Attendance

Ensuring your child arrives every day on time and ready to learn is the most important commitment we ask of parents and carers.

We understand that children can be unwell and may need at times to be absent from school, however when children are consistently absent for a day or a morning each week this has been shown to be a negative effect on their learning, their friendships and overall wellbeing.

To encourage good attendance we have a number of reward systems in place for children on a weekly, termly and annual basis.

Lateness

Children are expected to arrive punctually for the start of the day (between 8.40am and 8.50am).  All children (other than those in Nursery), enter from the playground at the rear of the building.  The gates to the playground are locked at 8.50am and children arriving after this must report to the School Office where they will be registered in the late book.  Patterns of lateness are monitored by the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) and our Attendance Lead and parents/carers will be challenged regarding persistent lateness.

Reporting Absence

If your child will be absent from school, it’s important to let us know on the first day.  Please either telephone the office 01782 233611, message via the Attendance Dojo or let us know in person.  If the absence is due to a medical appointment, please bring the appointment card to the office so a record can be made.  If no report of absence has been made, the school office will contact you to check the reason for absence, in the first instance by telephone, then by the ‘teacher to parents’ text service or by Class Dojo.  If your child is absent due to vomiting, they will need to remain at home until 48 hours after the last bout of sickness to prevent infection of others.

Medical and Dental Appointments

Please do your best to make non-urgent medical and dental appointments during our school holidays.  If your child does have to attend an appointment during a school day please only remove them for the appointment time and bring them back to school wherever possible to minimise missed learning.  When collecting/dropping off your child please have the appointment card available for the office to take a copy of.  A signing in/out book is kept in the office to record such appointments.

Leave of absence (including holiday requests)

Summerbank’s aim is to prepare pupils for their future lives and careers.  We will only grant a pupil a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. Taking holidays in term time will affect your child’s schooling as much as any other absence and we expect parents to help us by not taking children away in school time. Holidays will almost always be classed as unauthorised and parents are liable to fines (as per the guidance found at the end of this policy) in this instance.

Where parents wish to request a leave of absence, we expect them to meet with the Education Welfare Officer to discuss the reasons for their request and to complete a Leave of Absence form.  Where travel has already been booked, we ask to see proof of this (tickets, booking confirmation). 

 Any requests for leave during term time will be considered on an individual basis and the child’s previous attendance record will be considered. Where the absence is granted, the headteacher will determine the length of time that the pupil can be away from school. Any leave of absence is at the discretion of the headteacher.

 Requests for leave will not be granted in the following circumstances:

• Immediately before and during statutory assessment periods
• When a child’s attendance record shows they are ‘Persistantly Absent’ (above 10% absent)
• Where a child’s attendance is a cause for concern.

If term-time leave is not granted, taking a pupil out of school will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and may result in sanctions, such as a penalty notice. These notices are issued in respect of each parent for each child. The school cannot grant leaves of absence retrospectively; therefore, any absences that were not approved by the school in advance will be marked as unauthorised.

For mor information around absence, please view our Academy Attendance Policy located in the Policies Section.