The Welfare Team along with help from the school admin will be focusing on supporting you to ensure that your child’s attendance is as high as possible this could mean:
* Increased attendance meetings in school with parents to track attendance and make improvements provide support.
* Local Authority Attendance Officer meetings to offer support to improve attendance and avoid Fast Track Prosecution.
* Home visits to provide support and strategies to improve attendance.
* School nurse/health visitor support.
* Early Help Assessments where needed/applicable.
Celebrating Good Attendance
We encourage good attendance in school. For example, 100% certificates are awarded to children who have had no absences at the end of each half term. We celebrate children who have 100% attendance for the entire year by presenting them with a certificate and a special reward.
Absence Procedure
If your child is unable to attend school, it is your duty to contact the school before 9.00am to inform the office staff.
Main Office Contact:
– 01925 632705 – Select option 1 to report your child’s absence.
This procedure will need to be followed each day that your child is absent.
The office staff will receive all messages and follow up accordingly.
We are required to follow up any unexplained absences.
This will be followed up via a phone call to parents/guardians, or, in some instances, a home visit will be carried out.
Children who are too ill to come to school or may pass infection to others should not attend. Please see the NHS website for advice on whether your child needs to be off school.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
Mrs Stokes and Mrs Gahgan monitor attendance and punctuality everyday; should you have any concerns about your child’s attendance please speak to either of them. They are available every morning from 8.30am, please telephone school for an appointment.
Persistent Absence
Every term we report attendance data to the School Governors.
Attendance figures which fall below 90% are regarded as Persistent Absence. At this point, parents will have already had a meeting with the school attendance team, but will now be subject to involvement from the Local Authority Attendance officer Nicola Whyte.
We work very closely with Nicola, and regularly review attendance and punctuality.
Do You Know Your Child’s Attendance Figures?
How does your child compare?
| Attendance during one school year | Equals this number of days absent | Which is approximately this many weeks absent | Which means this number of lessons are missed |
| 100% | 0 days | 0 weeks | 0 lessons |
| 95% | 10 days | 2 weeks | 40 lessons |
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 80 lessons |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 160 lessons |
| 70% | 57 days | 11.5 weeks | 230 lessons |
Frequent absence can add up to a considerable amount of lost learning and can seriously disadvantage your child in adult life.
Leave of absence will be given for attendance at medical or dental appointments or for examinations in music, dance etc. Please be aware we may ask for evidence of these. However, where possible such appointments should be made outside of school.
Punctuality
If your child is late into school this may also result in an absent mark. Punctuality is also very important as it can disrupt your child and other children’s learning. Therefore we will also be checking punctuality regularly.
Why is punctuality so important?
Being on time gives your child a GREAT START to the day, putting them in a positive frame of mind to make the mostof the day’s learning and activities. Punctuality is linked to good attendance, and as we know, good attenders have more opportunities and therefore achieve more!
At Meadowside, we also provide all of our children with a Free Breakfast Snack at during morning registration! This consists of fruit for Nursery and toast for Reception – Yr 6.
Types of Lateness
Late before register closes (L mark): This mark is given after 8.50, but before 9.20am. Your child is a few minutes later, but they have missed the opportunity to say hello to and play with friends. They are likely to feel unsettled and embarrassed as they start morning lessons.
Late after register closes (U mark). This mark is given for arrivals to school after 9.20am and counts as an unauthorised absence,will show on your child’s attendance record and can lead to a penalty notice being issued by the LA . Not only has your child missed the chance to meet with their friends before school, they are likely to have missed the start of lessons and could feel un-settled, embarrassed and much less confident than their class as the lesson moves on.
School doors open at 8.40am, with the morning register at 8.50am. School is open for a total of 32 hours per week.
Did you realise even a few minutes late soon adds up to missing days?
| Minutes late per day | Equivalent of Missing |
| 5 minutes | 3.4 school days a year |
| 10 minutes | 6.9 school days a year |
| 15 minutes | 10.3 school days a year |
| 20 minutes | 13.8 school days a year |
| 30 minutes | 20.7 school days a year |
Please ensure your child arrives to school on time every day.
Holidays in Term Time
Following the recent High Court ruling regarding holidays in term time, the following is the Local Authority’s position for all Warrington schools:
‘Holidays will be unauthorised except for very few due to specific circumstances. The majority of requests will not be agreed by headteachers and so will be marked as an unauthorised absence.’
Holidays will also be subject to penalty notices being issued, please see the letter below from the Local Authority for more information on the criteria.
As a school, we fully appreciate the financial constraints that some families face when booking holidays. However, there is an expectation that all schools introduce stringent checks to ensure that there is a significant reduction in the number of absences during term time.
Contrary to popular belief, there is NO entitlement to time off for family holidays.
We ask that parents thinking about term time holidays consider the impact on your child’s learning. In order for your child to have the best possible start in life, they need to make the most of every learning opportunity – Every day counts!
If you do take your child out of school, please ensure that you complete an Absence Request Form, in advance.
This is available from the main office or or attached above.
For further help or advice on attendance issues please contact the school attendance team, we may be able to offer support where there are barriers to good attendance and punctuality.
01925 632705
office@meadowside.tcat.uk.com