Parents with pupils at the school next year will have received an email regarding the changes in the law to attendance, penalty notices and definitions of persistent and severe absences from August 2024.

In more pleasant news, despite a slump after returning from half-term, attendance is still looking reasonable compared to national figures for school and in most classes.

In state-funded primary schools, attendance is 94.7% overall (3.9% authorised absence and 1.4% unauthorised absence).

At Dosthill, we're currently at 95.72% (3.34% authorised and 0.94% unauthorised).

Those currently missing 10% or more of their learning through absence is roughly 10% of the school. Those 'locked-in' to being persistently absent is just 5% of the school - still time to turn it around for all pupils.