All pupils should take maximum advantage of the educational opportunities provided in school. Poor attendance, whatever the reason for it, adversely affects pupils’ progress and can affect the standards that they achieve in school. The responsibility of ensuring that children attend school regularly and on time rests with the parents.
The Aim of this Policy
The purposes of this policy are to ensure that:
• Everyone is aware of the importance of regular and punctual school attendance
• The school is supported in sustaining and maintaining high rates of attendance.
These are achieved by communicating with parents, pupils and staff in order to ensure consistency of approach in school, by keeping accurate records of pupils’ attendance, by rigorous monitoring of pupils’ attendance, by following up any concerns relating to an individual pupil’s absence and using appropriate strategies to improve attendance or, unusually, to re-integrate a pupil following a long, unforeseen absence from school.
Communication with Parents
• Parents are informed via the School Prospectus, the Home-School Agreement and parent induction meetings that attendance is an important matter which needs their active support and co-operation
• The school stresses to parents, via the Dragonflyer (monthly newsletter) the importance of regular and punctual attendance
• Parents are reminded regularly, via the newsletter, of their responsibility to report authorised absence, preferably in writing or to telephone the school if their child is going to be absent that day
• Parents are actively discouraged from taking long holidays during term time; those parents who ignore the advice are reminded that absences of beyond ten days are counted as ‘unauthorised’
• Parents of children who arrive in school late on a regular basis are reminded of their responsibilities in ensuring children’s punctuality
• All parents are encouraged...