FREE SCHOOL TOOL

Attendance Policy & Procedures Builder

Create a practical, school-specific attendance policy and operational procedure. The builder is structured around the Department for Education's current statutory attendance guidance and prompts you to include the key elements schools are expected to set out clearly.

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Before publication: check the final document against the latest DfE guidance, the safeguarding guidance in force, your local authority's penalty notice Code of Conduct, trust/governance requirements and your own local procedures. This tool supports drafting; it is not legal advice.

School details and accountability

Identify the school, key contacts and senior leadership responsibility.

School name * School phase School status Local authority * Headteacher / Principal Policy owner Senior Attendance Champion * Senior Attendance Champion contact * Day-to-day attendance contact * Attendance office contact Pastoral / detailed support contact DSL / safeguarding lead

Attendance expectations

Make expectations for attendance, punctuality and communication explicit.

School day starts * School day ends Morning register opens * Morning register closes * Afternoon register opens Afternoon register closes

School ethos and attendance statement * How the school promotes good and improving attendance *

Daily attendance procedures

Set out what parents, staff and attendance teams should do each day.

How parents/carers report an unexpected absence * First-day response where no reason is received * Unexplained absence escalation * Lateness procedure * Returning after lengthy absence Home visits / welfare checks

Support, safeguarding and inclusion

Keep expectations high while identifying and removing barriers.

Graduated support approach *

SEND and disability * Physical and mental health * Safeguarding and absence * Vulnerable pupils and multi-agency support

Data, persistent absence and intervention

Use attendance information to identify problems early and evaluate impact.

Weekly monitoring and analysis * Half-termly / termly review Persistent absence response * Severe absence response * Local authority partnership / Targeting Support Meetings * Governance / trust reporting

Leave of absence and legal intervention

Describe the school's process and connect it to national and local requirements.

Leave of absence process * Support-first and legal intervention *

Local authority penalty notice Code of Conduct URL School leave request page URL

If you selected Independent school, the final policy automatically substitutes wording that does not incorrectly apply the state-funded-school penalty notice framework.

Review, publication and local arrangements

Make the policy visible, accessible and routinely reviewed.

Approved by Approval date Next review date * Published policy URL

How the policy will be communicated and reviewed * School-specific / trust / local procedures

Preview and download

Review the generated draft before formal school approval.

Import draft