Chapter 16 pupil registration and attendance of guide for school governors
This chapter provides the Board of Governors with information on the legal requirements with regard to the registration and attendance of school pupils. Information about the number of days and hours which schools are required to be open to pupils is contained in Chapter 18.In this chapter:
Role of the Board of Governors |
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| The role of the Board of Governors is to ensure that the principal keeps a General Register of the pupils at the school and a Pupil Attendance Register and that appropriate action is taken to encourage good attendance at school. |
General register
16.1. The Board of Governors of a grant-aided school must ensure a General Register is kept with particulars of all the pupils at the school.
16.2. The principal is normally responsible on a day to day basis for ensuring that the register contains a list of the full names of the pupils and the following basic information:
- gender and date of birth,
- religious denomination,
- ethnicity;
- parent(s) name(s) and address; and
- date of admission or readmission to the school.
In the case of a child who has not previously been registered at a school, the parent must provide the principal with a Registrar’s Certificate of Birth or other satisfactory documentary evidence of birth.
16.3. All schools now record and store information about current and past pupils in electronic format. The use of this format allows greater flexibility in the way information about pupils can be presented, for example by whole school in alphabetical order, by class group, by age. In addition to the basic details recorded about pupils on the General Register, the information below is currently required to be recorded:
- classes enrolled in while at school and date of each enrolment;
- daily attendance during each school year;
- name and address of previous school, if any;
- date of leaving school;
- destination as a school leaver, if known; and
- status, in other words, day pupil or boarder in the cases of a school with a boarding department.
The Department of Education (DE) may from time to time specify additional information that is required to be recorded. All of the information in the General Register must be kept securely and is subject to the data protection legislation.
16.4. Where a parent indicates their intention to withdraw their child from the school or to place their child in another school, the principal must provide the parent with a copy of the certificate of attendance at school, Form S.A.1. If the child is transferring to another school, the principal of the other school must receive Form S.A.1 from the parent before the child can be registered. This procedure does not apply in the case of children transferring from primary to post primary education.
16.5. The principal can only remove pupils from the school’s register in the following circumstances:
- confirmation that the pupil has registered at another school in the North of Ireland;
- departure from the North of Ireland;
- expulsion;
- death;
- leaves school having completed compulsory schooling.
Attendance registers
16.6. The Board of Governors of a grant-aided school must ensure that a Pupil Attendance Register is kept.
16.7. The principal is normally responsible on a day to day basis for ensuring that the attendance of registered pupils is recorded on each school day, in accordance with DE instructions.
16.8. Since September 2006, a new standardised system of recording absences has been used in schools, following an update of the attendance module of the Classroom 2000 (C2K) system. It is supported by guidance included in the DE Circular 2010/07 Pupil Attendance: Absence Recording by Schools PDF 127 KB. This enables schools to record pupils’ absences, the reasons for the absence and whether the absence is authorised or unauthorised. Attendance/absence of pupils is recorded by schools at the beginning of the morning and afternoon registration sessions.
16.9. This data was first collected and published by the Department as part of the October 2008 School Census exercise and will now be published annually. The information will be used to inform target setting on pupil attendance and once these have been developed, the Department will issue guidance to schools on how best to promote regular attendance and on approaches to early intervention.
16.10. Most pupils do go to school every day, however some pupils do experience difficulties in attending school for a variety of reasons. It is vital that parents and carers ensure their child’s regular attendance at school as it is their legal duty to do so. Not all parents will be aware of this, in particular parents of newcomer pupils.
16.11. The Board of Governors may wish to consider the position regarding the attendance of pupils at its school and how the school can engage with parents to ensure that regular attendance is promoted. The Board of Governors may ask the principal for a regular report on pupil attendance with a view to ensuring that appropriate action is taken to encourage good attendance. Chapter 6 of the Guide explains that pupil attendance can be used as a school performance indicator.
Retention and access to school registers
16.12. All schools must hold copies of pupil attendance records and pupil registration records for not less than 10 years from the date on which the register ceased to be used.
16.13. School Inspectors and officers of DE and of the education and library board are entitled to inspect both registers and to make extracts from them. The principal is required to make such periodical or other returns from the registers to DE and the education and library board as they may require.
Education and welfare officers
16.14. Every school has a link Education Welfare Officer (EWO), employed by the education and library board, whose aim it is to reduce unnecessary absences from school by offering support and help to pupils, parents and schools. If a school is concerned about a child’s attendance level or pattern, they should make a referral to the Education Welfare Service, in particular if a pupil’s attendance is below 85 percent.
16.15. The EWO can suggest things that parents can to do help improve matters, and can offer to go to the school with parents to talk to staff about any problems and how they can be addressed. They can also put parents in touch with other agencies that may be able to offer further advice. If the problem is of a practical nature, the EWO can offer advice about free school meals, access to transport assistance and uniform grants.
Compulsory school age
School starting age
16.16. Where a child reaches the age of four on or between 1 September and 1 July in the same school year, the child has to start school at the beginning of the next school year.
16.17. Where a child reaches the age of four on or between 2 July and 31 August in the same calendar year, the child has to start school in the September following his/her fifth birthday.
Age of transfer to post primary school
16.18. A pupil with an eleventh birthday on or between 1 September and 1 July in the same school year must transfer to a post primary school with effect from the start of the next school year.
16.19. Where a pupil’s eleventh birthday falls on or between 2 July and 31 August in the same calendar year, he/she must transfer to a post primary school with effect from the start of the school year following his/her twelfth birthday.
16.20. In certain circumstances the Board of Governors of a pupil’s primary school may decide that a pupil should transfer to post primary education a year earlier or a year later than the normal age; details of these arrangements are contained in DE Circular 1996/24 PDF 218 KB.
School leaving age
16.21. A pupil who reaches the age of 16 on or between 1 September and 1 July in any school year can leave school at the end of that school year.
16.22. A pupil who reaches the age of 16 on or between 2 July and 31 August in the same calendar year must return to school in September of the same year and cannot leave school until 30 June in following school year.
16.23. These arrangements are designed to ensure that all pupils complete 12 years at school and have the opportunity to sit their GCSEs.
The law
Primary legislation
Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 - Article 17A
(Regulations as to the carrying on of grant-aided schools)
Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 - Article 46
(Compulsory School Age)
Note: amended by the 1989 Order
Education and Libraries (NI) Order 1986 - Article 48
(Registration of pupils at school)
Education Reform (NI) Order 1989 – Article 156
(Compulsory School Age)
Education (NI) Order 1996 – Article 31(1)
(Date of commencement of secondary education)
Subordinate legislation
Education Registration and Attendance of Pupils Regulations 1974 SR No. 78
Guidance
DE Circular 1996/24 Guidance on the arrangements for the Transfer of Pupils from Primary to Secondary Education other than at the normal age
http://www.deni.gov.uk/guidance_on__the__arrangements_for_the_transfer_of_pupils__from_primary_to_secondary_education_other_than_at_the_normal_age-3.pdf PDF 218 KB
DE Circular 2010/07 Pupil Attendance: Absence Recording by Schools
http://www.deni.gov.uk/circular_2010_07_-_pupil_attendance_-_absence_recording_by_schools.pdf PDF 127 KB
