Attendance

 

One of the most important things affecting a child's progress at school is regular attendance. For a child to gain the most benefit from education, it is vital that parents work in partnership with the school to encourage good attendance and punctuality.

This term we have introduced a new reward system to promote children to attend school every day, on time. On a weekly basis, each class will carry out a raffle. Children who have attended that whole week on time will have their names put into the raffle. Each Friday afternoon a name will be drawn from the raffle and the winner will get to choose a prize from their class prize box! Remember you have to be in to win!

School Attendance

Attendance and punctuality is a life skill and in school, we strive to support our pupils to maintain high levels of attendance. The national average school attendance for primary schools is 96%; this is the MINIMUM attendance figure that we, as a school, are expected to achieve by the Government and Ofsted.

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their children have an education.

Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996 states "if a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his/her parent is guilty of an offence."

For the purposes of education law, the definition of 'parental responsibility lies with whomever the child resides with; this could be one parent, both parents or carer/s.

Absence from school

The 2013 regulation amendments make clear that a headteacher may NOT grant any leave of absence (holiday) during term time unless there are 'exceptional circumstances. The amendments give parents NO entitlement to take their child out of school for a holiday in term time.

If you need to request a leave of absence for your child/ren, please complete the holiday form from Mrs Brown in the office. Completion of the form does NOT guarantee the leave of absence will be authorised. You may be asked to attend a meeting in school to discuss your child/ren's attendance following a leave of absence submission. It is important to have read and fully understood the school's attendance policy; this can be found on the website under 'school information/policies.

Authorised absence

• Illness: if a child is unable to attend school due to illness, it is expected that parents/carers will provide an explanation on the first day the absence occurs. School should be informed by 9:00 am either by telephone, leaving a voice message or personally calling into the school office. School should be kept updated on any ongoing absence on a daily basis. If your child is suffering from a vomiting or diarrhoea illness, they should not return to school until 24 hours after their last bout.
• Special circumstance: very occasionally there is a situation that prevents a child from attending school (e.g... bereavement of a close family member). The register will be marked with an authorised absence code in this instance
• Authorised term time holiday: in exceptional circumstances, the principal may authorise a leave of absence (e.g... close family wedding, special celebration).
• Medical appointment: if your child has a medical appointment, please contact the school to advise the time of the appointment and the expected time to return to school. Please bring the appointment letter/card, so this may be noted on the pupil's record

Unauthorised absence

• Term time holiday: school expects that parents take all holidays during the 14 weeks per year that children are not in school. If you plan to take your child out of school during term time, please complete a leave of absence form and return it to school.

Punctuality/lateness

The school gates are open from 8:40 am until 9:00 am. If your child arrives at school after these times they will need to be accompanied by an adult into school via the school office.

This academic year we are having a push to improve punctuality, and we have implemented lots of new approaches such as;

• Every child in on time every day will receive a dojo
• Children who arrive late will be put on reflection
• Children who have 100% attendance that week will receive an attendance sticker in celebration assembly
• Children who have 96% and above attendance at the end of each half-term will be invited to attend the attendance treat afternoon
• Each week attendance trophies will be handed out to each class with 96% or more
• Class attendance figures will be displayed in the hall

Pupils who are consistently late are disrupting not only their own education but also that of other children in their class. Where persistent lateness gives cause for concern, further action may be taken, you may be contacted by our education welfare office and invited in for an APM meeting. Halton Borough Council can issue a fixed penalty notice if a child is late, after the registers close, for 10 sessions or more over two consecutive half-terms.

Every second counts:

• 5 minutes late each day means three whole days of education lost each year
• Attendance affects learning
• Attendance affects future outcomes
• Attendance affects well-being and a sense of belonging.

Attendance Progress Over Time

Summer 2 2023 Attendance: 88.34%

Autumn 1 2023 Attendance: 92.6%

Autumn 2 2023 Attendance: 93.7%