Attendance and Absence

The attendance and lateness of children is monitored by the Educational Welfare Department of the local authority. This monitoring system makes direct comparisons between absence/lateness rates and the well-being/performance of children. Attendance and lateness figures also directly affect judgements made by OFSTED about the school.

Should your child’s absence rate be high or they are persistently late an Educational Welfare Officer will make contact with the family to offer assistance to improve the situation. From September 2015, the government stated that persistent absence is where a child’s attendance is below 90%.

Please remember that children should arrive at school between 8.45 and 8.55 am. Active learning begins at 9.00 am and children are officially late from this time. The School Register is closed at 9.00 am and if your child arrives after this time your child will recorded as late or given an unauthorised absence.

Lateness affects children in a variety of ways:

They may feel embarrassed or upset about coming into a classroom once the session has begun.
They miss out on learning.
They don’t feel included in the daily routine from the start and this affects confidence and well-being.

Lateness Procedure

The school gates are locked promptly at 9.00 am without exception. After this time you need to bring your children into school through the main entrance, where you will be asked to sign your child in at the school office, giving the time and reason for lateness.

Absence Procedure

If your child is unwell, please phone the school on the morning of your child’s absence by 9.00am. The office staff will record this information and will not need to bother you with follow up calls or letters.

If you forget to call in, a member of staff will follow up this absence either with a call or text letter asking why your child/children are not at school, in the first instance this is to ensure your child’s safety however we also need you to clarify the reason for all absences or else we have to mark the absence as unauthorised.

If your child has been off due to sickness for more than two days, on the third day a member of staff will contact you to find out how they are and if there is anything we can do.
On a weekly basis we will monitor the absence and lateness figures and will contact families to offer support and/or advice regarding absence and/or lateness where necessary.

Our school’s target for the 2015 / 2016 school year was 97.06%.

Attendance at School – parent guide

Absence request form S2