Attendance Matters

Both the school and parents have a legal duty with regard to student attendance. Working together and communication between the school and parents is vital. Student absence from school for any reason (illness, appointments, leave for exceptional circumstances) will cause your child to miss lessons and it will affect your child’s education so we need to encourage open and honest communication between parents and the school. Poor attendance and punctuality will be monitored, and we will seek advice and support from our Education Social Worker (ESW) where necessary. We will liaise with the child and the parent/carer in an effort to support and hopefully improve the child’s attendance. However, in some cases, when all else fails, the school may resort to fixed penalty fines or even prosecution. Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, ‘The parent/guardian is responsible for ensuring their child receives a full time education.’

 

Support with Attendance

If you have any concerns or problems with regard to your child’s attendance, please do not hesitate to contact the school office on 01202 528811. We have the benefit of our Pastoral Support Worker as well as our Attendance Officer in the school office who are always available to support you and your child and discuss arising attendance matters.  

 

Absence from school

Illness - If your child is ill, please telephone the school office on 01202 528811 to report your child’s absence.

 

Arrival late to School - The bell for the start of the day goes at 8.40am and the gates will then be locked. If you arrive late to school for any reason, you will need to go to the main office. We closely monitor lateness as it has a detrimental impact on children’s education.

 

Appointments - We request that, whenever possible, you make appointments after school or during the holidays. We do appreciate that sometimes this is not possible. If you know in advance that your child will be absent during school hours for a Doctor, Dentist or Hospital Appointment, please inform the school of the appointment in writing and provide us with a copy of the appointment letter.

 

Absence Requests - In line with the Government guidelines, Headteachers are not permitted to authorise any absence from school (including holidays), unless the reasons are exceptional, e.g. a family bereavement. If you need to request an exceptional absence during term time, please write a letter to Mrs Woodward explaining the reason for the request with 10 days’ notice, where possible.

 

You will find our attendance policy in Key Information > Policies.

The attendance figures displayed on our homepage are updated half termly; you will find more detailed attendance updates and news below.

Attendance for Academic Year 2022/23

End of Spring Half Term 2 

Our whole school attendance was 95.32% by the end of Spring Half Term 2. Here is a breakdown of the attendance for each year group:

 

 

We are heading for the summer term and hope that with the warmer weather, fewer bugs will go around. We are now striving to get to 96% by the May half-term. We ask that you do all you can to ensure children attend school as much as possible, thank you.

Attendance for Academic Year 2022/23

End of Spring Half Term 1 

Our whole school attendance was 95.44% by the end of Spring Half Term 1. We are just below our target of 96.5%. Here is a breakdown of the attendance for each year group:

 

 

We are halfway through the year now and heading for the spring. Hopefully, there will be fewer illnesses and bugs around going forward. We hope that we can reach 96% by the end of this term, as that is an achievable target. 

Attendance for Academic Year 2022/23

End of Autumn Half Term 2 

Our whole school attendance was 95.47% by the end of Autumn Half Term 2. That is below our target of 96.5%.  Here is a breakdown of the attendance for each year group:

 

 

We had a lot of absences due to illness leading up to Christmas which has impacted our final attendance figure for the term. Hopefully, we will see an improvement through the Spring Term.

Attendance for Academic Year 2022/23

End of Autumn Half Term 1 

Our whole school attendance was 96.93% by the end of Autumn Half Term 1. Our target is 96.5% so we are on track.  Here is a breakdown of the attendance for each year group:

 

 

Most year groups have exceeded the target. Reception and Year 1 are just below but we are sure they will catchup over the rest of the term.

Attendance for Academic Year 2021/22 

Our whole school attendance was 94.55% by the end of the last academic year (2021-2022). Here is a breakdown of the final attendance for each year group:

 

 

We had lots of absences last year relating to COVID and isolation. Pre-COVID, our last reported end of academic year attendance was 97.19%. We hope that this year we can get back on track and achieve our target of 96.5%. We will keep you up to date with how we are getting on throughout the year.

Attendance for Academic Year 2020/21 - End of Spring Term

 

Well, we spent most of the Spring Term in lockdown but we had excellent attendance and engagement with our remote learning! The teachers enjoyed seeing the children (and parents!) on Microsoft Teams each morning and were very impressed with your dedication to keeping up with the work set. Thank you for all your hard work and support. 

 

On the day we returned to school, Monday 8th March, our attendance was 99.8%, which is fantastic, particularly under the circumstances. Everyone was very pleased to be back in school. We look forward to seeing a bit more normality throughout the summer term 

 

Attendance for Academic Year 2020/21 - End of Autumn Term

 

We are pleased to have achieved 98.09% attendance when we broke up for the Christmas holidays. Our whole school target is 97%, so that is fantastic. Here is the attendance for each year group:

 

 

All year groups have reached our target and well done to Reception, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 5 who reached 98%+.

 

As mentioned before, we have new attendance code for absences relating to COVID; if your child has been instructed to self-isolate, your child’s attendance will not be penalised and these absences are not included in the figures. Do remember, if you are isolating, your child’s class teacher will upload work for your child to complete on Microsoft Teams. Thank you for all your support in following the self isolation guidelines. 

        

Please remember to follow our policy when requesting leave of absence during term time. Holidays will not be authorised. You need to put any requests to the Headteacher, in writing, with 10 days notice. You can read our School Attendance Policy on the website under Key Information > Polices,  or you can request a hard copy from the School Office at any time.

