Attendance

Aim for your child to achieve 100% attendance and good punctuality to give them the very best chance in life. Poor attendance and punctuality can affect overall achievement. Establishing good habits from the start helps children to settle more quickly into new settings and routines.

WHAT MUST I DO IF MY CHILD IS ABSENT?

● Parents/Carers must telephone on the day if their child is absent before 9am

● Keep school informed and let us know of the return date

Whenever possible, medical and dental appointments should be made outside of the school day. If this is unavoidable then it is expected that your child will be in school either before or after this appointment.

Amendments to the Education Regulations (Pupil Registration) which came into effect from September 2013; they state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Therefore, any leave of absence requested for holidays in term time will not be granted as they seriously disrupt the continuity of your child’s learning. Letters requesting leave of absence should be sent into school outlining the exceptional circumstances that necessitate this absence. These should be marked for the attention of Mrs Short.

Any leave of absence taken without permission will be marked as unauthorised. Under government guidelines, any absence marked as unauthorised can lead to involvement from the Education Placement Service in cases of persistent poor attendance. Please consider that any absence or punctuality problem will seriously disrupt the continuity of learning for your child and will have an impact on their progress, achievement and relationships in school.

We monitor attendance and categorise students using the information below:

Punctuality

Being punctual to school is vital. Lateness can have a huge effect on learning and progress. Students who are late to school will complete a lunchtime detention that day. This will last for 15 minutes. If further punctuality problems persist students may be placed onto report, or  be involved in additional mentoring/interventions or require parents to attend school for a formal meeting, to bring about an improvement to the situation.

ARE YOU HEADING FOR THE DANGER ZONE?

5 minutes late each day 3 days lost

10 minutes late each day 6.5 days lost

15 minutes late each day 10 days lost

20 minutes late each day 13 days lost

30 minutes late each day 19 days lost