School attendance

Attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. This means it’s your legal duty as a parent to send your child to school regularly if they are registered at one. If you have concerns about your child attending, you should discuss these with your school or college.

All clinically extremely vulnerable children and young people should attend their education setting unless they are one of the very small number of children and young people under paediatric or other specialist care who have been advised by their clinician or other specialist not to attend.

Further information is available in the guidance on supporting pupils at school with medical conditions.

Parents of children between the ages of 5 and 16 must ensure that they receive a suitable full time education which meets their needs. This is usually, but not always, in a school. Some parents may choose elective home education (home schooling).

Attendance in Trafford schools is amongst the highest in England, and this is reflected in the high standards of achievement in Trafford schools.

If your child is unexpectedly missing from school you will be contacted by the school. They’ll contact you even if your child is only missing for a day.

In accordance with our penalty notice code of conduct you can be fined or prosecuted if you don’t give your child an education. You’ll normally get warnings and offers of help from the school and Trafford’s officers first.

You can only allow your child to miss school if either:

  •  they’re too ill to go in
  •  you’ve got advance permission from the school

There’s extra support available if your child can’t go to school for long periods because of a health problem.

You have to get permission from the head teacher if you want to take your child out of school during term time. You can only do this if:

  • you make an application to the head teacher in advance (as a parent the child normally lives with)
  • there are exceptional circumstances

It’s up to the head teacher how many days your child can be away from school if leave is granted. You can be fined for taking your child on holiday during term time without the school’s permission. 

A school cannot take a pupil off their school roll unless it meets the pupil registration regulations.