In This Section
Attendance and Term Dates
Attend Today and Achieve Tomorrow
As a school we aim to:
- Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 96% - this is the national target level.
- Maintain parents’ and pupils awareness of the importance of regular attendance.
Punctuality
All classes - doors open at 8:30am. Morning registration is at 8:40am. This is the time your child must be in the classroom.
Arriving late in school
It is important to be on time, as the first few minutes of the school day are often used to give out instructions or organise schoolwork for the rest of the day. If your child misses this short but vital session, their work for the whole day may be affected. Late arrivals are disruptive to the whole class and often embarrassing for your child. Arrival after the close of registration may be marked as unauthorised absence in line with DfE guidance.
Why does attendance matter?
Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good routines for later life and the working world, as well as giving your child the opportunity to:
- Make lots of friends and feel included
- Learn new things and develop new skills
- Increase confidence and self-esteem
- Improve social skills
- Achieve potential and fulfil aspirations
As a parent you can help us by:
- Ringing on the first morning of all absences (by 10am) with the reason and saying when the child will be returning to school.
- Arranging non urgent dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks.
- Keeping us updated by telephone, email or letter if your child has an extended period of absence due to illness.
We shall:
- Follow up unexplained absences by a phone call on the first day of unexplained absence.
- Acknowledge and reward exemplary attendance.
- Report your child’s attendance rate on his/her and annual school report.
- Let you know if we have concerns regarding your child’s attendance.
Below 90% Attendance = Persistent Absence
A child who attends school for 90% of the time is absent from school for the equivalent of one half day a week. Over a school year they would miss almost four weeks (19 days) of lessons. If this attendance continued throughout eleven years of schooling, the equivalent of 209 days of school would have been missed, more than one complete year of school! Our target for each child is a minimum of 96% unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Absences
By law, schools must record absences and the reasons given.
Authorised Absence
Some absences are allowed by law and are known as “authorised absences”. For example: if a child is ill, family bereavement, religious observance. We realise that there are rare occasions when there might be a particular problem that causes your child to be absent. Please let us know and we shall try to deal with it sympathetically.
Unauthorised Absence
There are times when children are absent for reasons, which are not permitted by law. These are known as “unauthorised absences”. Examples of unauthorised absence are:
- Waiting for a delivery
- Going for a family day out
- Sleeping in after late night
- Going shopping or for a haircut
- Because it is your child’s birthday
Unauthorised absences may be referred to the Educational Inclusion and Partnership Team for consideration of further action and as such, could result in a Penalty Notice, payable direct to the Local Authority.
Unapproved holidays
Where there is no explanation for the absence or where the explanation or reason is considered unsatisfactory.
Holiday Requests and Term Time Leave of Absence
We are always concerned about the amount of school time pupils’ miss as a result of family holidays. There is no entitlement to time off in term time. Leave of absence will only be granted where the Head of School considers it due to exceptional circumstances, taking into account the nature of the event for which leave is sought; the frequency of the request; whether the parent gave advance notice; the pupil’s attainment; attendance and ability to catch up on missed schooling.
Parents wishing to apply for leave of absence need to send a written request addressed to the Head of School: they will consider your request and advise you on the decision, (possibly asking to meet with you to discuss).
Please remember that the more time your child misses from school, the more difficult it is for them to catch up with their work. Valuable learning time is lost. A good understanding of the work can only take place when the pupil is in the classroom.
Governors
It is the Governors legal responsibility to monitor and evaluate the attendance in the school. The school’s attendance figures are presented to the Local Academy Board on a termly basis. The school has a legal duty to publish its absence figures and promote attendance. Equally, parents have a duty to make sure that their children attend.