Why Attendance Matters

At our school, we believe that every day counts. Good and regular attendance is essential for your child’s learning, wellbeing, and future success as well as helping them to feel settled and make the most of their learning. Evidence shows that pupils who attend school regularly are more likely to achieve well, build strong friendships, and develop positive habits for life.

We want every child to enjoy school, feel successful, and develop positive habits that will support them throughout their lives.

⏰ School Day & Punctuality

• Walk the Mile starts at 8.30am
• Registration is at 8.45am. If your child arrives after this time, they are late.
• School finishes at 3.20pm for Reception and KS1 and 3.30pm for KS2

Please ensure your child arrives on time every day, ready to learn.

Morning routines are an important part of the school day and help children settle quickly.

If your child arrives late, please come to the school office to sign them in and to record the reason for lateness.

Punctuality is monitored regularly. If your child has arrived to school late on more than one occasion and they have therefore missed valuable minutes of learning time, you will be contacted by our Attendance Lead to discuss this.

Reporting your child's absence

If your child is unwell or unable to attend school, please let us know as soon as possible:

• Call: 01322224474

Please contact the Front Office before 8.45am on the first day of absence and each day thereafter. Please do not inform the Class Teacher, as this may result in the message not reaching Front Office before registration closes. You may then receive an unnecessary call from us.

When reporting an absence, include:

• Your child’s name and class
• The reason for absence
• Expected date of return

This is a safeguarding requirement so that all parties know that your child is safe and their whereabouts is known.

✅ Authorised and Unauthorised Absence

Authorised absences may include:

• Illness or medical appointments (evidence of booked appointment must be provided. Where possible, all appointments are booked out of school hours)
• Exceptional circumstances (agreed in advance)

Unauthorised absences include:

• Holidays during term time
• Absences without explanation

️ Holidays During Term Time

We strongly discourage taking holidays during term time, as this can disrupt your child’s learning. Schools are only able to authorise leave in exceptional circumstances.

If you need to request time off, please complete a Leave of Absence Request Form in advance. Our Headteacher - Mrs Wall - may authorise leave where there are exceptional circumstances (supporting documentation will be required).

In making a decision, Mrs Wall will consider the exceptional circumstances of each application individually, and may invite parents in to school to discuss the requested leave.

Any period of leave taken without the agreement of the school, or in excess of that agreed, will be classed as unauthorised and may result in sanctions such as a Penalty Notice.

Monitoring Attendance

We regularly monitor attendance for all pupils and will contact you if we have any concerns.

If your child’s attendance falls below the expected level of 95%, we will write to you to notify you of this.

If your child's attendance falls below 90%, they are classed as a Persistently Absent pupil. In this case, we will write to you to offer support and discuss how we can work together to improve attendance.

Our aim is to work together with families to ensure children attend school regularly and feel supported.

Working together

We understand that there may be times when attendance is a challenge. Our aim is to work in partnership with families to support every child.

We also understand that sometimes children may find it difficult to attend school. If you are experiencing any challenges, please speak to us—we are here to help.

You can contact Mrs Hudson, Assistant Headteacher and Attendance Lead.

Celebrating Attendance

We love to celebrate great attendance! This may include:

• Attendance Trophy
• Termly 100% attendance awards
• Being part of our '100 Club'
• Improvement and recognition certificates

Further Information

For more details, please see our Attendance Policy below and on our Policies page.

We appreciate your support in helping your child attend school every day and on time.

Is my child too ill for school?

It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school when they are unwell.

There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about health protection and managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.

The information on the poster below as well as the following weblink may help to provide you with a better idea of whether your child should/could be in school or not: Is my child too ill for school? - NHS

However, if you remain unsure, please just call us.