Browsing: Case studies/best practice Q&As
March, 2022
Q. I would like to confirm with you how we should record the attendance of a young person who is in custody, is being interviewed by police or is incarcerated.
August, 2021
Q. The head teacher at my school has agreed with parents an extended staggered start for a Reception pupil for September 2021. The pupil is an August-born child and has never attended an educational setting before. How should I code the sessions in the register when the pupil is not required to attend?
Q. We have started to see more requests for leave of absence in term time. A number of these requests are linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Reasons include: families have had to rearrange holidays that were previously booked for school holidays but cancelled due to Covid restrictions; extended families wanting to spend time together after prolonged periods of separation due to the Covid-19 restrictions; key workers who were unable to take leave during the previous 12 months. Do we have to un-authorise these absences?
Q. Will we need to continue to complete a daily education status settings return to the DfE in the new academic year?
November, 2020
Q. We were expecting a child in reception to start on 4 September but when they did not arrive, we contacted the parents and they informed us that, as their child isn’t yet five, they are not taking up the place. The child is five in February, so how should we code their absence?
Q. A Traveller family moved to a different area earlier in March. They have no set plan to come back as they ‘want to see what happens with the virus’. Mum is saying that she has a temporary school place for her children in their vicinity and wants them dual registered. She has said that the school should be using the ‘T’ code as her extended family is working in the area. Is this correct or should the school expect that the children take up their places by a set date and then remove them from roll?
Q. I have read the new Attendance Guidance and Annexe from the DfE and I am confused as to why a pupil has an ‘X’ code (which isn’t an absence) when they have symptoms and are awaiting a Covid-19 test, but when they have a confirmed positive test they are marked as an ‘I’ code (which is an absence).