Attendance

At Langley Park Primary Academy, excellent attendance and punctuality is our aim for each and every pupil. Learning opportunities are maximised when good attendance is achieved and you, as parents and carers, play a vital role in promoting a good attitude towards attendance and punctuality. We therefore ask for your support in ensuring that your child is present at every opportunity and arrives at school on time. There is a high correlation between good attendance and successful academic achievement; regular and punctual school attendance helps a child to develop responsibility, self-discipline and fosters the skills necessary for the future.

Attendance Rewards and Certificates

The attendance of all pupils at Langley Park Primary Academy is closely monitored by senior staff. To this end, in September we introduced a 95ToThrive attendance scheme whereby we will specifically monitor the attendance of any pupil whose attendance falls below 95%. As a school, we expect all children to achieve a minimum of 96% attendance during any academic year and our 95ToThrive scheme helps us to identify early on those that may be finding it difficult to achieve this and offer support and helpful strategies to get attendance back up to at least 96% attendance. We have a whole school attendance target of a minimum of 97%.

Also in September, we re-introduced attendance certificates to reward good and/or improved attendance. Rewards are a popular initiative used by a majority of schools as an incentive to improve attendance and punctuality, however it is important to point out that it is not just those achieving 100% attendance that are rewarded but also those that have attendance above our whole school attendance target (97%) as well as those whose attendance has improved greatly over a period of time. As a result of this inclusive approach to attendance, it is possible for each and every pupil to receive an attendance award. More information about specific certificates can be found below.

It is important for parents and carers to understand authorised and unauthorised absences, the limited flexibility that individual schools and academies have in applying these, and the effect they can have on everyday attendance. It may therefore be of use to explain the following:

  • Attendance codes are issued by the Local Authority and their application is part of a statutory process that all schools are duty bound to follow.

  • Principals/headteachers have very little, if any, input in what code is used in any given circumstance regarding attendance and/or punctuality.

  • An absence from school is exactly that - an absence. We are unable to record this in any other way, whatever the reason. There are a number of attendance codes that reflect a child's absence, some are authorised and some unauthorised, and these are explained below. Schools and school staff are unable to decide which code is appropriate, we must follow guidance issued by the Local Authority at all times.

Today we have issued the following certificates:

  • 67 x '100%' certificates

  • 92 x 'Excellent Attendance' certificates

These were handed out in class today unobtrusively and, if your child received one of these certificates, they should feel very proud of their achievement.


We wholeheartedly recognise and understand that, for a small number of pupils, regular attendance may pose a challenge perhaps as a result of an underlying health condition or other similar barrier to attending school every single day. We are committed to working in partnership with parents and carers so that all children achieve the very best attendance possible for them, whatever this may be. New for this term are our 'Improved Attendance' certificate. Regardless of your child's attendance percentage at any point throughout the academic year, if this improves by a certain percentage over the course of one term, they will be awarded a certificate in recognition and celebration of this.

Today we have therefore also issued:

  • 34 x 'Improved Attendance' certificates

These certificates are a great way to encourage pupils to continue to keep trying to improve their attendance, whatever their attendance percentage.


Well done to all children who received any of the above attendance certificates.

School starts promptly at 8.55am. Please ensure that your child arrives to school on time and is in class and ready to learn.

If your child is absent, you have a duty to inform the school office on 01622 250880 by 9.15am each and every day that they are absent. If the school does not hear from you, office staff will attempt to contact you for a reason for absence.

Punctuality Pointers

  • Remember that school starts at 8.40am for EYFS and KS1, and 8.45am for KS2. All children must be in class by 8.55am otherwise they are marked late. In school but not in class does not count, therefore your child should arrive in plenty of time in order that they don't miss the start of the academy day.

  • Get your child their own alarm clock and set it for 5 minutes fast!

  • Don't allow your child to watch TV or play computer games before everybody is ready, if at all.

  • Get everything ready the night before and encourage your child to help with this and understand its purpose. Have uniform, PE uniform and packed lunches all ready to go in the morning.

Please be aware that if your child is absent from school and no reason can be established for their absence then this will be recorded as unauthorised, until such a time that your child returns to school. Please provide absence information to school office staff and not to class teachers, as they do not have time to share this with office staff before the school day begins.

If you call the school office and staff are unable to answer the phone at the time of your call then you should leave a message providing your child's full name, their class and the reason for their absence.

Too Sick for School?

What can YOU do to help minimise your child's absence as a result of illness?

Teach your child good hygiene. Regular handwashing and using a tissue will help to prevent them picking up (as well as passing on) any bugs that lead to absence due to illness.

Children get colds and headaches often but don't always need to miss a full day of school. Try getting them to eat something, drink plenty of water and, if required, bring your child's GP-prescribed medication to the academy office so that this can be administered in school to prevent this being a reason for your child to stay at home. If medicine is not GP-prescribed, you can simply pop up to administer this at the required time.

If your child feels better as the day progresses, as long as they have not been sick or had diarrhoea within the last 48 hours, bring them into school even if they have missed the morning session. Just give the academy office a quick call to let us know to expect you. It's much better to miss only one session than a whole day of school.

If you are waiting to get a GP appointment and your child is well enough to attend in the meantime, please send your child into school. You can always pop in to collect them again should you manage to get an appointment for them.

All non-urgent medical appointments should be made for outside of school hours. If you can only make an appointment during the school day, make it for 2.00pm onwards and bring your child into school first.

Current academy attendance, split by class: