Marked absent if late new regulations

[MrsRobins]

So I received a message from school yesterday that if a child is late they will now be marked absent for the morning with a U code, in line with new regulations, I have tried to find this on gov site but still not came across it, surly this will only result in children not wanting to go in because they will be marked absent anyway, especially the older kids, I don’t see how this is going to be helpful at all, especially for this only 5 mins late, it doesn’t make sense to me.

Huge safeguarding risk.

If a child is marked absent their presence won't be sought during a fire/emergency evacuation.

This cannot possibly be government advice (former school attendance officer, many may hours spent chasing kids who've accidentally been marked present/absent).

This looks like the guidance: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66bf300da44f1c4c23e5bd1b/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_-_August_2024.pdf

At DC's secondary school they mark attendance for every lesson, so if you were late/absent for lesson 1, you would then be marked as present for lesson 2.

They've also always had the rule that if you arrived after the register was taken you would be absent, so don't think this is a universal change.

School days also have 2 sessions so if you were absent for session 1 due to lateness, you would be marked present for session 2.

I imagine your school has a problem with students being "slightly" late and is trying to crack down.

Yes this was our rule. If you're not there when the register is taken you're absent and have to go to the office to explain why you were late

I feel like you've typed that screenshot up yourself.

The spelling mistakes, poor grammar and lack of punctuation plus the fact it says 'you(sic) daughter' makes me wonder why they would send individual messages to people? Surely it would say 'your child' or 'your son/daughter' to include everybody?

So get to school on time?

Dc school have also brought this in this year. Didn't know if it was just our policy or government

That was my school experience 40 years ago. Not unusual

I’d be more concerned about the SPAG taught by the school, tbh, if that screenshot is anything to go by.

That guidance doesn't state that lateness should be marked as absent. It DOES say that absence should be followed up robustly in order to ensure children and families are supported in order that attendance can be improved.

A late mark shows that a child is on the premises. An absent mark shows they are not.

Again, a massive safeguarding problem for the school if they have children on site but not accounted for. Their records are inaccurate, which is AGAINST the guidance. I would be raising merry hell with the school (even if my kids had 100% attendance). It's easy to pull a late report and work on persistent lates, but marking students absent when they are sat on class is a HUGE problem.

Registration at my son's secondary was between 8.30-8.50. most schools have registration earlier than 9. Most are in their first lessons but then. So they wouldn't be only 5 minutes late it would be much longer. It's disruptive for other pupils and teachers when someone is late. Obviously if a bus is late or cancelled that's understandable bit in most cases it's laziness.

Did they really send that ?

This!

Could be a girls school. I work in one and all communication says ‘your daughter’ not ‘your child’.

I think this is part of the new guidance. I think the leaflet we had from our school last term explained similar. I imagine, for fire reasons, they’d still be parked as present in some way so it was known they were on site, but the code for registration purposes would be absent, and it will count towards unauthorised absences that can be fined for. There must be a mechanism in place for this already, as if a child has an appointment first thing they are marked as M even if they come in part way through the morning, they’re not marked as late (at least this is the case at my daughter’s school). But presumably someone would go looking for them in a fire.

I feel like this is a life lesson surely. I tell my kids you should always give yourself a 10 minute cushion when going anywhere. If you’re going to work / an appointment you don’t want to be parking up/ walking through the door when you are supposed to be at your desk surely?

If you read the guidance, those late after registration is closed are marked as U and for statistical purposes that is classed as unauthorised absence. The school still knows they are on site and the register is not inaccurate.

Code U isn’t the same as those marked absent using other codes such as I, G or O.

Fair enough but what's the excuse for the piss poor grammar?

Can I just clarify as someone who works in education

A U mark does not mean your child is absent, it means they are in school but arrived after registration

It is treated as absence by DfE

Using a U mark will not cause a safeguarding issue, staff know what a U mark is

Absence codes are different.

Yeah I have no excuse for that 😂

All I would say is that there is a minimum standard for English for teachers (and there used to be a test to pass before you qualify, not sure if there still is), as far as I know there is no minimum standard for English for the office staff who will be managing attendance and sending these messages. It looks pretty poor I agree, but I can believe this came from a school office.

I take it you've not read the new new rules then for absence. They are only allowed 5 days off in 3 years and sickness once in 10 weeks otherwise it wil be investifated and penalty's will be given with the new increased dine amount and apparently court orders brought in. Those absence for being late mean you'll be given a fine.

So could persistent absence lead to parental fines for unauthorised absence? Surely parents would be able to challenge that in court?

I'm mildly concerned as we live rurally, so DD gets a contract bus which is occasionally very late. The last time it happened due to a road accident a total of 4 busses were late and one of the deputy heads issued dozens of late marks.

Up to now, I've said to DD that it doesn't matter much in the scheme of things, but I would absolutely be jumping up and down if she were marked absent - with consequences - for a late bus that is beyond her control.

Sorry lateness not absence - obviously 🙄

The school bus service to the school here is awful.
Yesterday was the first day back and the bus was late from our village and broke down in the next village.

That's the sort of thing Marcipex, I'd be livid if it led to absence being recorded.

@Citrusandginger absence due to transport that is normally provided for DC not being available for those who live outside of walking distance is authorised under the code Y1. So it would also be unlikely you would be fined for lates where provided transport is late.

@Birdingbear absences for illness are authorised and are not counted towards the 10 sessions unauthorised absence in a rolling 10 week period. There’s no such rule allowing 5 days unauthorised absence in a 3 year period either. 5 days of unauthorised absence can lead to a penalty notice. The rolling 3 year period relates to repeated offences.

This approach cannot be right as it is not accurate - if a child is late they are late, if they present they are marked present, if they are absent they are absent. At the time of the register they can be absent but if they subsequently arrive they have to be marked as present. I cannot see how a school can say a late student will not be recorded as being present in that lesson as it is not accurate.