Attendance

Good attendance and punctuality is vital for success in school

School gates open at 8:35am until 8:50am.  After this time your child will be considered late for school.  School finishes at 3:15pm.

If your child is absent from school:

• Please message the Gateway (or telephone the office) on the first day of absence giving the reason for absence.  You must contact us every day that your child remains absent from school.
• We will record all reported absences on the school register.
• If we have not heard from parent/carers by 9:30am with a reason for absence, we will contact all listed contacts until contact is made. If no contact is made we may complete a home visit.

Reports to parents (new for 22/23)

You will be sent a message via the Gateway, confirming your child’s attendance to date every half term.  This will also include any ‘lates’ recorded on the register.  Attendance for each academic year is also reported on children’s end of year report.

Medical Appointments

Whenever possible routine medical and dental appointments should be made outside school hours or in the school holidays. 

None routine, such as hospital or orthodontist appointments will be authorised but we will need to see a copy of the appointment letter or text.

Fixed Penalty Notices

Pupils with a large number of unauthorised absences or who take a term-time holiday may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice by the Local Authority of £60 increasing to £120 if not paid within 21 days.  These penalties are issued by Worcestershire Local Authority and are applied per child, per parent.

Term-time Holidays

We are unable to authorise any leave of absence during term-time unless there are "exceptional circumstances."  Holidays are not considered to be exceptional circumstances so are not authorised.

Persistent Absence

Children are considered "persistently absent" if their attendance falls below 90%

90% attendance during 1 school year = ½ day missed every week!
90% attendance during 1 school year = 1 day missed every other week!
90% attendance during 1 school year = 4 whole weeks of lessons missed!
90% attendance over 5 years of school = ½ a school year missed!

Our absence procedures

Stage 1 – From October, if a child’s attendance falls below 96% at any point through the academic year, a reminder letter is sent to the parent advising them that their child’s attendance has fallen below our target and that their attendance will be closely monitored.

Stage 2– Where a child’s attendance falls below 90%, the parent will be invited to attend a meeting with the family support worker and a senior member of staff who will set targets for improvement. At this stage the parents will be advised that they may be referred to the Worcestershire Educational Welfare Officer if targets aren’t met.  A letter will be sent with agreed targets.

Stage 3 – After Stage 1 and 2, where a child’s attendance still fails to improve, the parent will be invited to attend a meeting with the Educational Welfare Officer and the headteacher who will set  targets for improvement.  A letter will be sent with the agreed targets and will also outline that prosecution will be the next step.

Stage 4 – Prosecution – Penalty Notice issued

Punctuality

Children are missing valuable learning time when they arrive late to school.  If you arrive after 8:50am a member of staff will take your child to class to ensure class learning is not disturbed.

Children that are regularly late are subject to the same escalation procedures as those that are absent from school.  As well as attendance, the registers are monitored for punctuality.

Our punctuality procedures

Stage 1 – 5 ‘late marks’ recorded in the register within a 4-week period (or less) or a total of 10 since the start of the academic year.  Late is an arrival after 8.50am. A reminder letter is sent to the parent/carer advising them that their child’s punctuality has been flagged and that their arrival times will be closely monitored.

Stage 2– A total of 15 ‘late marks’ recorded.  The parent/carer will be invited to attend a meeting with the family support worker and a senior member of staff who will set targets for improvement. At this stage the parents will be advised that they may be referred to the Worcestershire Educational Welfare Officer if targets aren’t met.  A letter will be sent with agreed targets.

Stage 3– A total of 20 ‘late marks’ recorded.  The parent/carer will be invited to attend a meeting with the family support worker and a senior member of staff who will set targets for improvement. At this stage the parents will be advised that they may be referred to the Worcestershire Educational Welfare Officer if targets aren’t met.  A letter will be sent with agreed targets.

Stage 4 – After Stages 2 and 3, where a child’s punctuality fails to improve, the parent/carer will be invited to attend a meeting with the Educational Welfare Officer and the headteacher who will set targets for improvement.  A letter will be sent with the agreed targets and will also outline that prosecution will be the next step.

Stage 4 – Prosecution – Penalty Notice issued