Attendance Policy
How we record attendance for commissioned alternative provision placements, what happens when a child does not arrive, and when we tell the commissioner.
Some children attend The Code Zone as part of an alternative provision placement, commissioned by a local authority, a school or a multi-academy trust. This policy sets out how we record attendance for those placements, what we do when a child does not arrive, and when we tell the commissioner.
It applies to commissioned alternative provision placements. Children who attend our ordinary clubs are not subject to it — a member who misses a week is simply moved to another slot, with nothing to catch up.
Why an activity provider has an attendance policy
A child who stops turning up may be a child at risk. Absence from a provision, particularly on repeat occasions, is one of the recognised early indicators in Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children, and our safeguarding policy already treats it that way. For a child on an alternative provision placement, we are often one of a small number of adults who see them in a given week. If we do not notice and say something, it is possible nobody does.
Commissioners are also accountable for the attendance of the children they place. They cannot discharge that without accurate, prompt information from us, so this policy exists as much to make their job possible as ours.
How attendance is recorded
Every session a child is booked into carries an attendance status, marked by the mentor who ran it:
- Attended.
- Planned absence — the child, their family, their school or the commissioner told us in advance.
- Did not attend — the child was expected and did not arrive, and nobody had told us why.
The distinction between the last two is the whole of this policy. A planned absence is a record. An unexplained absence is an action.
Mentors also write a note on each child after each session. Clubs are one hour a week in a group of no more than six with the same mentor every week, so the mentor who marks a child absent is the person who has been with that child every week and knows what is usual for them. That is what makes a note like “quieter than usual, left early” worth acting on.
What happens when a child does not arrive
- Same day — we contact the family. Where a child on a commissioned placement is marked as not attending and we have not been told why, we contact the parent or carer that day. Usually this establishes something ordinary, and it is recorded as a planned absence.
- Within one working day — we tell the commissioner. If we cannot reach the family, or what we are told gives us any cause for concern, the commissioner is informed. We do not wait to see whether the child comes back the following week.
- Two consecutive unexplained absences — the designated safeguarding lead takes it on. At this point it stops being an attendance matter. The DSL reviews it alongside anything else recorded about the child, contacts the commissioner directly, and follows our child protection procedures if there is reason to.
- Any point at which we are worried about the child rather than the absence. Nothing above has to be worked through in order. If a mentor is concerned about a child’s safety or welfare, it goes to the DSL immediately and we follow our safeguarding policy, which can include a referral to the local authority.
Patterns, not just single absences
One missed session is usually nothing. A pattern rarely is. We watch for the shapes that a single absence never shows: the same day of the week repeatedly missed, attendance falling away gradually, a child arriving but disengaging, or turning up but leaving early. Because a mentor writes a note every week, these are visible in the record rather than depending on somebody remembering.
Where a pattern emerges, we raise it with the commissioner whether or not any individual absence met a threshold above. A placement that is quietly not working is worth saying out loud early, while there is still time to change something.
When a placement is not working
If a child is not attending and we do not think the placement is right for them, we say so. That conversation goes to the commissioner and to the family, and it happens before attendance has collapsed rather than after. Our interest is in the child being somewhere that works, which is not always going to be us.
What we ask of commissioners and families
- Tell us in advance where you can, even for something small. A planned absence takes seconds to record and saves a child being chased.
- Give us a contact who can be reached on the day, and tell us when it changes. Most of the delay in a case like this is finding the right person.
- Tell us what we need to know about the child at the start of the placement, including anything that makes attendance harder for them. We would rather understand an absence than escalate it.
Records
Attendance records and session notes are kept for each child and are available to the commissioning authority on request. They are handled in line with our privacy policy, and safeguarding records are held as set out in our safeguarding policy.
Related policies
- Safeguarding policy
- Anti-bullying policy
- Behaviour code for children and young people
- Complaints policy
Contact
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Name: Mary Duhig
Email: dsl@thecodezone.co.uk
Phone: 0333 090 5697
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Name: Alice Ifill
Email: dsl@thecodezone.co.uk
Phone: 0333 090 5697
We review this policy annually alongside our safeguarding policy.
