Attendance

School attendance is a priority for our school.

  • We value punctuality.
  • We value high levels of attendance.
  • We value respect for the start and finishing times of each day.

We are constantly monitoring pupil attendance and would like to work together with parents/ carers to help ensure excellent attendance and punctuality for all pupils from an early age. The positive impact of regular attendance upon a child’s development and learning is very important and has been proven through a range of research. Regular attendance at school is of course extremely important and parental support in ensuring this is paramount. We wish to give our children the very best education possible, this comes hand in hand with good attendance. Attendance and punctuality are monitored on a regular basis. Our Governors are keen to promote good attendance and as a result have a policy of carefully monitoring requests for holidays.

Our school target is to achieve an average of 96%.

To make our expectations clear we would like to share with you the following attendance guidelines:

Please remember that the only acceptable reasons for absence are:

  • Illness
  • Medical Appointment
  • Religious Observance
  • Leave of Absence (with the schools permission in advance)

The following reasons for absence are unacceptable:

  • Family Holiday
  • Lateness
  • Looking after another member of the family/another member of the family is unwell
  • No alternative method of getting to school is organised by the parents or carers when they are not able
  • No uniform/shopping to buy uniform

Any of the reasons mentioned will mean that an absence is unauthorised.

Leave may be given in some circumstances providing the matter is discussed with the head teacher in advance More information about the responsibilities of parents in relation to school attendance, and the potential penalties parents can face for non-compliance, is available on the Direct Gov website. School attendance and absence: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Arriving late to school:

Every moment of the school day is valuable and that is why we like our children to be here ready to work from 8.45am onwards. Families can come on to the premises from 8.40am onwards when the gate is opened, and children make their way to their classroom.

Lateness is not acceptable unless there are specific reasons. These should be shared with the head teacher as early as possible so that the reason can be dealt with quickly and in the interests of the child. Persistent lateness will be challenged directly by the headteacher and if necessary by a member of the Local Authority Education Welfare Team (Targeted Support Services).

If your child takes too much time off school, they will become categorised as PA or persistently absent. (Attendance is below 90%).

Missing school will make your child fall behind in lessons and will impact on their academic progress and achievement. This table shows how many days missed each half term will make your child a persistent absentee.

You can view our Attendance policy here.