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Attendance news, events and contact information

Everyday Counts 1

Welcome from the Attendance Team!

Use these webpages and toolkit as they have been designed with you in mind to support you with managing whole school attendance this academic year.

The Team continues to be available on the duty line 01603 223681 or via email at csattendance@norfolk.gov.uk.

Recent MI Sheets

Attendance Service Network Events 

We use these sessions to provide local and national updates, an opportunity for schools to share and develop effective practice to support improvements in attendance and a chance to spend time with the Attendance Team.

Dates for academic year 2024-25 coming soon!

 

Working Together to Improve School Attendance (2024) - Consultation with Schools results

Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation. We are pleased to share with you some of the highlights of the survey and advise you how this will inform the support we are offering moving forward.

  • 35% of respondents indicated high levels of confidence in their knowledge of the revised guidance,
  • 50% had high confidence in their setting's ability to meet the requirements of the revised guidance,
  • Respondents indicated that further support with effective planning and legal intervention is required,
  • And providing this support in 'bite-size' easy to manage webinars would be most effective.

Therefore, based on the feedback we have scheduled two webinars this term on key topics as identified by you. A timetable of webinars will be arranged for academic year 2024-25. The webinars will be hosted by the Attendance Service and Children Missing Education Team on-

Thursday 4th July 2024, 10.30 to 11.30 - Support first approach and legal intervention

Thursday 11th July 2024, 10.30 to 11.30 - School admission register: enrolment and deletion from the school roll

To book a place to attend these webinars, click here. At both events there will be an opportunity to ask questions following the speakers. Both webinars will be recorded and made available on our website for those unable to attend.

 

Norfolk County Council Code of Conduct for issuing Fixed Penalties regarding School Attendance Consultation

The Norfolk County Council Attendance Team is writing to draw your attention to Norfolk County Council's revised code of conduct for the provision of administering Penalty Notices for school absence. The purpose of this code of conduct is to ensure that the associated powers are applied consistently and fairly across the Local Authority area and that suitable arrangements are in place for the administration of Penalty Notices.

A new National Framework for Penalty Notices for school absence is being introduced through changes to secondary legislation. The regulations will come into effect from the 19th August 2024. The National Framework aims to:

  • Make Penalty Notices more effective by ensuring they are only used in cases where they are the most appropriate tool to change parental behaviour and improve attendance.
  • Prioritise the support first approach by expecting support to be used in cases where it is appropriate and using Penalty Notices in cases where support is not appropriate (e.g. a term time holiday) or has not worked or has not been engaged with.
  • Improve consistency in the use of Penalty Notices across Englandby introducing a new national threshold at which they are considered.
  • Improve the deterrent effect of a Penalty Notice by increasing the amount and introducing a new national limit of 2 Penalty Notices within a 3-year period to break cycles of repeat offending.

Following the consultation on the Code of Conduct we have now revised and published the following on our website-

  • Norfolk County Council Code of Conduct for issuing Fixed Penalties regarding School Attendance
  • Penalty Notices regarding absence from school - Guidance for parents
  • Leave of absence request
  • Template - Notice to Improve

This code and associated documents will come into effect from the 19th August 2024.

NCC Code of Conduct for issuing Fixed Penalties regarding School Attendance Aug 2024 (Word doc) [146KB]

Penalty Notices regarding absence from school - Guidance for parents 2024-25 (Word doc) [49KB]

Leave of absence request 2024-25 (Word doc) [51KB]

TEMPLATE - Notice to Improve - Norfolk Schools (Word doc) [33KB]

Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance are changing! Resource for schools

Following on from our webcast in April regarding the changes to the Working together to improve school attendance guidance and the introduction of the new National Framework we have created as requested an asset for all schools to use to support parents understanding of the changes that will come into effect from 19th August 2024. The new asset entitled 'Penalty Notice Fines for School Attendance are changing!' can be found here (PDF) [359KB].

 

'Everyday Counts' Attendance Campaign

Following on from our 'everyday counts' attendance campaign launched at the start of this academic year we have revised the campaign assets to be used through the rest of the academic year. They have been created for all to use to help parents understand the importance of school attendance. The assets have been created for social media, newsletters, and email use. The assets are alternate sizes for different platforms and GIFs for social media and can be found below.

We would be grateful if schools could also use these assets with families to promote these key messages. Please use #everydaycounts and #schoolattendance on social media posts and interact with posts on @NorfolkCC and @NorfolkLSCP.

Key messages

Suggested wording to use alongside the images on social media.

  • We hope you had a great school holiday/half term/break! Get ready to get back to school and make the most of every day.
  • Every day at school adds up, so make the most of it.
  • Remember, if you've got exams this year, being at school as much as possible is important. Every day adds up and will help you get the grades you want.
  • Every day at school counts, helping with learning, developing skills, and building friendships.

Please don't forget to add the link to www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/attendance to signpost parents to additional support and resources.

Contact information

Duty Line

The Attendance Team Duty Line is the first point of contact for advice and support.  This service is accessible for all schools to access advice and support regarding pupil specific concerns and whole school management of attendance. 

The telephone number is 01603 223681. This line operates during term time Monday -Thursday 9am -5pm and Friday 9am-4pm.

Other contact details

  • Email: csattendance@norfolk.gov.uk
  • Fixed Penalty Notice queries: 01603 222499
  • Court queries: 01603 223606/ 01603 224459
  • Postal address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 2DH

Twitter feed

Follow us on Twitter at NCCAttendance (opens new window).