Attendance

Punctuality

Good attendance includes arriving in school on time. Punctuality is important as it forms good habits for later in life. Arriving late in school may cause difficulties for your child; they may miss announcements in registration and they may find it embarrassing to walk into a class that has already started.

If your child arrives very late, they will be marked as “Unauthorised Late” – this is the same as an Unauthorised Absence!

If your child is going to be unavoidably late please contact school before 8.45am to inform us and order your child’s lunch.

The window to arrive on time at school is between 8:40 and 8:45am. Please do not arrive early as staff may not be in the classroom ready for children and this is a safeguarding risk.

Late Arrivals

All children arriving late to school after 8:45am will need to be signed in at the office.

Arrivals between 8:45 and 9:00am will be marked as late before registers close. This means you still get your morning mark however a late mark will be on your attendance records.  

Any child arriving after 9.00am will be marked as late after registers close. Which means you lose your morning mark of attendance.

Appointments

Hospital, medical & dental appointments etc. should, where possible, be made out of school times. If this is not possible we require you to advise the office of this appointment by phoning or emailing to be able to authorise the absence.

Late collections

If you are running late to collect your child from school, please let us know as soon as possible and when it is safe for you to do so. We understand life is sometimes unpredictable so don’t worry. Your child will be taken to the School Office and supervised until you arrive.

How to report your child’s absence

If your child is going to be absent from school you must inform school no later than 9.00am on the first day of absence. We have several ways available for you to report your child’s absence:

If your child is absent and we have not been informed why, Mrs Welford or Miss Rylands will carry out a telephone check in. If your child is absent for three days or more, a member of staff will carry out a home visit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as an authorised absence?

  • Authorised absence may include illness or days of religious observance.

Authorised absences do NOT include

  • minding the house
  • looking after siblings or parents
  • going shopping
  • celebrating a birthday
  • oversleeping
  • arriving late for school
  • going on a day trip without the school’s permission

My child attends school most of the time, what difference does the odd day or two here or there make?

  • By law, children of compulsory school age registered at a school must attend daily
  • County Councils can issue fines to parents & carers whose children do not attend regularly.
  • Days missed add up. There are only 190 school days a year. Missing just 8 of these days mean a child will not achieve the minimum school target of 96% by the end of the year.

We are only late by 5-10 minutes every morning, why does school worry about this when the other children are still only just taking their coats off?

  • Parents & Carers have a responsibility to ensure their children are in school on time everyday ready to learn.
  • Poor punctuality can lead to the morning session being marked as an unauthorised absence which could result in a fine being issued by the County Council.
  • The dinner register is taken promptly at the start of the day.
  • First thing in the morning is a vital time for input from the teacher about the day.

My child is meeting all their targets in school so why does it matter if I take them out of school for a holiday?

  • Holidays in term time are not a parental right and there are 13 weeks of the year when school is closed that holidays could be taken.
  • Parents who remove their children from school during term time for unauthorised absences may be issued with a fine from the County Council
  • Absences from school are more than just missing school work. Your child might not only miss out on important input from their teacher, but their friendship circles, confidence & behaviour may all be impacted by their absence.
  • A week or two away from school may not seem that long to you but to the children it can seem a long time to be away from their friends and school family. It can be difficult to settle back in after a holiday.

 for more information please click this link to the government guidance documents Working together to improve school attendance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)