As articulated in our Vision of Love, Learn, Shine;
‘We nurture each individual to be happy, healthy and safe’ and ‘We inspire children to a lifelong love of learning’
To achieve this and in order to establish excellent lifelong learning habits excellent attendance at primary school is essential.
Excellent school attendance helps children learn and achieve and for this reason St Peter’s is committed to ensuring children attend well.
It is important that parents and families share and support our understanding of the importance of good attendance as well as our expectations and the reasons for them.
Children who attend school regularly keep up with school work well. This impacts very positively on their overall social, emotional and academic development.
Teachers plan carefully ensuring lessons build on what has been taught previously. Being in school consistently means tomorrow’s lessons are more meaningful and easier for the children to access. There is a proven correlation between positive attendance and good achievement.
National research shows that:
| We are all here to help and are really keen to ensure everyone gets the help they need as and when they need it. We have systems in place to monitor attendance however if children or families have any worries or concerns we very much want to work with you at the earliest available opportunity.
The friendly office team are a helpful first point of contact if you need to let us know about an absence or for help with your Arbor account. They can be contacted via the office, or admin@stpeters.ycst.co.uk or 01423 569684. |
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Mrs Goold Office Manager |
Mrs Scammell Office Assistant
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Mrs Haughton Office Assistant |
| If you need to discuss a worry or concern about attendance you can arrange to speak with your child’s class teacher by emailing admin@stpeters.ycst.co.uk to arrange a convenient time. You can also arrange to speak to any of the senior safeguarding and welfare team who can provide additional support and advice. | ||
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| Mr Paul Griffiths
Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) |
Miss Helena Fishburn
Deputy Headteacher & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) |
Mrs Alice Jones
Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO) & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL) |
Through our newsletters we share and celebrate the numbers of children achieving good and outstanding attendance. We write every term to families where excellent levels of attendance have been achieved.
Persistent absenteeism is classed as attendance below 90% in a school year. We closely monitor attendance records and will write to parents if their child is at risk of or is classed as persistently absent. We will work closely with families to support them in ensuring children improve their attendance record.
Our parent guide highlights the importance and benefits of good attendance and how we can help support this.
We recognise that from time to time there are factors which mean attending school can be difficult for children and families. Where this is the case we want to work closely with each family individually and in confidence recognising that every situation just like every child is unique. Please do reach out to us.
There are also sources of external advice, help and support that families may useful.
Not Fine in School was created as a resource for families with children experiencing school attendance barriers. At the heart of Not Fine in School there is a Facebook support group with a membership of 37,000+ parents, carers & other family members. This offers a space for shared lived experience and peer empowerment.
The Childline website has a wide range of information for parents as well as activities for children to help them think about their feelings and emotions and support them in managing these.
Is my child too ill for school? – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
We strongly encourage children to attend school every day of the school year. We recognise that very occasionally there may be exceptional circumstances for which parents need to apply for absence of leave during term time.
Please note – no parent can demand leave of absence as a right.
Regulations state that applications must be made in advance and will only be authorised in exceptional (examples of exceptional circumstances are given on the request form) circumstances. Absence of leave requests apply to all children registered at the school even if they are not yet of statutory school age (5 years old).
If you need to make a request please download the Leave of Absence Application and submit it to the school office as far in advance as possible and at least 6 weeks before the first date of the requested leave.
Following submission of requests forms we will write back to parents with a decision.
Please note it is not possible to replicate the work children will miss in other forms as the children will miss the direct teaching. Teachers and support staff will do their level best to support children upon their return but please be aware all absence disrupts the learning process and impacts on the continuity of education.
An unauthorised absence of 10 or more sessions (5 days) in a four month rolling period requires the school to inform the local authority to consider issuing a penalty notice.
The NYCC rights and responsibilities documents outlines parents rights and responsibilities in relation to attendance. It explains the possible outcomes of poor attendance for children and parents. It highlights that schools can contact the LA to request the issue of a Penalty Notice, if there have been at least 10 sessions (five days) of unauthorised absence in the preceding four months. An accompanying FAQ document answers the most common questions regarding penalty notices and other aspects of attendance.
