It is the parents legal responsibility to ensure their child’s good attendance and punctuality (Education Act 1996). The school work with other agencies so we can support families and ensure their children achieve a good attendance. We have  an Attendance Improvement Officer (AIO) who regularly visits the school. If attendance becomes an on-going concern, the AIO will meet with parents to try and encourage full attendance.  On occasion, this may lead to legal action.

Regular and punctual attendance is important.  There is a strong link between attendance and academic achievement.  This enables all our children to take full advantage of all the educational opportunities offered to them. 

Children who are persistently late or absent soon fall behind with their learning. Children who are frequently absent develop large gaps in their learning which will impact their progress and their ability to reach age related expectations.  A child whose attendance drops to 90% each year will, over their time in primary school will have missed two full terms of learning.

The Ofsted benchmark for satisfactory attendance is 96%, which is the figure set for KS1 and KS2 children.

You may be aware that all schools are under strict statutory regulations regarding pupil attendance and lateness. As such we have updated our policy to meet these criteria. A copy of this policy is on our website. Please be aware that you will receive a letter if your child’s attendance dips below 96% for any reason. The school is also under an obligation to issue fines for any unauthorised attendance.

Late Arrival to School

Should your child be too late to attend registration then they must be signed in at the office. This is a safeguarding requirement as well as the need to inform the kitchen of meal choices.

On any occasions where you are unable to collect your child/children from school, at 3:15pm, we ask that you ensure that the office is contacted with the relevant details of who will be collecting or what time you will be arriving. The school will not release ANY child/children without the express permission of the named guardian. In instances where there is a lack of contact relative to a change in collection, your child/children will be held safely in school until your arrival. Should there be any issues with contacting you in this instance, we reserve the right to contact other family support agencies as we see fit.

Collection of Children

Please ensure your children are collected promptly at 3.15pm or 11.45 for Nursery Children. There is nobody available to supervise the children after this time as teachers are at meetings or working in their classrooms.  It is also very distressing for children to be left uncollected after school has finished. This could result in a referral to the relevant services.  After an extended period of time the Police will be contacted. If you know you are going to be late collecting your child, then you must ensure you call the office and let them know. Please do not collect anybody else’s child without first informing the office.

Holidays

Due to current Government legislation, holidays during term time are not permitted. Schools no longer have the authority to grant a leave of absence for a family holiday, whatever the reason. Removing your child from school for a holiday could mean that you are issued with a fixed penalty notice as this absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

Attendance Liaison Officer

The School employs an Attendance Liaison Officer Mrs Crowhurst, who is responsible for recording the attendance of the children. Should you have any problems regarding your child’s attendance please contact her. Should your child be absent for any length of time you will be contacted and may be called in for a meeting.  The Attendance Liaison Officer is here to be of assistance to you and is available during normal school hours.  If you envisage any health or social problems that may affect your child’s attendance please feel free to contact her.

Attendance Awards

Once a week, we award our attendance cup to the class with the best attendance.  The cup is then kept in the winning classroom for that week. The winning class also gets a sticker for which is displayed on the Attendance Board.

Thank you for your cooperation

Four Swannes Primary School