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Attendance Information

Attendance and Punctuality 

Good attendance and punctuality is vital as it plays a pivotal role in a student’s school life and academic achievement. We have high expectations for our students and all students should aim to achieve 100% attendance across the whole school year. We consider good attendance to be 97% and above. 

Attendance 

Consider the impact of following examples over the course of a school year (190 days):  

95% attendance = 10 days absence which equates to 50 lessons missed 

89% attendance = 20 days absence which equates to 100 lessons missed 

85% attendance = 29 days absence which equates to 145 lessons missed  

School have a legal responsibility to ensure good attendance and we will be monitoring attendance closely and reaching out to parents/carers when attendance is beginning to cause concern (around 95%). 

The Government has classed pupils with attendance of 90% or lower as a Persistent Absentee and therefore proof of medical appointments/illness will be required for pupils whose absence is below 90%, as part of our school attendance monitoring procedures and without this evidence, absences will be classed as unauthorised and can lead to involvement from the local authority. In order to support you and to keep you informed about your child's attendance, letters will be sent by post if we have initial or ongoing concerns. You may also be invited in for an attendance meeting with Miss Thornton if we don't see an improvement in your child's attendance. It is imperative that you attend these meetings.

Absence Reporting 

It is important that you contact the school office before 9.00am if your child is unable to attend school, updating the school office daily for any ongoing absences.  It should be noted that any absence not reported to the school office will be unauthorised and five unauthorised absences can lead to Local Authority involvement. 

Leave of Absence during Term Time 

Following guidance issued by the Department of Education, effective from 1st September 2013, authorisation for leave of absence from school can only be granted by Head Teachers in exceptional circumstances. We must follow the Department of Education regulations regarding term time holidays, which means we must refer to the local authority who may issue a penalty fine. Please refer to our 'Attendance Legislation as of August 2024' tab for more information on penalty fines.

Punctuality 

A student regularly arriving late to school will lose valuable learning time. For example: 

10 minutes late each day = 32 lessons missed which equates to over 6 days of lost school 

20 minutes late each day = 64 lessons missed which equates to over 2 weeks of lost school 

We respectfully remind you that school starts at 8.55am and children can enter the classroom from 8.45am. We also have a free breakfast club which starts at 8.15am Monday to Friday.

 Incentives 

Good attendance is celebrated and rewarded in school in a number of different ways: 

  • Harry, our Star Attendance Award, each week the children who have achieved 100% attendance will get a chance to win a week with Harry.
  • The class with the best attendance over a half term wins a treat of doughnuts.
  • Attendance trolley – children get a star each week they achieve 100% attendance and use these to get a prize from the trolley at the end of every half term (the more stars, the better the prize).
  • Certificates for children who achieve 100% attendance across a half term.
  • Prizes for children who achieve 100% attendance across the whole school year.

 Support 

As a school we are aware that some children and families might need extra support to achieve good attendance and punctuality and we encourage families to get in touch with Miss Thornton, our Child Wellbeing Officer, to discuss any difficulties/changes in circumstances. It is important that we work together to ensure your child(ren) get the most from their school and we endeavor to support families to implement support to help achieve this.
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Reducing the spread of DV in schools May 2015
Coronavirus advice for education settings poster
Attendance_Policy.pdf