Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is an assumption so widely understood that it is insufficiently stated – pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school.’
DfE Advice on school attendance (November 2016)
We have a whole school target of 98% attendance this academic year. Supporting your child to be in school every day that they possibly can is crucial to their education and wellbeing.
Learning is a gradual, progressive process
- Learning is the formation and development of neural pathways in the brain.
- If a new neural pathway isn't used within 24 hours, it is reabsorbed into the body and the skill has to be learnt again.
- If there are gaps in attendance, there will be gaps in learning as vital connections between pathways will be missed.
- Your child's learning journey is carefully planned so that these connections can be made every day for 190 days a year.
What impact does lateness have?
5 minutes late a day equates to 3 days out of 190 lost each academic year.
10 minutes late is 6.5 days lost.
15 minutes late is 10 days of education lost.
Being late can lead to anxiety and feeling unsettled.
Arriving after registration may also result in an unauthorised absence.
How can you help your child achieve good attendance?
Ensure that every day that your child is well enough, they come to school. If you’re unsure, please send them to school. We will take good care of your child and contact you immediately if they seem unwell.
Ensure that holidays are taken in designated school holiday times, outside of term time. Full details of our term dates for this academic year and next are published on the website to support you with this. Term-time holidays cannot be authorised by school.
Making sure that you arrive at school before 8.50am. This means that your child isn’t late, they don’t feel anxious or unsettled and that they have optimum learning time.
Absence Procedure
If a pupil cannot attend school for an unplanned reason, parents/carers are asked to contact the school on the first day of absence by 9:00am.
Please contact us by telephone: 01327 350332
An answer phone facility is available between 8am -4pm.
Pupils absent from school are considered as unauthorised until a satisfactory reason has been given by parents and accepted by the school.
Procedure for Requesting Leave of Absence:
When making medical/dental appointments, every effort must be made to ensure appointments are outside school hours but we acknowledge that this is not always possible. Notification to the school of these appointments should be accompanied by an appointment card or other written confirmation.
When a parent requests an absence for their child, they complete a ‘Leave of Absence’ form detailing the reasons for the requested absence. This form is reviewed by the Headteacher to decide if the absence is authorised or unauthorised (using the criteria in the Attendance Policy). A meeting with the parents may be requested if clarification or discussion is required.
Please see the ‘Leave of Absence’ form below: