place to minimise the risk of children going missing:

• Appropriate steps are taken to ensure that the premises and surrounding site is secure

• Parents are required to register the child’s arrival

• It is the responsibility of every member of staff to be aware of how many children are present and a quick head count takes place at intervals during each session

• Key workers of new children always take extra care to be aware of their whereabouts and ensure they know the boundaries of where they can and cannot go. Parents are advised of our security procedures and will be given opportunity to discuss any concerns, particularly if their child has an adventurous nature.

• Parents are made aware of the need of supervision of children at all times especially of their responsibility to ensure their child’s arrival and departure is noted by a member of staff.

• Children are always counted before going out to play and again when they are lining up to come back indoors. A member of staff will always be at the end of the line to ensure no children are left outside

Every care is taken to ensure our children are accounted for at all times. However, in the unlikely event that it is

suspected that a child has gone missing the following procedure will be followed:

Every Child Matters

Be Healthy Stay Safe ✓ Enjoy and

Achieve

Make a Positive

Contribution

Achieve

Economic

Well-Being


• The Manager / Deputy or most senior member of staff at the time will take an immediate role call of all children.

• If it is discovered that a child is unaccounted for then a full search of the school building and its immediate surroundings will take place.

• The ISF school administrator will be informed and the fire alarm will be activated.

• The building will be evacuated and the staff from Islamic Shakhsiyah will be informed to assist with the search of the school building.

• On no account will any other children be left unsupervised at any time. All the children will be assembled according to our Fire Drill procedure.

• If after a thorough search it proves unsuccessful in establishing the whereabouts of the child, the emergency services (Police and Social Services) and the parent / guardian will be contacted.

• On the arrival of the emergency services and the child’s parent / guardian, the Tifly Day Care Manager / Deputy or senior member of staff will be responsible for appraising them of all information in respect to the missing child and what action has been taken.

• If the parent / guardian fails to collect the child, Social Services will still be contacted and informed of the situation. Advice on what further actions need to be followed will also be obtained from them.

• Once the situation has been resolved an internal investigation will take place to examine how it occurred and to put immediate measures in place to ensure it does not happen again.

Policy Reviewed July 2020

Documents

Introduction...• Acknowledge and reward good attendance using masha Allah stars, certificates and in the termly Open Days. • Publish their childs attendance rate on her/his Target