At The Sky Academy, we recognise that consistent attendance plays a vital role in each student’s progress, wellbeing, and sense of belonging. We are committed to promoting and supporting high levels of attendance to ensure all our learners have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Regular, consistent attendance supports our learners to build resilience in their education, while also nurturing friendships and positive relationships with our staff. Our approach is rooted in understanding and flexibility, ensuring that every child is met with compassion and the right support to thrive both emotionally and academically.
At The Sky Academy, we regularly monitor all learners’ attendance and, where necessary, provide additional support to help ensure every student is engaged in their education, feels a sense of belonging, and develops resilience.
We have a dedicated Attendance Team who can offer support to both learners and families. Please see contact details below:
PFSA – Anna Roden – anna.roden@clf.uk
Senior Attendance Champion – Kai Francis – kai.francis@clf.uk
Relational Support Worker – Louise Beer – Louise.Beer@clf.uk
Students are also offered support at Sky by our wider Pastoral Team. If you believe any learner would benefit from this support, please contact our Senior Attendance Champion, who can help to arrange this.
Pupils should attend school on every day the school is open, unless they are really not well enough.
Minor illness should not be a reason for staying at home. If your child attends school when feeling slightly under the weather, do let a member of staff know and we will monitor them and contact you if we think they need to go home. If you aren’t sure whether to send your child to school, please contact The Sky Academy for guidance and we will be happy to talk this through with you.
If your child is too ill to attend, you must contact the academy before 8.45am, on the first day of absence, to let us know. If your child is ill for more than one day, you will need to contact the academy on each morning of the absence, unless otherwise agreed.
To report an absence, contact 01823 275 569, selecting option 2.
Please clearly explain the symptoms your child has, when the symptoms started, and when you expect your child to be well enough to return to school.
By law, schools must record all pupil absences and whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised.
Please try to avoid medical and dental appointments in school time. If this is unavoidable, arrange appointments so minimum school time is lost. Unless it is an emergency appointment, parents/carers are expected to let the Academy know about the appointment in advance, providing evidence of the appointment. Your child should still attend school for as much of the school day as possible.
Attending school every day helps children and young people maximise their learning and enjoy the benefits of their education. It really does make a difference.
For that reason, the Academy will not authorise any leave of absence in term time, unless satisfied the reason is exceptional.
We ask parents and carers to request permission in advance, and only if necessary. Any requests should be put in writing via the Absence Request Form which can be collected from the main reception and, wherever possible, with at least four school weeks’ notice. The parent or carer who the child normally lives with should make the application.
We also ask parents and carers not to make plans without discussing with the Academy first, so that we can make good decisions together.
Family emergencies also need careful consideration. It may not always be appropriate, or in the best interests of the child, to miss school for emergencies which are being dealt with by adult family members. Wherever possible, please try to make alternative arrangements for your child so they can still attend school.
It is important that we know where children are, as we have a duty to ensure they are safe. If we don’t know why a child is absent, we will follow our safeguarding procedures.
Parents/carers are reminded that unauthorised term-time leave may result in a penalty notice or prosecution.
To assist parents/carers in booking holidays and arranging other events, our term dates and inset days can be found here:
The government has made some changes to the penalty notices for unauthorised absence rules, which come into effect from 19 August 2024, in time for the new school year.
From 19 August, if a child has at least 10 sessions of unauthorised absence in 10 school weeks, their parent/s may receive a penalty notice. (A morning or afternoon is one session; a whole school day is two sessions). In some circumstances, however, the government’s rules also allow for penalty notices to be issued for less unauthorised absence, for example where parents appear to be avoiding the national threshold by taking several term-time holidays below threshold, or for repeated absence for birthdays or other family events which the school has not authorised absence for.
Penalty notices are issued to each parent/carer with responsibility for the child and are issued for each child with unauthorised absence. For example, if two siblings have unauthorised absence, and there are two parents/carers with responsibility for the children, four penalty notices would be issued.
Please note: penalty notices are issued to parents and carers as an alternative to prosecution and are intended to prevent the need for court action. A penalty notice may not be issued if prosecution is considered a more appropriate sanction for a pupil’s unauthorised absence.
The table below provides more information about penalty notices and other legal action for unauthorised absence.
The Department for Education expects every school to have a Senior Attendance Champion who is responsible for leading on attendance matters across the school and liaising with pupils, parents, and organisations outside the school, where needed.
Our academy’s Senior Attendance Champion is Kai Francis.
If you have any questions about this information, or any other attendance related queries, please contact kai.francis@clf.uk.
