Attendance & Punctuality

attendance

Our school is committed to ensure regular attendance at school is a priority which will in turn provide pupils with the best possible chances in life to succeed and to achieve their goals. We request that parents /carers make every opportunity to ensure their children attend school whenever possible. 

Please contact the school office (01656 815730) on the first day of your child’s absence. 

The school has a first day response policy and will text or phone parent or carers if the absence is not communicated to the school. Under the 1991 Pupil Attendance Regulations, every school absence must be accounted for by a satisfactory explanation. Failure to provide a satisfactory explanation for absence will lead to that absence being classed as “unauthorised”. The school must be informed of the reason for any absence via a telephone call, leaving a message before 9.30 a.m. on the morning, or e-mailing the school office. Regular unexplained absences and ongoing absences can adversely affect attendance and learning. If there are any concerns regarding a child’s attendance our attendance team and the EWO, (Education Welfare Officer), will monitor closely, and meetings will be arranged with parents/carers to support improvement of attendance. 

punctuality

Punctuality is a legal requirement and pupils must attend on time. Persistent lateness has a detrimental effect on a child’s learning and also disrupts other pupils within the class and throughout the school.

Can parents and carers please ensure that:

All pupils arrive by 9am to start the school day promptly.

Pupils remain in school for the full day - early collections will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances.

If a pupil arrives after 9am, parents must sign the "late book" and must enter through the main doors of the school. This is monitored on a regular basis and recorded by the Attendance Clerk. Those parents who are consistently late will be contacted by the Attendance Clerk in the first instance and then the school will coordinate with the Educational Welfare Officer to decide on the appropriate action. 

holidays in term time

All requests for holidays must be completed on the school's holiday request form and completed by parents/carers. A decision on whether to authorise the request is dependent on the following contributory factors:

• Time of year

• Length of time

• Overall percentage of attendance (if a pupil's attendance is below 95% the holiday will not be authorised)

• Reasons for any absence

• Impact on the child’s learning