All Saints Catholic Primary SchoolAttendance
Why is it important for children not to miss school?
All parents want the best for their children and for them to get on well in life. Having a good education is important to ensure that they have the best opportunities in their adult life. They only get one chance at school, and your child’s future may be affected by not attending school or alternative provision regularly.
Setting good attendance patterns from an early age, from nursery through primary school will also help your child later on in their life. Children who have a poor school attendance record may have less chance of securing a job when they are adults.
Being on time is also vital. Arriving late at school can be very disruptive for your child, their teacher and the other children in the class. Some parents may be finding it difficult to ensure that their child attends school regularly. If this is the case please speak to Mrs Claro as soon as possible so that the situation can be addressed.
What can you do to help?
If you suspect that your child may be missing school or is unhappy at school you should contact the school as soon as possible so that you can work with them to resolve any difficulties.
Be on alert for any particular reasons for non– attendance, such as difficulties with another child or problems with school work and discuss these with school.
If your child is ill or absent for any other reasons, contact the school on the first day of absence.
Follow the schools’ procedures for notifying absence, and always let the school know of any days that your child is unable to attend.
Make sure your child arrives at school on time.
Take an interest in your child’s education. Ask them about their day and praise and encourage their achievements at school.
What happens if your child does not attend school regularly?
Your child’s school is responsible by law for reporting poor attendance to the Local Authority. As a parent, you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends school regularly, even if they are missing school without your knowledge.
You run the risk of being issued with a fixed penalty notice and may be fined £80 in the first instance. This increases to £160 if not paid within the time given. Failure to pay altogether, could mean that you will be taken to court by the Local Authority for failing to ensure that your child attends school.
The LA may decide to prosecute a parent. If this happens, parents can be fined far more than the original fixed penalty fine. Please see attached information.
What does the law say?
By law, all children of compulsory school age (between 5 and 16) must receive a suitable, full time education. As a parent, you are responsible for making sure this happens, either by registering your child at a school or by making other arrangements which provide a suitable full time education.
Once your child is registered at a school you are responsible for making sure he or she attends regularly. If your child fails to attend regularly even if they miss school without you knowing—the Local Authority (LA) may take legal action against you.
The LA is responsible for making sure that parents fulfil their responsibilities. Parents are responsible for making sue that their registered children regularly attend school or any alternative provision arranged for them.
If you think you might need to take your child out of school, discuss the reasons with the school as soon as possible.
Weekly Attendance Celebration
Pupils with a weekly 100% attendance and punctuality will be placed into a class draw, the lucky winner gets to choose a prize. The children have come up with some fantastic prizes such as: free breakfast club place, staying for a school meal, school water bottle, eating lunch with a teacher, being leader of the line and many more.
During assembly, Mrs Holleran will read out the weekly attendance for each class. The class with highest attendance wins Buddy the dog. Buddy will spend the week with the winning class.
What about authorised absence?
There may be times when your child has to miss school because she or he is ill. This is to be expected and you should follow the school’s procedures for notifying illness.
If a child is absent from school the parent must follow these procedures:
· Contact the school on the first day of absence before 8.45am when our register closes.
· The school has an answer phone available to leave a message if nobody is available to take your call, or you may call into school personally and speak to the office staff. Please be aware that, if you leave a voicemail to report your child’s absence, you may receive a call from the school so that we may discuss the absence before deciding as to whether the absence is to be recorded as authorised.
· Contact the school on every further day of absence, again before 8.45am.
Ensure that your child returns to school as soon as possible and you provide any medical evidence, if requested, to support the absence. Medical evidence may be requested where your child is having multiple periods of absence which are reported as being due to medical reasons. When determining whether a child is too ill to attend school, both parents and school staff can consider the advice contained within the NHS advice. Please see the attached Should I keep my child off school checklist poster.
Children may also have to attend a medical or dental appointment in school time. However, you should try to make routine appointments such as dental check-ups during the school holidays or after school hours.