"

Attendance and punctuality expectations

We are working to improve daily attendance, persistent absence from school and late comers in the mornings.

A good education gives a child the best possible start in life. We must ensure that all our pupils have an equal chance to make good use of the education that the school offers by providing a positive and encouraging atmosphere. To achieve this it is important that each child attends school regularly and punctually. When a child does not attend school regularly and on time they will have difficulty keeping up with their work and will therefore underachieve.

The school recognises that parents/carers have a vital role to play in supporting and encouraging good attendance and punctuality. By accepting responsibility in partnership with the school, we can work together to ensure the children’s right to a full education, as well as enabling parents/carers to fulfil their legal responsibility.

It is very important for all children to attend school every day and to arrive on time. School starts promptly at 8.55am and they should arrive in good time to line up in the Park at 8.45am. This is essential to ensure that children benefit fully from classroom learning and that other children’s learning is not disrupted. We therefore have a strict punctuality procedure. When a child arrives after 9.00am the parent/carer is required to wait with their child until the next break in learning. A meeting with a member of the Senior Leadership Team will be arranged to help them with strategies to prevent lateness from occurring.

To help with punctuality, there is a breakfast club in the small hall from 8.00am. Please speak to a member of the administration team to find out if there are spaces.

Not only does lateness make a bad start to the day, arrival after 9.30am is considered half a day’s absence. All lateness/attendance is recorded and monitored by the school and the Attendance Welfare Advisor (AWA). The AWA visits the school every week during the term time and checks the school’s attendance registers.  If any child is absent from the school on a regular basis, is frequently late, or has a number of unauthorised absences, the AWA will meet with the parents/carers to address the concerns.

Usually, the only acceptable reason for a pupil to miss a day of school is if they are too ill to attend. If this is the case, you should ring the school office by 8.30am with a valid medical reason. If you are not sure in the morning whether your child is well enough for school, we suggest you send them in. We can always call you if they become too ill to get through the day. In some cases we will require parents/carers to provide proof of the illness.

It is not acceptable to take children out of school for birthdays, family holidays, to visit relatives abroad, family weddings or any other special events during term time and these absences will not be authorised.

In exceptional circumstances permission may be sought from the Principal and every case will be treated individually.

Medical appointments should be made out of school hours if at all possible. If your child has to see a doctor or dentist in school time they should attend school for as much of the day as possible. It is not permitted to take a whole day off school for a medical appointment unless the appointment lasts all day.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Last updated October 31, 2017