Why is good attendance at school so important?
Good attendance in school is vitally important if we are to give children the best possible start in their education and future career. It is the responsibility of parents and careers to ensure that children attend school.
Compulsory attendance for primary school pupils has been raised to 90% though this is a bare minimum and our
expected school target for attendance is 96%. Any pupils who have an attendance of less than 90% are at risk of becoming a persistent absentee which can lead to warning letters and fines imposed by the Local Authority.
Did you know that:
- If your child is 5 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 25 minutes of education per week?
- If your child is 10 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 50 minutes of education per week?
- If your child is 15 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 1 full Literacy or Numeracy lesson per week?
- If your child is 25 minutes late you will deprive him/her of the equivalent of 1 full Literacy AND 1 full Numeracy lesson per week?
What should I do if my child is ill?
If your child is absent from school, you should ring the school to inform us of this and the reason for the absence. If you phone school before 08.30am, please leave a message on the voicemail. Alternatively, you could send your child’s Class Teacher or Mrs Jones (Mon-Wed)/Mrs Clarke-Boyd (Thurs-Fri) a message on Class Dojo. Please try to do this before 9am.
How school can help:
If you are unable to contact school and office staff are unable to contact you, our PSA Julie or Mrs Sim will make a home visit to check that everything is okay. If we are not provided with a reason for an absence, it will be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ and unauthorised absences can lead to warning letters and fines, so this is something that we really want to avoid! Please note that if we see a reoccurring pattern in absences or if a child is persistently absent with similar reasons, we will ask for medical evidence before an absence is authorised.
Attendance is monitored daily and monthly. When children have a lot of time off school and their attendance is below 94%, school will send you a letter to let you know. We will keep an eye on attendance over the following few weeks. We hope that attendance then improves, but if it doesn’t we will be in touch to invite you in for a meeting where we will set targets to help your child achieve and offer you support. We are here to help!
Arriving at school on time is also really important. Fines can be given to parents if their children are persistently late to school. A fine of £60 can be issued for pupils who regularly miss registration. Don’t forget, our school day starts at 08.45am and registers open at 8.55 am and close at 9.20am. Did you know we have a breakfast club every morning from 08.00am and it costs 50p?
You may find the following leaflet useful as it provides information regarding attendance guidelines.
Leave Of Absence Factsheet for Parents
What are school doing to promote good attendance?
We now have a school Attendance Mascot: Meet Max the Meerkat, who is on the hunt in school for MAXimum attendance!
Every week, Max will go and spend the week with the class who has the highest weekly attendance and he will take a treat with him. The winning class also get £1 to put in their class savings jar, which is opened at the end of the school year to spend.
The Great Sunnybrow Prize Draw! Every month, every child who has had 100% attendance that month will earn a raffle ticket and be entered into the Great Sunnybrow Prize Draw. Over the course of the year, prizes will be regularly added to the prize draw. The winning ticket will be drawn during our end of year Leavers Assembly.
Should you require any further information on these issues please don’t hesitate to contact us. Remember, we are here to help!
