Attendance Matters

At St Paul and St Timothy’s, we work extremely hard to ensure children are learning to their best ability and are happy within our school. An essential part of this is every child’s punctuality and attendance. Every child and parent/carer has a part to play, as well as every member of staff, in making sure that we have excellent standards for attendance and punctuality.

We have high expectations for all of our pupils and that starts with attendance. Our Designated Lead for attendance is Mrs. J Griffin

OUR TARGET IS 100% ATTENDANCE.

Attendance should be at least 97%. 97% is the same as 6 days off school during the whole school year.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT:

If your child cannot come to school you must:

Phone the school, by 8.30am, to let us know that your child will be off and why. You can no longer leave a message via ParentApps.

If you do not contact school on the first day of absence we will try to contact you, this may include coming out to your house.

If you do not provide the school with a reason for absence we have no choice but to mark it as unauthorised.

WHAT SCHOOL DO IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT:

Every day staff check who is absent and follow routine procedures. If you have not informed the school about your child’s absence we will try to contact you. We will phone and may make a home visit to try and find out why your child is absent. If you have told the school why your child is absent but they are off school for longer than a week, the school may phone to check on how they are. School record all reasons for absence. If you do not provide a reason for why your child was off school we have to record that absence as unauthorised.

HOLIDAYS IN SCHOOL TIME:

Government rules about taking holidays in school time are increasingly strict. In line with this, the school cannot allow any holidays unless there are

really exceptional circumstances. This includes trips to country of origin, which can be made during school holiday times.

It is likely that parents/carers will receive a fine (Fixed Penalty Notice) from the council if they take their children on holiday during term time.

If you need time off during school time please speak to the office for more details.

HOW ABSENCES ARE COUNTED:

Attendance is counted in sessions. The school day is made up of two sessions, the morning and the afternoon. If a child is absent in the morning but comes into school in the afternoon they have missed one session, if they are absent for the whole day they have missed two sessions.

AUTHORISED ABSENCES:

This is when the school authorises an absence because they agree that the reason is acceptable, for example:

· Illness severe enough to prevent the child from coming to school

· Exceptional family circumstances

· Part of the day being missed for an essential medical appointment – routine check-ups should not be done during school time.

UNAUTHORISED ABSENCES:

This is when the school has not allowed the absences because the reason is not acceptable, for example:

· Taking a whole day off school for a medical appointment

· Minor illnesses or very frequent absence due to Minor illness

· Holidays

· Birthdays or day trips

· Being tired

· Shopping

ABSENCES DUE TO EXTREME LATENESS:

If a child comes to school after the registration period closes at 9.30 am they are considered so late that they will lose their morning mark. This type of absence is automatically an unauthorised absence.

PERSISTENT ABSENTEES:

This is the group of children that schools and the council must particularly concentrate on because their attendance is poor. The Department for

Education refers to a Persistent Absentee as pupils who have an attendance below a certain level. Previously, that level has been 85%, but from September 2015 that has changed to 90%. 90% attendance means a child has been absent for 19 days in the school year.

Persistent absenteeism is monitored every half term and children who have missed a certain number of sessions (half days) will be considered at risk of becoming persistent absentees by the end of the school year.

Persistent absence is monitored throughout the year and the names of children missing a high level of school time (regardless of the reason for absence) are collected by the Department for Education each half term.

Even if an absence is authorised it is still an absence and will count towards a final figure at the end of the year.

Persistent Absenteeism can result in Fixed Penalty Notice warnings and fines or legal action.

WHY GOOD ATTENDANCE IS SO IMPORTANT:

At St. Paul and St Timothy’s, we believe that a good education gives children opportunities for life. A good education starts with good attendance. Being in school regularly gives children the best chance to learn and to get the most out of all that school has to offer, such as the chance to socialise and have friends and to be involved in a huge range of activities such as sports, music, art, coding club, to name a few.

Attendance is important in every year group; in early years children learn the foundations for all of their future learning, and every year children learn more, building their knowledge and understanding.

St. Paul and St Timothy’s is a happy, successful school and your child is part of that. We aim to give them the best opportunities for a great future.

If you need any support with your child’s attendance or punctuality, please ask to speak to a member of the pastoral and wellbeing team.