Attendance
Attendance
Our attendance target for all pupils is 96% and we have regular incentives in school to promote good attendance.
In the event of a pupil’s absence from school, parents or carers are requested to telephone the school prior to 9:00am on each day of the pupil’s absence.
If no reason for absence is received, in line with our attendance policy and safeguarding procedures, the attendance officer will phone parents and a home visit may be made, if contact is unsuccessful.
If you need support with any attendance issues, our attendance officer, Miss Parkinson, and our Lead Professional for Family/Pupil Emotional Support, Safeguarding and Behaviour, Mrs Anscombe are always available to talk to.
Registration
Every school, by law, has to register pupils twice a day, in the morning and again in the afternoon.
The morning attendance register will open at 08:40am and will close at 09:15am. The afternoon attendance register will open at 12:55pm and close at 13:30pm
Reporting Absences
What if my child is off?
We expect your child to attend school every day, however, if your child is ill and unable to attend, please inform the school office before 9am. As a school we have a duty of care and therefore if we do not hear from you we will contact you via a phone call or carry out a home visit.
School telephone number: 01482 374490
The school office is open from 08:00–16:00 Monday - Thursday and 08:00-15:30 on Friday
Messages can be left on the answerphone out of these hours.
- If your child has a medical appointment, please bring your appointment card/ letter to the office where we can authorise the absence.
- Remember – every day spent in school helps your child to make progress.
- Children whose attendance falls below 90% will be classed as persistent absentees and be invited in to meet with a member of the attendance team to discuss what support can be offered to improve attendance.
Important Changes to Fixed Penalty Notice Fines
Please find details of the changes regarding fixed penalty notice fines effective from August 2024.
HCAT Attendance Changes - August 2024
Further information:
Holidays and illness information
Some parents have expressed that they would like work for when their child/ren are absent from school for various reasons.
In these instances, we would like your child/ren to read, practise their spellings (these can be found in their reading record) and practise their times tables on Times Table Rock Stars.
Children can also create a fact file or a poster detailing what they have learnt during their topic lessons linked to their history, geography, art or DT. Information on these topics can be found on our website under the curriculum tab.
Holidays in term time
Please consider the following:
While you are away for 1 week your child will miss approximately:
- 5 hours of maths
- 5 hours of literacy
- 10 hours of science, religious education, music, art, physical education, geography, history, design & technology and information technology
If your child has a holiday of 2 weeks during term time and has a 1 week period of sickness in one school year they will miss:
- 15 hours of literacy
- 15 hours of maths
- 30 hours of learning other subjects
If this pattern were to be repeated throughout your child’s school life they would miss 36 weeks of their education!
One School Year = 39 school weeks!
Ask yourself – Can my child keep up with other children if they miss out on 60 hours of education a year?
Thinking of taking a holiday in term time? Please think again!
Please be aware that all holidays during term time are unauthorised unless ‘exceptional circumstances’ apply, as per the leave of absence form.
A leave of absence form must be completed for all requests. Any term time request of 5 days, equal to 10 school sessions or more, could be subject to a fine per parent per child, from the Local Authority. Please see below for further information.
