Attendance

Every day counts

Here at Avonwood Primary School we have the highest expectations across all areas of school life including attendance. We value positive relationships between both staff and pupils and want all pupils to feel they belong here and are valued. We work with our pupils to ensure that they have the highest possible attendance at school. We believe that this is the best way for them to succeed and to get the most out of all we have to offer.

There is a clear link between academic outcomes and school attendance. We want all pupils to achieve excellent outcomes to give themselves the very best chance in life.

Miss school, miss out 

There are 175 non-school days per year for holidays, shopping and appointments. There is no need, except in extreme circumstances to miss a day’s education. If you miss one session in a week (remember, there are two sessions per day) your attendance is 90%. This means you miss 19 days of education in a year and risk not being ready for the next stage of education.

It is vital we work together to teach our pupils the value of attending school each and every day. However, we do appreciate that at times, pupils may not be able to attend school. We ask our parents and carers to follow the processes below. They support our safeguarding procedures.

Should you have a concern about your child’s attendance, then we ask that you contact us to discuss this. We believe in strong partnerships across all parts of school life. This includes attending school.

It is also important to us that pupils arrive to school on time, and they must be at school by 9.00am for EYFS and Key stage 1 and 8.50am for Key Stage 2.

Top tips to help prevent absence 

Parents and carers are legally responsible for making sure their children attend school regularly – unless they are home educated – and schools can offer help and support to any families who are struggling with attendance for any reason. Please speak to us if you need help. 

• Talk to your child about how important it is to attend school 
• Inspire them to think about what they would like to be when they grow up, and how school can help with that 
• Ask regularly about how school is going 
• Ensure they have a good sleep routine, eat healthily and exercise regularly
• Help them to get everything they need ready for school the night before
• Use the NHS guidance on illness -  (new link)
• Book all holidays outside of term time
• Book medical and dental appointments outside school hours if possible – and if not possible, ensure your child attends school before and after the appointment
• Provide a good environment for home learning at home and ensure they have time set aside for homework
• Find out if your child wants to avoid school for a reason that they’re frightened to tell you about – perhaps they’re having friendship issues
• Work with us to address any attendance issues 

Attendance through illness and unforeseen circumstances

Parents must contact the school when their child is absent to explain that absence by 8.30 am stating the reason for their child’s absence. This can be done by a telephone call to the school office on 01202 727910 with the following details:

• full name of pupil;
• pupil’s class;
• Full name of person reporting absence and relation to child;
• Reason for absence.

Parents / guardians must do this on each and every day of absence.

If you have to leave a voice message on the answer machine, do expect to receive a call back from the school to discuss your child’s absence and to see if we can support in any way. If pupils suffer any form of injury, then we ask that you contact the school to make us aware. This is so we can do a risk assessment with you. It will identify impacts of the injury and the support your child may need.

Where a reason for the absence is not received by 9.30 am on the day of the absence, the school will begin contacting parents on the same day to understand the reason for absence. If contact cannot be made, then the school may decide to make a safe and welfare check to the home address.

See section 7.3 of the full policy for further information.

Attending an appointment

Please schedule dental and non-urgent medical appointments outside of school hours. We know this might be tough for hospital visits. If rescheduling fails, you must bring a medical letter or appointment card to the front office as we need it for our records. Pupils must be picked up and returned to school if their appointment ends during the school day.

For more details, check section 6.2 of the full policy.

Known absence

Granting a leave of absence will only be made in exceptional circumstances, if you child needs to miss school for exceptional reasons then parents/carers should speak to the headteacher and complete the leave of absence form below. Where possible, this should be made at least four weeks before the required date.

Absence Request | Parents | Avonwood Primary School  (add link)

The form should be completed and emailed back to office@avonwoodprimaryschool.org.uk. If such a request is made, the school expects it to be short. But even then, we still may not be able to approve it.

If the Headteacher does not authorise it, then any absence is 'unauthorised' and can incur a penalty now.  We must follow legal rules. Therefore, we cannot approve holiday requests during term time. Additionally, we may issue penalty notices.

For more details,  check section 6.1 of the full policy.

Support

We take absence very seriously. We are committed to supporting any child who is finding it difficult to attend school regularly. We will target support for any pupil whose attendance falls below 95%. Further information on support can be found in the full policy.

Punctuality

The school day starts at 8.40am for Key Stage 2 and 8.50am for EYFS and Key Stage 1 and we expect your child to be in school at that time. Registers close at 9.00am and arrival after that time will mean the child is late. Lateness means they miss out on important routines which help get their day off to a positive start. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons during the day for others. The class teacher will need to interrupt the learning and deal with the late arrival which has a significant impact on the whole class, their learning, and the lesson. Teachers have a huge amount of education to deliver in a school year leaving very little time in the day to catch up.

Lateness to school  

For pupils that arrive after 9.00am they are deemed as being late. Pupils who arrive after this time must enter the School via the Main Office. They must then be signed in using the lateness book located in Reception.

For pupils that arrive after 9.30 am, this is an unauthorised absence mark, and it will affect your child’s attendance. A member of the safeguarding team monitors attendance daily and regular reports are run to check on lateness. If your child is late more than three times in a half term period, you will receive a ‘spotlight on lateness’ letter to inform you of this lateness. If your child’s punctuality does not improve, then a meeting with the attendance officer may be necessary.

Parents may face prosecution if their child is often late after the register has closed. We will watch for this and offer support. If the problem persists, we may act.

When the school day ends the teachers will keep the children with them until 3.20 pm. After this time, children are taken to the Main Office where parents will be called, and their child’s name will be entered in to the ‘Late Collection Book.’ If a child is repeatedly picked up late, a phone call will take place from a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

We encourage all parents to read and review Our Attendance Policy and Procedures. This ensures a clear understanding on how we handle attendance. If getting your child to school is hard please contact us immediately, either the pastoral lead Mrs Sephton or the attendance officer Mrs Williams.