Attendance
Good attendance at school is vital in order that children have the best possible chance to succeed. We work with parents to secure excellent outcomes for the attendance of children. Please see below the policies and expectations regarding attendance and punctuality.
Term Time Leave of Absence
We are always concerned about the amount of school time pupils miss as a result of family holidays. There is no entitlement to time off in term time. Leave of absence is only allowed at the discretion of the headteacher in exceptional circumstances using the following guidelines:
- The Headteacher will not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances and the absence will still impact on the overall percentage attendance.
- If the school does not agree to grant leave of absence, the absence will be unauthorised.
If you are considering a term time holiday, you must ask at the office for a leave of absence form, fill it in and return it to school. The request will be considered by the Headteacher in line with school policy.
The more time a child misses school, the more difficult it is for them to catch up with their work. Valuable learning time is lost. A good understanding of the work can only take place when the pupil is in the classroom every day.
Attendance is something that we are required to monitor closely and report on in school. Post Covid many schools, including ourselves have seen a dip in overall attendance and this is something that we are being encouraged to address. We have a new Attendance Officer at the Local Authority who is encouraging us to address poor attendance and as a last resort, imposing fines where poor attendance is not improving. Please note that any absence will have a negative impact on the overall attendance percentage and should your child be ill during the year, their attendance will run the risk of falling into the cause for concern category.
Please help us to improve attendance by sending your child to school if you think they are tired or slightly under the weather and we will monitor them and send them home if they are not fit enough for school, also by avoiding booking holidays in term time. The DfE’s expectation is that attendance is at a minimum of 96%.