We believe that good attendance is essential for helping pupils reach their full potential.
Did you know?
Being 5 minutes late each day is the same as missing 3 whole days of school? Being 15 minutes late each day is the same as missing two whole weeks at school? We start our learning promptly at 8.45am – being 15 minutes late each day means missing two whole solid weeks of learning.
Good regular attendance means being in school at least 95% of the time. Children with attendance below 95% have less chance of success.
Attendance Matters
Attending school regularly means your child has new exciting experiences, that they become confident and curious learners and that they become passionate about learning while developing their own fascinations and interests which they can’t do at home.
Attending school regularly means your child builds strong, healthy friendships, learns how to become caring and considerate towards others and that they have a chance to learn from others growing as part of a wider community and as part of a school family.
How can you help your child?
- Make sure they know that you think school is really important.
- Help your child to organise their uniform, PE kit and book bag the night before school.
- Agree a bed time with your child to make sure they get a good night’s sleep.
- Have a special routine for getting up, getting ready and for breakfast time
- Organise any medical or dental appointments for after school or in the holidays.
- Take family holidays during the school holiday period – we have 175 days of weekend and pupil holidays and just 190 days in school.
Absences
If your child is absent from school please telephone the school office on the first day of absence before the school day starts.
Appointments
Appointments should be booked outside of school hours. Where this is not possible, the school office needs to see evidence of the appointment. Pupils will attend school before and after the appointment wherever possible.
Rewarding Good Attendance
Half Termly and Termly the school acknowledges high levels of attendance (99%+) with a reward or treat chosen by the school council. Past rewards and treats have included;
- Bowling Experiences
- Cinema trip
- Party entertainment
- Goodie Bags
Weekly good attendance and punctuality is celebrated in the following ways:
- Marvellous me badges and messages
- House points
- Ice lollies, biscuits or extra play time for the best class
Children who achieve 99%+ attendance for the full academic year will receive a certificate and a prize, presented in front of the whole school.
Leave of Absence Requests
New regulations for taking holidays in term time
The Department for Education and government legislation states, in summary, that:
- Parents do not have any entitlement to take their children out of school for a holiday during term time.
- Any application for leave must only be in ’exceptional’ circumstances and the Headteacher must be satisfied that the circumstances are ‘exceptional’ and warrant the granting of leave.
- In ‘exceptional’ circumstances, a request for absence must be made in advance, to the Headteacher, who will inform you of the decision prior to booking your holiday.
- If a request for leave is not authorised by the Headteacher and the pupil goes on holiday, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised, which then stays on the child’s permanent record.
We are required by law to report unauthorised absences to the Local Authority, who may issue a Fixed Penalty Notice, which means a parent may be fined by the Education Welfare Service. The regulations do stipulate that fixed penalty fines will be issued and from 1st September 2013 parents must pay £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. Due to equalities legislation, fixed penalty notices will now be issued to all parents who have parental responsibility and whom can be traced. This means that both the father and mother of a child will receive separate fines, under the new regulations, and that each parent will incur a fine for each child. Please be aware that the proceeds from the fixed penalty fines DO NOT go to the school.
N.B. Any requests for leave during September will not be authorised as this is an important time for settling into a new class/school. Similarly, leave of absence will not be authorised for year 6 pupils in the term prior to SATS or the weeks leading up to them.
Leave of Absence request form
Further information and guidance can be found on the DfE website
www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/behaviour/attendance.
Holidays in School Time Information for Parents
Fixed Penalty Notices Information for Parents
To request any leave of absence, this must be done by completing the leave of absence form available from the main office, or alternatively you can download and print out the form here. Leave of Absence
National Attendance Figures
- 96% is the National Attendance Figure
- A child is classed as a persistent absentee when absence falls to a level of 90% or below.
Punctuality
The school day starts at 8.45am. However we open our doors at 8.35am to allow the children to get settled for the learning to take place. As soon as all children are in the building the doors are locked for security reasons and entry can only be made via the main door. Children who arrive after 8.45am are officially recorded as late in the school register as well as being in the ‘Late Book’. Children who arrive after 9.30am will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
The procedure to monitor regular lateness is the same as that for regular absence which is set out in our attendance policy. Equally, children should not arrive at school before 8.35am, as the playground is not supervised.
Nursery children are to be dropped off at 08.35am or 12.15pm, depending on their session.
Please don’t miss a session because you are late as it is better to be late than not in at all.
Please see our child friendly attendance policy Child Friendly Attendance Policy
