Safeguarding & Encompass ( &Attendance)
Operation Encompass
Important Changes to Attendance procedures for taking Holidays/Absences during term time
EXCESSIVE LEAVE IN TERM TIME - S444 EDUCATION ACT 1996
Lancashire County Council are currently reviewing the arrangements for pupils who are absent from school due to unauthorised leave/holidays.
There is no automatic entitlement to take any leave in term time and taking absences MUST be avoided.
Tarleton Mere Brow CE Primary School uses penalty notices when pupils are absent from school without permission, including unauthorised leave/holidays, in accordance with our school attendance policy.
When penalty notices are issued, parents have the opportunity to discharge liability for an offence under S444 of the Education Act instead of being prosecuted by the Local Authority. The penalty notice regulations determine the amount of the penalty notice fine. Unfortunately, some parents are choosing to remove their children from school for longer periods, as the fine amount is the same regardless of the number of school days missed.
From 6th January 2024, the following rules will apply:
- Unauthorised leave less than 15 school days: penalty notice will be issued.
- Unauthorised leave of 15 school days or more: the Local Authority will review any requests for penalty notices and may prosecute parents and not offer the opportunity to pay a penalty notice fine instead.
Where enough notice is given for a warning letter to be issued, and a request made is for 3 weeks (15 school days) or more out of school, the Local Authority may issue you with a warning explaining that you will not have the opportunity to pay a fine and that you will be prosecuted if the leave is still taken. Even if the authority doesn’t send you a warning letter, you can still be prosecuted for the offence as there is no legal entitlement to a warning or a penalty notice.
Failure to ensure your child’s regular attendance at school is a criminal offence, and this means that if you are convicted, this could result in a fine of up to £2,500 and you will have a criminal record.
"Absences add up! Missing just three days a month means a child misses 15% of the school year. ATTENDANCE COUNTS!"
We support and participate in Operation Encompass.
The Operation Encompass partnership scheme, is between local schools, academies, colleges, community health agencies, and Lancashire Police.
Operation Encompass was set up to provide early reporting to schools etc., about any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school hours to which a young person attending our school has been exposed, and which might then have an impact on their schooling the following day. This information will be shared throughout the year, including school holidays and the weekends.
Information will only be shared with the school by the police where it is identified that a young person was present, witnessed or was involved in a domestic abuse incident.
A nominated member of college staff, known as an Encompass Key Adult ( Mrs Livesey), has been trained to liaise with the police. She is also the school Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), She will be able to use information that has been shared with them, in confidence, to ensure that the school is able to make provision for possible difficulties experienced by children or their families. The Key Adult will keep this information confidential, and will only share it on a need to know basis, for instance, to teaching staff for the child or young person. It will not be shared it with other school students.
Operation Encompass was first introduced in Plymouth in February 2011, and has proved very effective in providing appropriate and timely support to young people affected by domestic abuse. This initiative has been implemented across the whole of the Lancashire Police area. If you would like some more information about it, you can view it online at www.operationencompass.org.
We are keen to offer the best support possible for our pupils and a recent review of Operation Encompass showed that it is beneficial and supportive for all those involved.