Attendance Advice

We are a successful school and we all play our part in making it so. We aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of the community to reach out for excellence and be 'worthy of praise'. For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and your child should be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

‘Improving attendance is everyone’s business. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the school gates, and are often specific to individual pupils and families. The foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils want to be and are keen and ready to learn.’

(Working Together to Improve Attendance, DfE 2022) 

Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Any pupil’s absence disrupts teaching routines so may affect the learning of others in the same class.

Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is your legal responsibility and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.

We will monitor attendance and use attendance data to identify any patterns of concern, whilst also celebrating success! Attendance concerns will be raised with parents if reasons are not known by the school, e.g. periods of illness. Information may be shared with the Local Authority following concerns. Where we have concerns, or lack of engagement from families to improve attendance, we will follow the school's escalated approach to improving attendance. The schools escalated approach is child-centred and prioritises support and developing strong working relationships with families. We will use the early help process to provide support prior to escalation and consider how we can work with families to enable your child to access their right to education.

Our aim is to always to work in partnership with parents and any referral for consideration of a penalty notice is deemed to be a last resort. Attendance figures and the number of late arrivals for each child will be reported to parents as part of the termly reports. We will also share a child’s attendance profile with other agencies if we have concerns regarding a child’s attendance. Throughout the school year we will report on the overall attendance figures for children’s groups which will be closely monitored for support and reported to the Governing Body.

Safeguarding

Your child may be at risk of harm if they do not attend school regularly. Safeguarding the interests of each child is everyone’s responsibility. Failing to attend this school on a regular basis will be considered as a safeguarding matter.

Good Attendance

 This means being at school at least 95% of the time (between 180 and 190 days).

Children who are persistently absent will be reported to the Local Authority. This means both parents are likely to receive a penalty notice and fine.

Satisfactory evidence for any absences should be provided. Medical and dental appointments should be made, if at all possible, outside school hours, though we understand this may be difficult.

Planned Absence 

Parents wishing to apply for leave during term time must send a written request for the attention of the Headteacher before making any arrangements. An application form can be found here or email the school for a copy. This must be sent to the headteacher four weeks before any planned absence. Retrospective requests will not be considered and therefore will result in the absence being categorised as unauthorised. Each leave during term time request will be considered on an individual basis. Ten or more unauthorised sessions during one year will result in both parents being reported to the Local Authority.

Punctuality

Doors open for children at 8.45am, with the class register closing at 9.05am. Children arriving after the close of registration will be recorded as late (L). Late marks will not be authorised and will count as an absence for the school morning session. Punctuality is recorded and this will be added to your child’s record of attendance. A letter will be sent to you regarding attendance concerns of a child.

If a child arrives at school after 9:15am they will be U coded. The absence will only be authorised if a satisfactory explanation for the late arrival can be provided, for example, attendance at a medical appointment. The absence will be recorded as unauthorised if a child has arrived late without justifiable cause, for example, they woke up late or were waiting for their uniform to dry.

Here to Help

We are always here to help. We know that sometimes poor attendance is a symptom of other stresses and strains within the child's and family's life. Please let us know. We can signpost you to other professionals and have specialists within school to help you and your child.