Whole-school responsibilities will include:
- identifying SMT responsible for attendance and designated teacher for CP
- whole-school attendance policy and whole-school CP policy
- maintaining accurate attendance registers
- appropriate removal of children's name from the school roll, including for elective home education (EHE), referring to relevant legislation and guidance.
The whole-school responsibilities are classified into three categories.
The first category is safeguarding and child protection responsibilities.
This is further divided into two types:
- training for all staff
- referrals for CP on individual children.
The referrals for CP on individual children include priority referral and complete inter-agency referral form.
The second category is to analyse attendance data, identify individual children with unauthorized absence (UA) rate causing concern, if of statutory school age. This is further divided into two types of attendance.
The first type is attendance 85% / 90% for 6 weeks and not improved by school strategies.
The second type is attendance over 90% school strategies are as follows.
- letters to home
- meetings
- contracts
- individual targets.
If both types of attendances are not improved, referral to ICAT (Initial Consultation and Advice Team) 0208 753 6610 should be made outlining strategies already used.
If then the attendance improves, no further action.
If attendance is still not improved, legal action to be considered.
If both types of attendance are improved, no further action.
The third category is whole-school strategies.
They are as follows:
- first-day-of-absence follow-up
- truancy call
- walking bus
- reward schemes
- publicity including data
- assemblies
- parent's evenings
- attendance weeks
- truancy patrols
- governor's panels
- lateness initiatives
- penalty notices, and prosecutions.
NB other ACE functions include the following: child employment, children in entertainment, oversight of children without provision – children missing education (CME), oversight of all elective home education (EHE), and exclusion.