attendance

Every second matters in school to ensure our children reach their potential.

Our attendance system ensures that no children are disadvantaged by poor attendance and punctuality and through our positive partnerships, we endeavour to achieve excellent attendance for all.

How do we share attendance expectations?

All parents and children are reminded of attendance expectations and systems around attendance & punctuality through:

Welcome pack
New Starter's Meetings
Newsletter
Assembly
Website
Twitter

Parents are expected to phone and let school know if their child is absent and the reason why.

THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR attendance

Your child's progress and outcomes will be significantly better if they attend school regularly.

My child’s attendance is:	How much learning has my child missed?	What does this mean?
100% attendance	0 weeks of learning missed	Your child will be achieving their full potential. Well done, your child has excellent attendance
95% attendance	9 days across the year 1 week, 4 days of learning missed	Your child has good attendance and a great chance of success. Every day missed still impacts them though.
*90% attendance	19 days across the year 3 weeks, 4 days of learning missed	We are worried about your child’s poor attendance. Your child is missing out on the learning opportunities at school.
85% attendance	28 days across the year 5 weeks, 3 days of learning missed	We are extremely concerned about your child’s attendance. Your child is missing out on the many learning opportunities at school.
80% attendance	38 days across the year 7 weeks, 3 days of learning missed	This is very poor attendance and we are seriously concerned.

rewarding attendance

Our Attendance Cup is presented weekly to the class with the highest attendance.
Every half-term the class with the highest attendance is given a reward.
End of year certificates are presented to those children who achieve 100% attendance.

monitoring attendance

Mrs Chattle & Mrs Swan monitor attendance daily.

Text messages are sent to parent/carers if their child is absent. If parents do not provide a reason for absence then a phone call will be made to the parent/carer. If, for any reason, we are concerned about the child being absent then a home visit will be made.

Mrs Le Feuvre & Mrs Swan review attendance at the end of each week. If attendance expectations are not being met parents will be offered support in improving this before a formal meeting is planned.

If attendance and punctuality fail to improve the Education Welfare Service will be contacted.

Attendance over time

FINAL ATTENDANCE FIGURES 2021-22

Our final attendance figure for 2021-22 was 94.1%

FINAL ATTENDANCE FIGURES 2022-23

Our final attendance figure for 2022-23 was 94.6%

FINAL ATTENDANCE FIGURES 2023-24

Our final attendance figure for 2023-24 was 92.3%

Holidays in term time

Anyone wishing to take children out if school during term time will need to book an appointment to see Mrs Le Feuvre, Head of School, and put the request in writing.

Parents must understand that taking your child out of school during term time affects the school's overall figures, where much work is being done to ensure that our attendance improves year on year.

Time off school will only be authorised under 'exceptional' circumstances. Family holidays will not be considered 'exceptional'.

From Cheshire West and Chester:

In 2013, the Department for Education (DFE) announced important amendments to legislation surrounding the taking of holidays in term time.

As of 1 September 2013, the legislation which previously granted Head Teachers the discretion to approve up to two weeks (ie 10 school days) leave of absence during term time for the purposes of a family holiday in special circumstances has changed.

The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulations 2006 (as amended) now state that a leave of absence during term time can only be approved by a Head Teacher/School Governing Body when:

A written request is made in advance of the leave being taken and the circumstances of the requested leave are ‘exceptional’.

There is no longer any provision for ‘holidays’ in the regulations.

Following guidance from the DfE the Head Teacher and the School’s Governing Body on receipt of a written request for an absence of leave from a parent/carer will consider whether the circumstances of the request are ‘exceptional’ and communicate to the parent/carer if their request has been approved or not. A leave of absence during term time for the purposes of a holiday is not normally considered to qualify as exceptional.

If a leave of absence goes ahead after a request for approval has been declined, the absence will be recorded on the pupil’s registration record as unauthorised.

Should an unauthorised leave of absence be of duration of 10 consecutive school sessions (ie five school days) or more, on the request of the Head Teacher or School Governing Body, the local authority will issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) to each of the child’s parents/carers.