Dec 03 Q. I am the attendance lead in an infant school and I have been asked by the senior leadership team to put a rewards and attendance incentive initiative into place. I am uncomfortable with this as our children are very little and reliant on parents to secure their attendance at school. Is it good practice to reward the attendance of children?

Dec 03 Q. I have taken a post in a new school that is in a different local authority. In my previous school, we applied for a penalty notice to be issued each time a child had 10 unauthorised leave of absence sessions. I have been told that the process is different in this local authority. Is that correct?

Feb 28 Q. Does delaying a child’s entry to Reception when they have a late summer birthday affect when they become of compulsory school age?

Feb 28 Q. We mark our afternoon register at the end of the day. Does this mean that a child can come in just before registration and we have to mark them as present for the whole session?

Feb 28 Q. Which communities can the ‘traveller exemption’ about the amount of annual attendance required be applied to?

Feb 28 Q. We’re a C of E school and some parents want to keep their children off when we’re celebrating a Christian festival or attending a church service. Should this be authorised?

Nov 16 Q. How many unauthorised absences do there have to be before a local authority will take legal action? We are always being asked to do more first and it’s very frustrating.

Nov 16 Q. We have been asked if a child can have three days off to attend a religious convention with their parents. Is this an ‘R’ code or can we mark it as an approved educational activity?

Nov 16 Q. We’ve been told that we now have to collect at least two emergency contacts for every child. Is this correct?

Aug 31 Q. I’ve heard that the law has changed about parents having to prove children are genuinely ill. Does that mean we can now insist on a doctor’s note?