Attendance
From September 2022, the DFE: Working Together to Improve Attendance paper will replace all previous guidance on school attendance except for statutory guidance for parental responsibility measures. There is a national drive to increase pupil attendance in schools. There is a clear correlation between attendance and attainment and with a progressive National Curriculum, children with poor attendance are significantly disadvantaged to make good progress.
The guidance can be viewed on this link –
Generally, attendance is good and we thank families for supporting regular attendance of pupils - as this offers pupils the best chance of making good progress. With regard to these measures, I am asking for your support in improving whole school attendance and punctuality. During the COVID pandemic it was necessary for pupils and families to isolate if they or a close contact tested positive. It is essential that we build back up on our previous positive attendance rates.
The new guidance sets out the expectations of parents to support their child's attendance at school:
- Ensure their child attends every day the school is open.
- Notify the school as soon as possible when their child has to be unexpectedly absent (e.g. sickness)
- Only request a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and do so 2 weeks in advance.
- Holidays cannot be authorised.
- Book any medical appointments around the school day where possible, especially if your child is at risk of becoming persistently absent (moving towards 90% attendance).
- Work with the school and local authority to help them understand their child's barriers to attendance.
- Proactively engage with the support offered to prevent the need for more formal support If your child becomes persistently absent (attendance of 90% or below).
Our school policy for attendance can be found below.
The impact upon children’s education through lost learning is huge. At a time when so much education has been disrupted it is vital that we make every school minute count. I urge you to ensure that your child is in school and on time every day to prevent anyone falling behind with their learning.
Persistent absence
Government departments track school attendance figures. It is considered that attendance of 90% or below is persistent absence which will be closely monitored by the school. Failing to improve on this 90% can lead to prosecution, which our schools want to help families avoid.
We have a whole school attendance target which is 96%.
There are things you can do to improve your child’s attendance and avoid falling into the persistent absence category:
- If your child is unwell and you are unsure whether to send them to school, contact the office to seek advice.
- Avoid taking any holidays during term times.
- Keep up to date with what % attendance your child has so that you know if they are at risk of persistent absence (office staff will provide this for you).
- Speak to school staff with any concerns.
- Talk to your child about the importance of them being in school and let them know how important you feel it is.
The table below highlights the importance of good school attendance:
Intervention to support good attendance
Arriving to school late
Punctuality is also highly important. Pupils who arrive late to school are not only losing learning but also disrupting the learning of others as they arrive late for lessons. Pupils do not like being late into school and we witness how upsetting it can be for them. If a child is late this could go towards an unauthorised mark and importantly late children can miss key inputs and feel unsettled, which will affect their learning. Should you ever have any concerns or need support do not hesitate to ask. We want to prevent this.
We want to help families get their child to school on time. Here are some things you can try:
- Have everything you/your child needs for school prepared the night before
- Ensure that your child goes to bed at a reasonable time for their age so they are not too tired to get up in the morning
- Ensure your child has a good night’s sleep by minimising their use of devices at bed time
- Have a consistent bedtime routine for your child
- Set an alarm to allow plenty of time for your morning routine in getting to school on time
Collection of pupils at the end of the school day
We appreciate that the majority of families arrive on time for collection. Thank you for this. It is the responsibility of parents to collect their child(ren) on time at the end of each school day – either at 3.10pm or at a prearranged time (in the case of clubs). Please be mindful that staff have to carry out their professional duties, assess pupil’s learning, plan for the next day and also attend training and meetings. We will keep a record of late collections.
Holidays/leave in term time
There has been an increase in parents asking for days off for holidays, visiting family etc. We are unable to authorise these days and we ask that you arrange holidays and visits to family during the school holidays. Headteachers can authorise leave for exceptional circumstances but this is rarely for holiday. Lincolnshire County Council have resumed issuing fines for unauthorised absences and there are strict rules on what can be authorised by the Headteacher. We are not allowed to authorise holidays during term time. Parents who take their children out of school for a holiday are now likely to incur a fixed penalty notice fine from the Local Authority. This is currently set at £60 per child per parent per week.
Attendance Policy
Illness
Naturally, we do not expect a child to be in school if they are ill. If a child feels ill, they should stay off school until they are well enough to return. We will monitor the health of pupils in school and you will be contacted to collect them if they are unwell. Whether COVID related or not, ill children should not be in school. There is no requirement to test for Covid19. Should a child receive a POSITIVE COVID test, they should isolate for 3 days, but then may return if they feel better and do not have a temperature.
Guidance for infection control can be found on this link:
Supporting the wellbeing of pupils
Finally, if your child ever has worries about being in school, please let us know so we can work with you. We have the capacity through pastoral sessions to support pupils with worries and we are always happy to offer advice.