Attendance

Every lesson counts 

Dear Parents & Carers,

Our school works hard to ensure that all children’s attendance is at least good. The school’s effectiveness is measured on the attendance of all its pupils and we will not be judged as an outstanding school with attendance that is lower than the national average (over 96%). This is high on the Government’s agenda and it is expected that all children attend regularly and on time and that families do not take holidays during term time.

To help you understand what we do to raise attendance and punctuality, I have enclosed some information for you to read. It shows what is expected of you as a parent and what to expect us to do if your child is absent or late for school .

We have also included some facts about how absence can affect your child’s attendance.

I hope that this information helps you to understand why your child should be in school by 8.55am each day and attend for as many days as possible each year.

Q: How can parents and carers help to make our school the best it can be?

A: In lots of different ways including supporting our efforts to maintain excellent attendance and punctuality.

Did you realise that…

• attending regularly can make a huge difference to your child’s attainment and progress?  
• if you take a two week holiday in term time, your child misses up to 50 lessons?  
• if your child’s absence falls to 80%, they will miss a whole year in every 5 years of school?  
• missing the first 5 minutes of class each day means that your child will miss almost 16 hours of school per year (that’s over 2 days of learning)?  
• attending well and on time teaches valuable skills needed for further education or the workplace when your child grows up?

To help you understand more clearly attendance is categorised in the following ways: