Attendance

Good attendance, great learning

A priority for our school is promoting consistently high attendance. Our analysis of pupil outcomes demonstrates a direct link between consistently good attendance and positive pupil progress.

Our whole process around attendance encompasses the "5 Foundations of Effective Attendance". Click on the "5 Foundations of Effective Attendance" below to understand the steps the school takes to support the 5 Foundations and the Department for Education's pledge to improve attendance in their paper: DfE: Working Together To Improve Attendance.

We work with families to understand and overcome the barriers that may be stopping children from attending school. Our Inclusion Manager, Sue Podolska monitors attendance and works across the year to ensure potential issues are quickly picked up. Part of this role is to signpost parents to other services and to support families to access what they are entitled to.

Our expectation is that children should be in school on average 95% or more over the year and we promote this further through recognition in assembly and close analysis of trends.

Punctuality and lateness

Pupils in Nursery must arrive in school by 08:30 for the AM session and 12:15 for the PM session.

Pupils in Reception to Year 6 must arrive in school at 08:45 on each school day.

The register for the first session (AM) will be taken at 08:45 and will be kept open until 08:55 in class

Gates will close by 08:55.

If your child arrives after 08:55 they should enter through the main office:

A pupil who arrives late:

before the register has closed at 09:30 will be marked as late using the L code.
after the register has closed at 09:30 will be marked as absent using a U code which is an unauthorised absence.

The admin team record all late arrivals and time of arrival.

Absences

Child is absent and parents / carers contact the school

Reason recorded
If attendance is already below 90%, evidence for absence will be requested as per the child’s attendance plan

Child is absent and parents / carers do not contact the school

Absence report run from SIMS at 09:30 for the whole school.
Attendance sweep of each class carried out to check the absence list is correct.
Family Worker makes phones calls home to parents / carers of absent pupils and record of conversation made on CPOMS (the school’s online management system). 
Phone calls will find out the reason for absence and also offer support if needed. If attendance is below 90%, medical evidence will be requested.  
If no contact is made, school text is sent. 
If the reason provided for the absence is not a reason approved by school parents / carers will be informed that the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.  
Information collated from the first day response is added to SIMS by the Attendance Admin Assistant. 
In some cases, where no contact has been made a home visit is to be carried out.

Child is absent for 3 days or more

On Day 4, text is sent to parents to check in by 12 noon
Reason is recorded
If no response to text, family worker will ring in the afternoon to check in
If no response, repeat on Day 5
If no response, home visit may be carried out

Child returns to school

If the absence has been for 3 or more consecutive days one of the following must be shown to a member of the school office.

A signed/stamped Dr’s note dated from the time of absence
An appointment card signed/stamped by the medical practice or department and dated from the time of absence
A receipt for over-the-counter medicine dated from the time of absence
Any prescribed medicine with an affixed sticker including the date from the time of absence
An official text from a medical establishment showing confirmation of a medical appointment

Leave of absence requests

Absence during term time can only be authorised by the Principal in exceptional circumstances. Before booking leave of absence, we strongly recommend arranging a meeting to discuss your plans.

Please be aware that if you take your child out of school for unauthorised Leave of Absence during term time, you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.

Attendance and punctuality incentives and rewards

Who should you contact?

The school encourages families who are experiencing difficulties with attendance to contact the school and seek support as early as possible.

For help regarding absence, parents contact: Sue Podolska (Inclusion Manager) on 0118 9375421