What is Persistent Absence?

Persistent absence is defined by the Department for Education (DfE) as when a child's attendance falls below 90% of their possible school sessions. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absences. Missing 10% or more of school can significantly impact a child’s education and development, so schools and local authorities work to identify and support pupils at risk of persistent absence.

Here at Phoenix Infants we monitor your child's attendance and this includes whether your child is at risk of being Persistently Absent or has already reached the threshold of 19 days and is therefore classed as Persistently Absent for the rest of the academic year. 

Our approach will always be to try and support our families so that this threshold is not reached. To help you understand the 'threshold', the tables below indicate the risk of being classed as Persistently Absent by the number of school days your child has missed and the number of times they have been absent. 

What happens if my child is a moderate risk of Persistent Absence?

It is likely the school has already communicated with you via a Stage 1 and Stage 2 letter. There is also a strong chance that Mr Bowskill has communicated with you already about your child's absences. The best approach to reduce the risk of becoming a High risk is to keep your child in school, every day. We would also recommend keeping in regular contact with Mr Bowskill about your child's attendance. 

What happens if my child is a high risk of Persistent Absence?

We will have communicated with you and depending on the reasons for your child's absence, you may have already been issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice from Slough Borough Council. If your child is in the High risk category, Mr Bowskill will be monitoring your child's attendance daily and we would urge you to speak directly with Mr Bowskill about ANY attendance issues. 

Being in the high risk category means that you are very close to being formally classed as PA; this means that the school or Slough Borough Council can issue a Warning Period for improvement,  issue a Fixed Penalty Notice if there have been 5 days of absence within the last 10 weeks. This also includes considering the issuing of a 2nd fine where appropriate. 

What should I do next? 

In all circumstances, the best thing to do is to speak to Mr Bowskill who will happily discuss your child's attendance, advise you on any actions that can be taken to support your child and family and explain where the risks are for your child's attendance.