Attendance
Please Click here for Frequently Asked Questions about Attendance
Attendance Expectation
Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for children and young people to maximise their educational opportunities. The expectation is that every child should be in school, every day, unless they are unwell. It is taken into account that children are likely to be unwell at some point during the school year and as a result the attendance expectation here at Priorswood Primary is set at 96%. Priorswood Primary is committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for all our pupils. In order to ensure this, if your child’s attendance shows a decrease towards the school’s expectation of 96%, you will be notified and we will aim to work with you to ensure that any issues are resolved as quickly as possible. If your child’s attendance drops below 90%, they will be considered ‘Persistently Absent’ and will be raised as a concern with the Education Welfare Service. In this instance, the Education Welfare Service would aim to work with you to improve your child’s attendance however if this proved unsuccessful, legal action would be considered.
Absence
The table below shows the impact of whole days absent and lost learning hours in one school year:
Descriptor |
Attendance |
Whole Days Absent |
Lost Hours of Learning |
|
Excellent |
100% - 99% |
0 - 2 |
0 - 10 |
|
Good |
98% - 96% |
4 - 7.5 |
20-37.5 |
|
Requires Improvement |
95% - 91% |
9.5 - 17 |
47.5 - 85 |
|
Persistent Absentee |
90% - 86% |
19 - 27 |
95 - 135 |
|
Critical |
85% - 80% |
28.5 - 38 |
142.5 - 190 |
The Department for Education say there is clear evidence of a link between poor attendance at school and low levels of achievement.
Late
Being late to school can have a considerable impact over the whole school year. The table below shows you just how much time can be missed over a year just by being 5 minutes late to school every day:
|
5 minutes late every day = 3 days of school lost a year |
|
10 minutes late every day = 6.5 days of school lost a year |
|
15 minutes late every day = 10 days of school lost a year |
|
20 minutes late every day = 13 days of school lost a year |
|
30 minutes late every day = 19 days of school lost a year |
We understand that the school mornings can be hectic, but when your child is late for school they are missing out on vital parts of their education.
Should you have any questions regarding attendance or you would like to discuss how we may support you in ensuring your child attends school regularly, please contact the school office for an appointment with the Head of School.
Absent Pupil Procedure
If your child is absent from school you have a duty to telephone the School Office by 9am on each day of absence and provide a reason. An answer phone facility is available for you to leave a message.
In the event of no telephone contact, the School Office will make a telephone call to the contact numbers on file. If we are unable to make contact, the school will follow an Absent Pupil Procedure which involves us undertaking several steps to ensure ourselves of the safe whereabouts of the pupil. This is part of our safeguarding commitment.
Working with Parents/Carers
If a child has been absent from school on a number of separate occasions, we may write to you or seek to speak with you to notify you that their overall attendance percentage is decreasing. This is not to be seen as a negative communication but rather a way of us keeping you informed of what our data is telling us and a reminder that should you or your child have any concerns around attending school, you are welcome to come in and discuss this with us. We will always try to help wherever we can.
Our letter process starts by advising of a reduced level of attendance however if further absence is incurred, you may receive a second letter which invites you to come into the school for a discussion.
Genuine illness is marked as authorised absence however where it is identified that a child has incurred many absences which are all illness related, we may write to you to advise that further absences will need to be evidenced, or that we require extra information regarding the illness to enable us to continue authorising the absences.
We will always aim to work with parents to resolve any attendance difficulties however where we have undertaken many unsuccessful attempts, if attendance is considered an issue, in the interests of our pupils, we will seek the involvement of the Education Welfare Service (EWS). Our Attendance Policy lists the actions that EWS may take to ensure good attendance.
Request for Term Time Leave
Leave during term time is strongly discouraged due to the inevitable disruption caused to the educational progress of individual pupils and school staff.
In the exceptional cases where a decision is made to authorise leave during term time, parents/carers are reminded that this is a only for the period in question at the time and so it should not be assumed that authorisation will be granted for any future request.
Where a period of unauthorised term time leave is taken, whether this has been requested or not, please note that you may be at risk of a £60 per child, per parent fine from Somerset County Council. Further details of the prosecution process are available on their website:
Somerset County Council - Attendance and Missing Education
Similarly, where a child accrues unauthorised absences equating to 10 or more sessions in a 12 week period, a warning penalty notice request may be made to Somerset County Council. Further details may be found in our Attendance Policy.
Promoting good attendance
Schools in our Trust promote good attendance in a variety of different ways which may include the issuing of certificates at half termly and yearly intervals, stickers, celebratory assemblies, a non-uniform day or a week’s care of the school mascot for the class with the best attendance.