Attendance 

​“Take even more care of the education of young people entrusted to you than if they were the children of a king.”

- Med 180.3 – feast of St Hilarion

 

Attendance Procedure

​​​Our school aim is to ensure that all children are able to achieve their very best by taking full advantage of the education opportunities that are available to them. We hope to do this by ensuring high levels of attendance and punctuality and creating an ethos in which good attendance is valued by both school and parents/carers. When children attend school regularly they are more likely to succeed as well as learning social skills, giving them the opportunity to engage positively with their peers and building strong friendships.

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​​​The Law

The law in the UK entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have.

Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

 

Attendance Monitoring

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We strive to build positive relationships with our parent/s and carers and know that strong partnerships are the most effective ways to help ensure good attendance. For the majority of our children and families’ attendance isn't an issue. To ensure that pupils’ attendance meets the expected standard, school implements the following strategies:

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• Attendance is discussed by classroom staff and pupils on a regular basis.  Any attendance/punctuality trends noticed by classroom teachers are passed on immediately to SLT.  In addition, our school attendance leads (Mrs Tyler and Mrs Magragh) review and monitor pupil’s attendance on weekly basis.

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• School will inform all parents/carers of their child(s) attendance by letter each half term (From November onwards).

 

• When a pupil’s attendance becomes a concern parents/carers are informed via letter. This is typically when a child’s attendance falls to 95% 

 

• School will arrange a meeting with parents/carers to discuss attendance issues once their child’s attendance falls to 94% or below.

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• Any child whose attendance is below 92% or has a downward trend will be monitored more closely. Individual circumstances will be considered. 

 

• School will monitor attendance and where necessary refer to and work with parents/carers to tackle persistent absence.

 

• Contact is made with parents on the first day of absence for any pupil where absence has not been reported. (School will use all of the contact numbers for pupils).

 

• If contact cannot be made to ascertain why the pupil is not in school, then a Safe and Well home visit will be considered especially if there are already safeguarding concerns.

 

Attendance reviews will take place every half term. Any actions taken to address poor attendance will be recorded on the child’s chronology and school will retain records and analysis (using a standard attendance review format) in a central attendance file.

 

Attendance Meetings

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The purpose of an attendance meeting is to look at ways school and families can work together to improve a child’s attendance. ​Parents/Carers will be required to attend a meeting with school leaders and the school attendance lead if their child's attendance falls below 92%. During the meeting the attendance lead and parents/carers will form a plan of actions to help improve attendance within a four-week time frame. This is known as an 'Attendance Contract'. It is signed by both parties and revisited the following half term.

 

If in the unlikely event that attendance fails to improve following the implementation of the plan the school may need to make a referral to Local Authority. This may result in a Fixed Penalty Notice. Failure to  pay may lead to a court summons or criminal record which can affect a person’s ability to secure credit, loans, or mortgages.

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​Fixed Penalty Notice (10 in 10)

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From September, the government has introduced 10 in 10. School now make a referral to the Local Authority to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. The threshold can be met with any combination of unauthorised absence. For example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late.

The period of 10 weeks can also span “different terms or school years”.

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​Attendance Rewards

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All children engage in Celebration Assembly each week which reinforces the school attendance target of 96% and celebrates class attendance. The focus here is to promote a sense of teamwork and responsibility and the highest class attendance receives an extra break on a Friday.

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Individual incentives and rewards are also used to promote and celebrate good attendance. These include:

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• a weekly entrance to a lucky dip for all children who achieve 96% or above - names are drawn from a hat;

• buns for a class if they achieve 100% for a week.

• termly certificates for each child whose attendance is 96% and above;

• termly prize for the class with the highest attendance; 

• a special reward of event for children who have achieved 96% or above for the year.

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