Attendance

Attendance Matters Information for Parents and Carers

St. Mark’s CE Primary School Main Site:
School gates open at 8:30 am
Teaching starts at 8:45 am
School finishes at 2:40pm (Reception) & 2:45pm (Years 1 to 6)

Primary School Site Home School Link Worker – Mrs S Khan
Please let Mrs Khan know if somebody different is collecting your child at home time.

Nursery Class:
Doors open at 9:15 am
Registration is at 9:25 am
Lunch is 11:45 am to 12:45 pm
Nursery finishes at 3:05 pm

Home School Link Worker – Mrs S Malik
Please let Mrs Malik know if somebody different is collecting your child at home time.

Attendance Leader – Mr L Nicholls
Educational Welfare Officer – Mrs M Hill
School telephone number – 01782 234411

We expect at least 96% attendance by all children in our school.

High attendance is important in giving children the best chance of being successful at school and achieving their end of year expectations or better.

High attending children are able to get involved in the entire range of school life and all the different activities that are on offer in order to ensure they reach their full potential.

High attending children are able to develop:

• high levels of achievement in their work.
• better social skills.
• better friendship skills.

High attendance is particularly important:

• At the start of the school year when establishing new routines.
• Throughout the year when valuable teaching and group work is taking place that cannot be repeated.
• At the end the school year when making the transition to primary school.

‘Every day, every half day, every lesson matters’

You can improve your child’s attendance by:

• Ensuring your child goes to bed nice and early
• Get your child’s uniform ready the night before
• Setting an alarm clock every morning
• Allowing plenty of time to park the car
• Asking a family member to help you in the mornings

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Absence during term time:

Please avoid making routine medical appointments during the school day (doctors, dentists, opticians).

No holidays are authorised. If an application is made a meeting will be arranged to meet the EWO Mrs Hill and HSLW Mrs S Khan. There are 190 statutory school days a year, so there are 175 other days (13 weeks) of school holidays and weekends.

In the case of a family emergency,requiring your child to miss school, please contact the school as soon as possible.

If children require prescribed, medication 4 times a day, please take all medication to the office and complete a consent form. Medicine should NOT be given to the child to take into school.

We thank you in advance for all your hard work and support in relation to this matter.

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What to do if your child cannot attend school

Please contact the school office on the first day of absence before 9 am on 01782 234411 and choose option 1.

Please explain the reason for absence and give an estimate of how long your child is likely to be absent. If you have not informed the school office of your child’s absence by 9 am on the first day
of absence a text message or phone call will be made.

If your child’s attendance drops below 96% a letter will be sent home to inform you and you may be invited to attend an attendance clinic with Mrs S khan and our Education Welfare Officer in order to set targets to ensure that this improves.

Poor attendees will be supported by the Educational Welfare Officer. Where attendance is a cause for concern the EWO will visit the home to offer support on how to improve attendance.

Poor attendance can lead to prosecution. Parents have the legal responsibility to ensure that their children are in school during term time. Children who are absent, should not be out in public places during the time 9.00 am – 3.00 pm.

Examples:

Zak’s attendance rate is always around 90% He thinks this is pretty good! However, this
actually means…

• He is absent from lessons for the equivalent of a half day every week!
• That is 16 days a year or 3 weeks 1 day an academic year. 90% attendance for your child through Primary and Secondary school means they will have missed a whole year off school during their education.

Iniayah’s attendance rate is always around 80% She thinks that this is ok! However, this actually
means…

• She is absent from lessons for the equivalent of one day every week.
• That is 38 days a year or 7 weeks 3 days an academic year, a whole half term! 80% attendance for your child through Primary and Secondary school means they will have missed two years during their education!

For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and your child should be at school, by 8.40 am every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

Together we can strive for excellence.

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Our school contact for any issues relating to school attendance is Mrs S Khan for our Primary School Main Site, and Mrs Malik just for our Nursery Class Site.

All pupils in our school are aware of the attendance target. Each week during our awards assembly a trophy and extra class play time is awarded to the classes above 96%. This is on display in the hall.

Certificates are given out each half term for pupils who have achieved 96% or better. Those children with 100% attendance are entered into a raffle to win a £10 gift card each half term.

Children who achieve 100% attendance for the whole year receive an attendance trophy and their name is entered into a prize draw to win a £50 gift card.

We also monitor lateness rigorously as children need to be in school by 8.40 am. Lessons start at 8.45 am. Children who are late are signed in with a reason for their late arrival. Parents will also be given a slip to fill in with the reason as to why they are late Parents may also be invited to a meeting with Mr Nicholls, Mrs Goodwin or the EWO about persistent late arrival to school.

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