Good attendance in school is vitally important if we are to give children the best possible start in their education and future career. It is the responsibility of parents and careers to ensure that children attend school.
Compulsory attendance for primary school pupils has been raised to 90% though this is a bare minimum and our expected school target for attendance is 96%. Any pupils who have an attendance of less than 90% are at risk of becoming a persistent absentee which can lead to warning letters and fines imposed by the Local Authority.
Attendance is monitored every 6 weeks. School will contact the parents / carers of any children who are causing us concern in relation to their attendance. We can provide support and advice to help parents improve their child’s attendance in school.
If your child is absent from school, you should ring the school to inform us of this and the reason for the absence. If we are not provided with a reason for an absence, it will be recorded as ‘unauthorised’. Unauthorised absences can lead to warning letters and fines.
Arriving at school on time is also vitally important. Fines can be given to parents if their children are persistently late to school. A fine of £60 can be issued for pupils who regularly miss registration.
We appreciate that these measures may seem harsh but it is surprising how quickly missed time builds up and has a negative effect on pupil achievement as you will see below.
- If your child is 5 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 25 minutes of education per week.
- If your child is 10 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 50 minutes of education per week.
- If your child is 15 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 1 full Literacy or Numeracy lesson per week.
- If your child is 25 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 1 full Literacy AND 1 full Numeracy lesson per week.
Being late can also mean that a child has an unsettled start to the day which can have a negative impact on learning
You may find the following leaflet useful as it provides information regarding attendance guidelines.
Leave Of Absence Factsheet for Parents
Should you require any further information on these issues please don’t hesitate to contact us.
