Attendance – Why Good Attendance is Essential

Children are at the heart of our Christian motto – Let Your Light Shine Matthew 5:16

At St James, we believe every child has a light, their own light and with support and nourishment, they will be able to shine. Our shared vision is that our children are happy to come to school, they feel safe and well cared for. They feel challenged and supported in their learning and are excited by their learning opportunities. With this happiness and love of learning, they attend school every day, which in turn brings them academic success and the opportunity to reach their potential. Attending school means that children can make friends, improve their social skills and build positive relationships to prepare them for life. As a school, we maintain that academic success is linked to high attendance and we have high expectations for all of our children to reach their greatest potential.

The Attendance Team led by our Senior Attendance Champion and Deputy Head Teacher, Mrs J Pritchard, supported by our Attendance Officer Mrs Sagoo, our class teachers, pastoral and administration teams take responsibility for monitoring the attendance of children and regularly promote the importance of attendance and punctuality. We aim to achieve at least 95+% attendance each academic year and ensure our persistent absence % is at least in line with national levels if not lower.

The Attendance Team will use attendance data to identify any patterns of concern and look to work with families to identify the barriers to achieving and maintaining excellent attendance and offer the right service at the right time to try to resolve any difficulties. Our aim is to build strong relationships with our families, to ensure that every child registered at the school attends every day and arrives punctually. We will listen to issues around attendance and work with families to remove these so that poor attendance does not become ‘the norm’. Our emphasis is on support before sanctions. Attendance concerns will be raised with parents if reasons are not known by the school. Where we have concerns, or lack of engagement from families to improve attendance, we will follow the Local Authority’s Support First guidance. Early Help is offered, in the first instance, with Mrs Pritchard and/or Mrs Buckle making referrals to outside agencies where appropriate. If attendance does not improve, parents/carers are invited to a Formal Attendance Meeting (FAM) with Mrs Pritchard and Mrs Sagoo where the potential for legal intervention is made clear.

Our aim is to always work in partnership with parents and any referral for legal intervention is deemed to be a last resort at St. James. Throughout the school year, the Deputy Head Teacher will report on the overall attendance figures including those for different groups, monitoring of support which is reported to the Governing Body.

Expectations

We use the following percentages to classify our attendance.

98%+ Excellent

95 – 97% Good

90 – 94% - Concern (poor)

Below 90% - High Concern – officially ‘persistently absent’

Expectations are communicated with parents at the beginning of every academic year and on a regular basis via our newsletters. Attendance figures for each child will be reported to parents as part of their annual report, we will also share a child’s attendance printout with parents/relevant agencies if we have concerns regarding a child’s attendance.

The table below is included in the information shared.

 

Attendance during one school year	equals this number of days absent	which is approximately this many weeks ‘absent	which means this many lessons missed
95%	9 days	2 weeks	50 lessons
90%	19 days	4 weeks	100 lessons
85%	29 days	6 weeks	150 lessons
80%	38 days	8 weeks	200 lessons

ATTENDANCE IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY

Our expectation of parents/carers: Promote a good attitude to learning, by ensuring that their children arrive at school punctually, (in time for the start of registration, 8.55am) every day, in appropriate dress and willing to work to fulfil the expectations of the school with regard to rules and behaviour, learning and homework. Work in partnership with school and other agencies in the best interests of their child: this includes informing school about significant influences and changes in the child’s life, which may impact on learning and attendance. Ensure that, if their child is to be absent from school for any unavoidable reason such as sickness, they should contact the school by 10.00am on the first morning of absence, giving the reason for absence and the likely date of return. Plan holidays and family visits during the school holidays. If the need for leave of absence is absolutely unavoidable, parents should arrange to meet with the Head teacher as far in advance of the period for which leave is to be requested as possible and before making any travel arrangements. Plan routine dental check-ups and visits to the optician during school holidays. Inform the school of any medical, optician or dental appointments in advance if they are to take place during term time. Avoid requesting leave of absence during periods where there are National Curriculum assessments (beginning of April to the end of June) Work together with the HT/DHT/Senior Office Manager/Learning Mentor and other agencies where necessary to improve their child’s attendance when they are/or at risk of persistent absence.

Our expectation of class teachers: Provide a good example by always being punctual and meeting children at the door – providing a welcoming and safe environment, which encourages attendance and the best performance from children. Keep an accurate and up-to-date register of attendance on time, at the start of each morning and afternoon session. Report any concerns regarding attendance matters concerning the class group to the DHT/Senior Office Manager. Regularly remind children and parents of the importance of good attendance. If children are picked up late (after 3.25pm) they should be taken to the school office and their names should be recorded in the late book. Inform parents of their child’s attendance percentages at parent’s evening. Ensure children receive rewards in relation to attendance and punctuality success – aligned to the Attendance Policy. Build a welcoming atmosphere in the classroom and provide support as necessary (for example catch-up session with TA to begin to fill any gaps in lost learning) when children return after an absence.

Promoting excellent attendance

The school will employ a wide range of strategies to promote excellent attendance:

•  Teachers will regularly communicate with children and parents on attendance matters.
• Clear attendance information will be communicated to parents, staff, children and governors within the Attendance and Punctuality Policy and on the school website.
• Good, regular attendance will be highlighted in the Induction meetings for new parents.
• An Attendance and Punctuality noticeboard is displayed in the school hall. It is changed weekly, highlighting the best attending class in KS1 and KS2 as well as demonstrating progress to the ‘96% Attendance Challenge’.
• Informing parents, staff, children and governors on the school newsletter fortnightly. The school aims to encourage excellent attendance, where the children’s efforts are acknowledged and rewarded. Rewards will be various and may include:
• Termly certificates to individuals with excellent attendance.
• Termly prizes for attendance.
• Attendance Teddy/weekly prize awarded to class who has best attendance in KS1 and KS2.
• Weekly ‘96% Attendance Challenge’ – a class will celebrate their collective success. When a class achieves 96% or above they receive a token. When they have collected 6 tokens, they will receive a class reward of their choice.
• All classes with excellent attendance highlighted and promoted within fortnightly newsletter.
• Certificates/letters for improved attendance.