Thank you all for your continued support in getting your children to school every day and on time. 

There has been a lot of discussion in the news lately regarding children’s school attendance and how it needs to improve. As we all know, we have had a difficult few years due to the pandemic. However, now we are getting back to normal, non-attendance and leave of absence taken in term time will be monitored closely. 

It is important that your child arrives in school on time (8.30am from September 2022) so that they are able to gain the most from their daily education. Disruption is caused when any child arrives late and this disruption is not limited only to your child but also to other children in the class. Any child who arrives after the register has been taken but before it closes, will be marked as Late (L code). Any child who arrives after the close of register (9am from Sept 2022) will be marked as Late after Registration (U Code) which equates to an absence depending on individual circumstances.

Please be reminded, we ask that children attend school every day but we understand that children do have genuine illnesses. Each child’s attendance is looked at on an individual basis. Mrs Silverwood and Mrs Fearnley, our Attendance Leads, will be working closely with parents to support with any issues arising that impacts their child attending school. Failure to inform school when your child is absent could potentially result in a safeguarding issue.

If your child’s attendance raises concerns, the following steps will be implemented:

• You will be informed of this by a letter home.

• If attendance continues to fall another letter will go home and depending on individual circumstances, you may be advised that supporting evidence will be required to authorise any future absence. 

• Should attendance continue to fall this may result in a referral to the Education Welfare Service, again, depending on individual circumstances. 

School leaders are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term time for a family holiday. Parents wishing to take their children out of school during term time will need to complete a Leave of Absence form which you can obtain from the school office. All holidays will be classed as unauthorised and any greater than 5 days (10 school sessions) will be submitted to the local authority for a fixed penalty notice. However, we will consider requests for “exceptional circumstances” on a case by case basis and will respond to you in writing with our decision. Our leave of absence forms are available at the school office and we must have 4 weeks to consider and respond to your request unless there is an emergency. If this occurs, please contact us to discuss first.

Ways to encourage attendance – 

• Praise and reward good attendance.

• Talk regularly with your child about school and how they feel about it. They are more likely to attend if they feel supported.

• Only grant days at home for genuine illness.

• Don’t take holidays during school time.

• Medical/dental appointments to be made out of school time where possible. If your child needs to attend an appointment during school time you must be telling us in advance and providing us with appointment card/text message.

• If you have any concerns, please phone school.

We hope you will support us in our drive to continue to improve attendance at Shafton Primary Academy and thank you in advance for your support. Please remember our door is always open.