Attendance

ATTENDANCE
For children to achieve their full potential it is vital that they attend school every day where possible. The following information shows the impact of absence of children’s education:

We are consistently working hard to achieve a whole school average attendance of 96% by the end of the academic year. We depend on your continuous co-operation and thank you for your ongoing support in this matter.

We follow government legislation and work in line with schools in the area.

We like to give you as much information as possible about attendance to keep you informed of current procedures, legislation and any changes that may arise.

SCHOOL START TIME
Morning Register is taken promptly at 8.55am, by which time children should be in class, prepared and ready to start their school day.

LATENESS
If your child arrives late for school they will miss a vital part of the school day. Late arrival before 9.30am will be marked as ‘L’ for Late on the register, arrival any later will be marked as ‘U’ for Unauthorised Absence and your child will lose a mark for the whole morning session.

Should lateness become an issue we will address this by writing to you with our concerns or inviting you to meet with the Head Teacher to discuss your concerns. There is support available in school and we are more than willing to deal with any issues together.

If you are running late for school please where possible contact us to let us know.

ABSENCE
What you need to do:

• If your child is absent due to illness please contact school by 9.30am, stating the nature of illness and how long you expect your child to be absent.
• If the illness continues longer than expected please contact us daily with your child’s progress.
• If you have taken your child to the G.P. please provide us with an appointment card to update our records.
• If your child is unable to attend school for any other reason please contact us on or before the first day of absence.
• For medical appointments please supply an appointment card and your child will be marked on the register as ‘M’ for Medical. Where possible please make all routine medical and dental appointments after school hours.

What we will do:

It is our duty and responsibility to ensure that pupils who are absent from school are safe.

• If your child is absent from school and you have not contacted us by 9.30am on the first morning of absence we will contact you by text or phone.
• We will then mark the absence accordingly.
• If we are unable to contact you will be endeavour to contact any other authorised persons on your child’s registration details.
• In the unlikely event that we cannot contact anyone on your child’s contact list, a member of staff will call to your home. If this is unsuccessful we will follow government legislation and request a Welfare Check by the local police.
• School will regularly send attendance certificates home for your information regarding your child’s attendance throughout the term and school year.
• Should attendance for any reason become a concern we will inform you of our concern by letter and/or invite you into school to meet with the Head Teacher and Attendance Officer to address your concerns and ours.

PERSISTENT ABSENTEES
When attendance drops below 90% it is deemed by the Local Authority as Persistent Absence. In line with legislation we are obliged to refer such cases to The Attendance Improvement Team. We will however, keep you regularly informed of your child’s attendance so that you know if it is in danger of dropping below 90%.

HOLIDAYS IN TERM TIME AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE
In accordance with Government legislation the Head Teacher may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Leave of Absence application forms are available in school and should be submitted in advance. All requests will be carefully considered by the Head Teacher and will be responded to in writing stating the outcome.

UNDER 5’S
For children under the age of 5 years there is no compulsory obligation to attend school. Therefore, any request for leave of absence will be authorised and persistent absenteeism will not follow the same legal process. Once your child is 5 years of age statutory legislation will apply.

However, at St Hilds we take a whole school approach to attendance and therefore we include our under 5’s in our procedures addressing any absences or lates in the same manner throughout the school, with the exception of holidays and persistent absenteeism referral to Attendance Improvement Team.

We greatly appreciate your support and co-operation with this issue as we are working hard to develop a positive attitude to attendance and we are extending it to include our youngest pupils.

If you have any worries or concerns about your child’s absence please do let us know and we will work together to address any concerns.