Good attendance is essential for good learning. It also creates a positive state of mind, resilience and high expectation all of which are essential life skills for building success.

We therefore strongly discourage allowing your child to be absent in term time although we do recognise special circumstances may very occasionally occur. Any family that feels exceptional circumstances exist will need to fill in the relevant application form (available from the school office) as soon as possible and the application will be considered by the Principal. Even when special circumstances exist there is no guarantee that such a request will be granted particularly if it is for September or May. These months are particularly important ones in school as in September a child is settling into his/her new class and establishing work patterns for the year. May is the time when important assessments take place.

Naturally if a child is unwell we understand that he/she will not attend school, but if a child is simply under the weather we encourage you to send him/ her to school. A robust attitude towards good attendance not only increases learning time but more importantly establishes good habits and resilience which are essential skills for long term success.

Why is attendance important?

Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and sets them up with good habits from an early age through to adult and the working world.

It also gives your child the opportunity to:

  • Make friends and feel included
  • Boost confidence, self-esteem and social skills
  • Develop their skills and learn new things
  • Achieve their full potential

Small changes make a big difference

Parents are advised to:

  • Show your child that you think school is important
  • Not keep your child off school if they are worried or have a problem, you should come and talk to the class teacher, parent support advisors or a member of the senior leadership team.
  • Praise your child’s achievements

What is good attendance?

All pupils are expected to reach levels of at least 95% attendance to be able to access and achieve their full potential at school.

Here are Mary and Jo who have  90% attendance.2

1

Is that good?

What does that mean?

Mary and Jo think this is good and so do their parents but are they right?

90% attendance =

  • 1/2 day missed each week!
  • 20 days missed in each school year!
  • 1 full month of school missed!

So 90% is not good.

97% or higher Excellent
95% – 97% Good
91% 95% Concern
90% or below Serious concern

What can I do to improve my child’s attendance?

  • Only keep your child at home for genuine illness.
  • Avoid taking holidays in term time.

Parents and carers have a responsibility to make sure that children attend school regularly, on time and receive a full time education.

What do I need to do if my child is absent?

  • Please phone the school on the first day of your child’s absence informing them of the reason for absence.
  • Please write a letter to the school explaining the absence on your child’s return to school.

What will the Academy do?

If the Academy does not hear from by 10 am on the first day of your child’s absence, we will telephone you and continue to call for two days until contact is made. If we are unable to contact you, our FLO will visit on the third day to check that all is well.

Late arrival at school

Punctuality is vital for your child’s academic development as well as embedding lifelong habits of good practice. When your child arrives late at school, he/she will miss key information and introduction to that day’s learning.

Your child may also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late.

School begins at 8.45am

Please help your child to be punctual.

Minutes late per day during the school year Equals days of teaching lost in a year
5 minutes 3.4 days
10 minutes 6.9 days
15 minutes 10.3 days
20 minutes 13.8 days
30 minutes 20.7 days

If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance please contact either the class teacher, parent support advisors or attendance officer.

Please see our Attendance policy, which can be found in the policy section.