"Regular school attendance is fundamental to protecting academic progress, social development, and emotional well-being. Every day at school helps build your child's confidence, friendships, and future success."

By law, all children of school age (aged four to sixteen) must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering your child at a school. Once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they go regularly. 

Achieving 90 per cent in an exam or test is a fantastic result but if your child is at school for only 90 per cent of the school year then they will have missed 19 days - almost four whole weeks of school.

For primary-age children, this can mean almost 120 guided learning hours. This is a big gap for any child to make up.

We need you to make sure your child attends as much school as possible.

Lateness

Poor punctuality is not acceptable and can sometimes lead to irregular school attendance patterns. Good timekeeping is a vital life skill which will help children as they progress through their school life and out into the wider world.

Pupils who arrive late disrupt lessons and, if a child misses the start of the day, they can feel unsettled,  embarrassed and risk missing vital work and important messages from their class teacher.

Reporting an Absence

If your child is unable to attend school due to illness or an unavoidable circumstance:

1. Notify Us Early: Contact the school office before 08:30 AM on the first day of absence and every subsequent day, providing a clear and specific reason.

2. First-Day Response: If we have not received a reason by 08:30 AM, our office team will contact parents/carers via phone or text.

3. Safeguarding Escalation: If we cannot reach primary contacts, staff will call emergency contacts or conduct a home visit to ensure the child's safety.

Attendance lost learning hours:

The percentages below are based on end of year attendance. 

96% attendance means 8 days of learning are missed

90% means almost 4 weeks of learning missed

85% means 6 weeks of learning missed

80% means almost 8 weeks of learning  missed

75% means 9.5 weeks of learning missed

70% means nearly 12 weeks of learning missed

Celebrating Attendance & Rewards

We believe in recognising commitment and encouraging positive habits. Attendance is evaluated on a term-by-term basis, giving every pupil a fresh start each term to achieve an award.

Termly Attendance Pins

At the end of each term, children can earn collectable pin badges based on their attendance percentage:

• Gold Attendance Pin: 100% Attendance

• Silver Attendance Pin: 98% – 99.9% Attendance

• Bronze Attendance Pin: 96% – 97.9% Attendance

Children with 98% - 100% attendance will also be entered into termly prize draws!

End-of-Year Recognition

Children who maintain 100% attendance across the entire academic year will receive a special award at the end of the summer term.

Tiered Attendance Support Pathways

We monitor attendance closely using a tiered approach to offer proactive, personalised support before gaps in learning become wider.

• Green Zone (98% – 100%) — Excellent Attendance

  • Impact: Full access to curriculum modules, stable peer relationships, and academic consistency.

  • Support: Celebration through certificates, pin awards, and termly prize draws.

• Amber Zone (96% – 97.9%) — Room for Improvement

  • Impact: Attendance is fluctuating; initial knowledge gaps may begin to surface.

  • Support: Internal tracking and monitoring by the Attendance Officer to prevent further decline. Informal awareness letters sent home.

• Pink Zone (90.1% – 95.9%) — At Risk of Underachievement

  • Impact: Learning progress is hindered by missing core learning cycles.

  • Support: A formal awareness letter is triggered at 95.9%. Parents are invited to a supportive meeting with SLT/Pastoral staff to create a Personalised Action Plan. Medical evidence may be requested.

• Red Zone (90% or Below) — Persistent Absenteeism (PA)

  • Impact: Severe loss of education (equivalent to >4 full weeks or 120+ hours of missed lessons).

  • Support: Multi-agency support (Families First / Team Around the Family), tailored attendance contracts (e.g., soft starts, key worker support), and potential referral to the Local Authority Statutory Attendance Support Team.

Supporting Re-entry & Recovery

When a child returns from an extended absence, our priority is a reassuring, smooth transition back to school:

• Low-Stakes Re-entry: Focus on restoring confidence, morning readiness, and peer connections.

• Targeted Concept Recovery: Teachers focus on addressing key misconceptions directly in the classroom rather than sending home overwhelming packs of missed work.

Statutory Obligations & Term-Time Leave

In line with Department for Education (DfE) guidance and the National Framework:

• Term-Time Leave & Holidays: Family holidays during term time cannot be authorised by the Headteacher. Leave will only be granted under rare, exceptional circumstances agreed in advance. Unauthorised term-time leave triggers an automatic Penalty Notice referral.

• Unauthorised Absence Threshold: Accumulating 10 or more sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school-week period requires a referral to the Local Authority.

• Penalty Notices (National Framework):

  • 1st Offence: £160 per parent, per child (£80 if paid within 21 days).

  • 2nd Offence (within 3 years): £160 per parent, per child.

  • 3rd Offence: Direct prosecution in Magistrates' Court (fines up to £2,500 and/or legal orders).