Attendance

Good attendance is vital for children to achieve well and be happy at school. Children who are absent regularly may fall behind or be unhappy coming to school. It is part of our school ethos that good attendance is expected and rewarded.

If your child has better than 97% attendance at school they are doing well. The national average is approximately 95%. Children with 80% attendance will miss an average of one day a week and two years of school by the time they are in Year 11. Similarly, attendance of 90% may sound good but it is still half a day a week and a year of missed education by the time they are 16. We don’t need to explain how difficult it can be for some children to make up for a year of lost time.

Overall absence data for individual schools can be found on the performance tables website (link attached below), which is run by the DfE. You can search for schools by their type, postcode, name, town or region.

Absences

Doors will open at 8.50am in the morning. all children must come straight into school and the doors will close at 9am. Any child who comes into school after 9am will be marked as late.

If your child is not coming to school, please telephone or email school (01434 673220) by 9am in the morning.

  • It is important that we know where your child is. We will phone you if we are unsure as to why your child is absent.   

Your child should not be kept away from school:
  • to visit relatives

  • for long weekends

  • for shopping trips

  • for holidays
  • for birthday treats

We will inform you if:
  • your child is not attending

  • your child is frequently late

 

Term Time Holidays

Under new guidance from the DfE, any request for a holiday during term time must be authorised by the school and we are only allowed to authorise term time holidays in exceptional circumstances. Any parent who takes their child on holiday without authorisation may receive a penalty notice and a possible fine.

Education Welfare Officer

An Education Welfare Officer who works for the Local Authority checks our registers regularly and will be in touch with you if you child fails to attend school on a regular basis. 

Government Guidance (Public Health England)
Please be aware that if your child is poorly with sickness and/or diarrhoea, they need to be kept off school for 48 hours from last episode.