Why does attendance matter?

 

Improving attendance is everyone’s business. The barriers to accessing education are wide and complex, both within and beyond the school gates, and are often specific to individual pupils and families. The foundation of securing good attendance is that school is a calm, orderly, safe, and supportive environment where all pupils want to be and are keen and ready to learn.” Working together to Improve School attendance – Departmental Guidance (May 2022)

 

Overdale Community Primary School strives to ensure that all pupils receive a full-time education. We work with all involved parties to ensure that pupils are in school and maximising their chances of reaching their potential. The school works hard to create a calm, nurturing environment and all staff are trained to ensure that pupils who are reluctant to come into school receive support. We support families and work closely alongside external support services to ensure that the right support is put in place to ensure pupils attend daily and arrive on time.

 

Regular attendance can have a number of benefits. Pupils with regular attendance are found to have improved attainment, better social connections with their peers and confidence in class. Overdale works hard to create a positive environment with a calm and fun approach to learning that encourages pupils to come to school. The school will establish an effective system of incentives and rewards that acknowledges the efforts of pupils to improve their attendance and timekeeping. We hold high expectations of our families and will take the appropriate actions necessary if we see that a pupil’s attendance has begun to drop. The school analyses attendance routinely and uses rapid methods of communication with parents if we feel that action is necessary.

 

What is expected of the pupils?

 

- To be responsible and come into school unless they are unwell.

- To be resilient and do all they can to attend school regularly and punctually

- To inform a trusted adult if they feel that they are being bullied

- To encourage friendship and a sense of belonging

- To be respectful and support their peers if they are struggling tom come into school.

- To be happy and encourage others to feel happy

 

What is expected of the Parents?

 

- To bring their children to school every day of the academic year unless there is medical reason or exceptional circumstance.

 

- To contact the office as soon as possible if their child is absent to offer a reason, or medical proof, for any period of absence.

 

- To ensure that their child arrives at school on time, a reason should be offered for any lateness.

 

- To work closely with the attendance and wellbeing team to resolve any problems that may impede a child’s attendance.

 

- To take family holidays during school holiday periods and be aware that requests for holidays during term time will be refused except in special/exceptional circumstances.

 

- To be aware of curriculum requirements and be especially vigilant with regards to attendance during important academic times such as SATS.

 

Attendance Target

 

Summarise data

 

2015 – 2016 – ?

2016 – 2017 – ?

2017 – 2018 – ?

2018 – 2019 – ?

2019-2020 – ?

2020-2021– ?

2021-2022 - ?

 

All children’s attendance is monitored closely and pupils are awarded certificates half termly for 100% attendance. A class competition is held weekly where a class will earn an extra 15 minutes break and a trophy if they have the highest attendance for the week.

 

All children receive certificates for 100% attendance across a half term, and any child who has had 100% for the whole school year receives a £25 amazon voucher and special recognition from the head teacher.

 

In addition to our whole school incentive and reward strategy we also use a variety of approaches to recognise and reward improvements and achievements at an individual level. These targeted rewards and incentives may include things such as certificates, stickers and other small prizes.

 

Pupil Absences

 

As a parent, having a child who is ill can be a very stressful time, whether caring for them, looking after other siblings, trying to contact the doctor or making arrangements with work.

 

Please ensure all absences are reported to the school office by 8.30am by calling the office on 01723 582360.

 

If your child is absent from school for more than one day please ensure you contact us each morning to inform us.

 

Unfortunately, if your child is absent and we do not hear from you, we have a duty of care to call each of your emergency contacts until we are able to establish that your child is safe and the cause for their absence.

 

Thank you for your support and cooperation in keeping our pupils safe.

 

Pupil Appointments

 

We do not encourage any appointments to be made during school time, and for them to be made, where possible, out of school hours. On the rare occasion there may be a need to take a child out of school during the day for a medical appointment you will be required to provide evidence of this in the form of a letter, appointment card or text message. Without evidence we may be unable to authorise the absence. We would expect parents to make routine opticians and dental appointments outside of school hours, but we understand that hospital, emergency dental and GP appointments are often outside of parental control.

 

On the occasion that appointments unavoidably fall within the school day, we expect children to attend before and after the appointments where possible, to cause minimal disruption to their learning.

 

Leave of Absence Procedures

 

As detailed in our Attendance Policy, and in line with DfE guidance, we do not authorise leave of absence during term other than when exceptional circumstances permit. If you wish to take your child out of school, during term time, it is important to discuss this with us as much in advance as possible so we can guide you through the process.

 

Please ask for a leave of absence form from the office if you wish to apply for your child to have time off under exceptional circumstances.

 

Punctuality

 

The gates open at 8.40am and close at 8.55am which gives all our families 15 minutes to arrive and drop off children in both the lower and upper school without receiving a late mark. A child arriving after the gates close in either playground will need to register as a late arrival in the school office.

 

A child arriving between 8.45am and 9.10am will receive a late mark, but this does not affect their attendance as registers are still open.

 

A child arriving from 9.10am onwards has officially missed the register and is therefore marked “unauthorised late” which has the same impact on attendance as being absent from school. This is not controlled by the school.