Attendance
Attendance
Our whole school attendance target is 98% and our attendance motto is ‘Be Here Every Day’!
It is part of our professional responsibility to monitor the attendance of children in school very carefully. We work with families to ensure every child’s attendance is prioritised. DfE guidance tells us that we must:
‘regularly communicate expectations for attendance and punctuality and school performance through regular channels of communication with staff, pupils and parents’
‘establish robust escalation procedures which are initiated before absence becomes a problem, for example by: sending letters to parents and carers’
Reporting absence
The school registers are closed at 9.10am each morning. Children who have not arrived by the end of registration are marked absent. Parents should ring or email school by 9.10am on every day of absence, to notify us that their child will not be in. The school will then authorise absences that are due to sickness. If no contact is received by 9.30am the attendance office will call to find out why your child is not in.
Attendance expectations
All children between the age of five and 16 must receive a full time education. By law, children must start school by the term following their fifth birthday.
Every parent wants their children to get on well in life and that means getting a good education and building aspirations for the future. If children do not attend school regularly, they fall behind in their learning and may not be able to keep up with their work. Children and young people do better at school with regular school attendance.
Being on time and setting good attendance patterns from an early age will benefit children later in life. Parents should always encourage their children to attend school and not allow them time off for minor ailments.
Being late for school means your child is missing the start of the day or lesson. They may miss important information and cause disruption to other children’s education. Additionally, lateness may become a bad habit which has a negative impact on their future. It can also be a precursor to poor attendance.
The Department for Education sets the threshold at which a pupil is defined as persistently absent at 90%. Once your child’s absence reaches this level the school may inform the Education Welfare Service, who will start to work with you and your child to address the reasons why they are not attending school regularly.
The Education Welfare Officers are employed to ensure parents and carers meet their legal responsibilities for education through working in partnership with a variety of agencies. They will advise and support the school with effective strategies for promoting attendance and addressing levels of absence. Education Welfare Officers may work with you in a number of ways, including meeting with you both in school and at your home.
Attendance ladder
| 0 days off school | 100% | Perfection |
| Equates to 2 days off school each year | 99% | Excellent |
| Equates to 5 days off school each year | 97% | Good |
| Equates to 10 days off school each year | 95% | Slight Concern |
| Equates to 20 days off school each year | 90% | Concerned |
| Equates to 30 days off school each year | 85% | Very Concerned |
