Attendance at Northfield

Every moment of every lesson of every day matters.  Attendance matters.

At Northfield School, we believe that excellent attendance is the foundation of academic success and personal development. Every day counts — pupils that attend regularly are more likely to achieve their full potential and thrive both in, and beyond, the classroom.

Missing even a small percentage of school can have a significant impact on a child’s learning and progress. To put it into perspective:

5% absence = 9.5 days missed in a school year - over 45 lessons

10% absence = 19 days missed in a school year - almost 100 lessons

15% absence = 28.5 days missed in a school year - over 140 lessons

20% absence = 38 days missed in a school - almost 200 lessons. If this pattern is repeated from year 7 to year 11, your child would miss an entire school year.

Attendance Expectations

  • All students are expected to attend school every day, unless there is a valid reason.
  • The school day starts promptly at 8:40am — punctuality is essential. 
  • The morning register closes at 9:30am – if your child arrives after this time, they will be classed as absent for the morning session
  • Parents/carers must ensure students arrive on time, prepared and ready to learn.

We know that it can be difficult to judge whether or not a young person is too ill for school.  There is some guidance from the NHS around common illnesses, a summary of which is below:

Updated Should My Child Stay At Home. February 2026

 

Reporting Absences

If your child is unable to attend:

  • Please contact the school before 8:00 AM via phone or email.
  • Include your child’s full name, year group, reason for absence, and expected return date.
  • Where attendance is already a concern, which you will be aware of as part of our attendance intervention stages, medical evidence will be required.

Leave of Absence

  • Requests for term-time leave must be submitted via our Leave of Absence Request Form.
  • Holidays during term time are not authorised unless in exceptional circumstances.

Attendance Monitoring

  • Attendance is tracked daily and reviewed daily.
  • Students with attendance below 95% will be referred for additional support, ranging from a home visit through to a meeting to agree an attendance plan to, ultimately, a fixed penalty notice.  More information on intervention can be found here

Rewards & Recognition

Whilst we challenge absence, we also celebrate excellent attendance.  We have a number of rewards as part of our attendance policy.  These have been introduced in consultation with pupils.

Northfield Attendance Rewards Strategy

Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA)

When a pupil finds attending school difficult due to  emotional distress, this is known as emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA).

What EBSA can look like

A pupil may:

  • feel unwell on school mornings (headaches, stomach aches, nausea)
  • become upset, panicked or withdrawn when preparing for school
  • have a pattern of late arrival, repeated part-days, or increasing absence
  • struggle after weekends/holidays or after particular lessons/social situations
  • show high levels of worry about friendships, workload, routines, or being judged

Our approach

We take EBSA seriously and work in partnership with families to improve attendance sensitively and steadily. Support is planned around the pupil’s needs and could include:

  • a key adult and regular check-ins
  • a graduated return plan (e.g., phased start times and step-by-step targets)
  • adjustments to reduce stress triggers (where appropriate)
  • wellbeing / pastoral support and liaison with SENCO if needed
  • clear routines for arrival, including a calm start to the day
  • joint planning with families and (when required) external services

Our aim is to build attendance back up as quickly as possible, but at a pace the pupil can sustain.

What we ask of parents/carers

If you think EBSA may be a factor:

  • contact school early (ideally the same day concerns arise)
  • help us understand what feels hardest (travel, friendships, lessons, timings)
  • support agreed plans at home (e.g., morning routines, bedtime, limiting reassurance loops)
  • keep your child connected to school (even when attendance is difficult)

Even where anxiety is a factor, being out of school often makes anxiety grow, so we will focus on supported attendance and practical steps.

How to get help

If you are worried about your child’s attendance and emotions around school, please contact the relevant pastoral team

Support Available

We understand that some students face challenges. Our pastoral team offers:

  • One-to-one support for attendance concerns.
  • Referrals to wellbeing and mental health services.
  • Regular communication with families to resolve barriers to attendance.
  • There is also a wealth of information available from Young Minds and The Education Hub to help support parents of children that might be struggling with issues around their mental health

You can view our attendance policy by clicking here.