 

Thank you for working with us to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's attendance, particularly during this challenging time, please don't hesitate to contact the school office. We are here to work with parents in supporting positive attendance.

Attendance for Academic Year 2020/21 - End of Half Term 1

 

Well done everyone, we achieved 97.93% attendance by the end of October half term. Our whole school target is 97%. Here is the attendance for each year group:

 

 

All year groups have reached our target and well done to Year 2, Year 3, Year 4 and Year 5 who reached 98%+.

 

Please be assured that we have a special attendance code for absences relating to COVID; if your child has been instructed to self-isolate, your child’s attendance will not be penalised and these absences are not included in the figures. Do remember, if you are isolating, your child’s class teacher will upload work for your child to complete on Microsoft Teams.

        

Please remember to follow our policy when requesting leave of absence during term time. You need to put any requests to the Headteacher, in writing, with 10 days notice. You can read our School Attendance Policy on the website under Key Information > Polices,  or you can request a hard copy from the School Office at any time.

 

Thank you for working with us to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's attendance please don't hesitate to contact the school office. 

Attendance for the end of Academic Year 2019/20 

 

We can't report our attendance in the normal way, for the rest of the academic year, due to the lockdown - but don't forget we are always available should you wish to discuss your child's attendance with the school. 

We are very much looking forward to welcoming all the children back in September!

Attendance for Academic Year 2019/20 - End of Half Term 3

 

Our attendance target for this academic year is 97%.  

At the end of Spring Half Term 1 (14.02.20) our attendance was 97.44%. I am pleased we are above target again. At the exact same time last year our attendance was also 97.44%, so we are maintaining this high level of attendance.

 

The attendance for the individual year groups  is as follows:

 

 

Well done to every year group, they are all above target which is excellent! We also have 113 children who currently have 100% attendance - that means they have been in school every day, both morning and afternoon so far this year. This is fantastic at this stage of the year.

 

We have made improvements in our overall punctuality. Last year, at this stage our lateness level was 1.18% whereas this year it is 0.95%. Hopefully we can keep this up for the rest of the academic year.

 

Please remember to follow our policy when requesting leave of absence during term time. You need to put any requests to the Headteacher, in writing, with 10 days notice. You can read our School Attendance Policy on the website under Key Information > Polices,  or you can request a hard copy from the School Office at any time.

 

Thank you for working with us to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's attendance please don't hesitate to contact the school office. 

Attendance for Academic Year 2019/20 - End of Half Term 2

Our attendance target for this academic year is 97%.  

At the end of Autumn Term 2 (20.12.19) our attendance was 97.69%. I am pleased we are above target again. At the exact same time last year our attendance was also 97.69%, so we are maintaining this high level of attendance.

 

The attendance for the individual year groups  is as follows:

 

 

Every single year group is above target, which is fantastic. Year 1 have particularly high attendance as they are over 98% - well done to them. Year 6 were just below the target at the end of half term 1 so they have done very well in catching up. We also have 163 children who currently have 100% attendance - that means they have been in school every day, both morning and afternoon so far this year. 

 

As you know our aim this year is to improve our punctuality. Last year, at this stage our lateness level was 1.11% whereas this year it is 0.88%. That's a great improvement and I hope we can sustain this improvement throughout the rest of the year. 

 

Thank you for working with us to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's attendance please don't hesitate to contact the school office. Please remember you can read our School Attendance Policy on the website under Key Information > Polices,  or you can request a hard copy from the School Office at any time.

Attendance for Academic Year 2019/20 - End of Half Term 1

Our attendance target for this academic year is 97%.  

I am pleased to say that our whole school attendance is currently 97.62%, so we are well on target! Well done everyone.

Here is the attendance for each year group this half term:

 

 

I am particularly impressed with Year 4 and Reception who have achieved 98%, that’s fantastic. Year 6 were just below the target of 97% but they were very close. I am sure by the end of term they can get to 97%. Overall all year groups have done very well. We also have 280 children who currently have 100% attendance - that means they have been in school every day, both morning and afternoon so far this year. 

 

One area which we can improve on is our punctuality. I have noticed that there have been 265 occasions where children have arrived late to school so far this term. Please remember the bell for the start of school goes at 8.40am and children should arrive in plenty of time. I hope that we will improve on our whole school punctuality over the next half term.

 

Thank you for your support regarding pupil attendance. It is really important that we work together to ensure that every child’s attendance is as high as possible. Please remember you can read our School Attendance Policy on the website under Key Information > Polices,  or you can request a hard copy from the School Office at any time.

Attendance for the End of the Academic Year 2018/19

 

Well done everyone, we achieved 97.19% attendance last academic year (2018/2019). This was even better than the previous year where our attendance was 97.06%.

 

As a whole school we reached our target which was 97%!          

Here is the attendance for each year group:

 

 

Reception and Year 6 didn't quite reach the target of 97%, but they really weren't far away.

 

We also had 35 children who had 100% attendance - that means they were in school everyday, both morning and afternoon. Congratulations if you were one of those children!

 

Keep an eye on our website homepage; we will be publishing our attendance each half term. We will also be setting our attendance targets for the new academic year (2019/2020) very soon. 

 

You will find our Attendance Policy in Key Information > Policies.