Attendance Guidance for Parents

The following guidance should be read alongside the schools agreed attendance policy which is available as a hard copy from the school office and on the school website at www.chuckeryprimary.com/behaviour-and-attendance-policies

Punctuality – Show your child you think school is important!

Arriving late gives your child an unsettled start to their school day.

Children thrive on routine, and do not like to stand out from their friends. Having to join the class when everybody else is settled and ready to learn can embarrass and worry many children. Just five minutes late will mean they may have missed the opportunity to share important news or messages with their teacher, who is trying to introduce the learning for the day. A regular five minutes a day adds up to a whole three days a year! Ten minutes late and the most important learning for the day is often lost as the child will be arriving after tasks have been introduced, and are starting the day at a disadvantage.

School starts at 8.55am but we open our doors at 8.45am to allow the children to settle into their classrooms and take part in starter activities. Between 8.45am and 8:55am children may use the nearest entrance to their classroom. On each of these entrances, a member of staff is on duty to see the children into school and take any messages from parents. T.

Children who arrive after 8:55am will have to enter school via the main reception and report to a member of the school office team. All children arriving at school after the 8:55am will be registered as late.

Attendance – Every day counts! Missing school is missing out!

Irregular attendance can seriously disrupt continuity of learning, as lessons in school are designed to build on each other. Although staff work hard to try and make sure that any missing steps are re-taught, it can sometimes not be obvious for some time that a ‘missing link’ is holding back learning. In this way absence can undermine educational progress and often leads to underachievement and low attainment. Another serious consequence of low attendance is that it impedes a child’s ability to develop friendships within school. Making friends and building lasting relationships are vital in helping children to feel happy and confident in school. In this way, regular and punctual attendance supports children to reach their full potential.

We understand that our young children are naturally going to be affected by first-time illnesses such as chicken pox. In addition, young children can be particularly susceptible to bugs and viruses, and easily pass germs around their friends! It would be impossible to expect that children will not miss sessions through illness, as this cannot be avoided.  For this reason it is essential that children are only kept away from school if they are really unfit to attend. Minor illnesses, coughs, colds and sore throats can often be treated effectively with child dose painkillers and do not warrant time away from school.

The table below shows how many lessons children will miss if they are away from school.

The Governors at Chuckery expect the attendance of all children between Reception and Year 6 to be at least 95%. They expect the attendance of children in our Nursery to be at least 90%. Parents can expect letters and visits form school staff or the local authority Education Welfare Service if their child’s attendance is below expectations. 

If your child is too ill to come to school, we ask that you ring the school office on their first day of absence to let us know what is wrong. It is important that you do this so that we know why your child is absent. Just as it is a parent’s responsibility to make sure their child is in school, it is also their responsibility to let the school know why they are absent.

In order to give parents a benchmark to their child’s attendance in relation to other children they can use the following criteria:

Current attendance details for your child will be discussed with you at each parent consultation meeting. This will enable you to keep track of how your child is doing

Leave of absence during term-time

Since September 2013, schools can only consider a leave of absence during term time in “exceptional circumstances”.

These may include:

• the death of a close relative;

• a serious illness of a family member (Medical evidence will be required)

• significant family events

The decision is will be made by the Head teacher who will take the following information into account:

• the reasons for the request and the evidence that a leave of absence in term time is necessary;

• the proximity to a school holiday;

• the attendance of the child concerned

Family holidays cannot be considered as special circumstances and will not be authorised under any circumstances. The children are at school 190 days a year leaving parents a further 175 days a year in which to have days out together and to have holidays.

If you find your family circumstances necessitate a request for a leave of absence during term-time, then parents should complete a leave of absence request form (available from the school office). We ask that parents give us sufficient details about the absence and why it necessary for the child or children to miss school.

If the absence is not authorised but the leave is taken, or if parents take their children out of school without requesting a leave of absence, the case will be referred to the Education Welfare Service who may issue a Penalty Notice of £60 per parent per child. (This increases to £120 if it is not paid within 28 days of being issued)

Top Tips for Improving Attendance

• Show your child you think school is important by sending them every day on time.

• If your child tells you they are ill don’t just let them have the day off. In the case of headaches, tummy aches and sore throats we advise they have a dose of a child friendly pain killer then bring them into school. We can always contact you to take them home if they continue to show symptoms of illness.

• Make sure your child is prepared for school, going to without PE kit or completed Home Learning activities can be a major worry for some children.

• Tired children often don’t arrive on time and find it difficult to learn in school. Set strict bedtime routines on school nights and make sure you stick to them. (This may be hard at first and may take time to implement but, will be well worth it in the end!)

• Set a routine for each morning, make sure the alarm goes off at the same time every day and everyone gets up when it goes off.

• Make sure everyone is up in time to have breakfast before they leave the house. Hungry children cannot perform well in school.

• Organise holidays and days out at weekends or in the school holidays. Holidays in the summer are more expensive and not everyone can have time off in July and August, but there are still the two week holidays at Christmas and Easter and the half term holidays in February, May and October.

Remember – if your child is absent for just one day a week, over the course of their school career they will miss two years of schooling!!!

Every day counts! Missing school is missing out!