Attendance

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.

Impact of Great Attendance

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:

• Data from 2019 shows that 84% of Key Stage 2 pupils who had 100% attendance achieved the expected standard, compared to 40% of pupils who were persistently absent across the key stage.

Why not try checking you child’s attendance via the Arbor App and see how they are doing?

Here to Help

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.
Mrs Scales	Mrs Scammell Office Assistant	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.
Mr Paul Griffiths Headteacher & Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)	Mrs Crankshaw    Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)	Mrs Alice Jones Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO) & Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL)

Recognising Good and Outstanding Attendance

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

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.

Wider Support 

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)

Punctuality

Our school day starts at 8.45am. Children should arrive at school between 8.40am and 8.45am so they can enter school with their class. As outlined in the policy and in line with DfE guidance there is a 10-minute registration period each morning from 8.50am – 9.00am when the registers are open. During this registration period children are either receiving important input for the day ahead or undertaking practice of key skills. When children are late, they miss some or all these, which impacts on them and their learning.

To help give your child the best start to each day and ensure they access a full day of education please plan your morning routine, so your child can arrive at school between 8.40am and 8.45am.

As the table above indicates, lateness is recorded in different ways depending on the time of arrival. Even though some lateness is recorded as authorised and some unauthorised we are very clear that all lateness is disruptive to the child themselves and the other children in their class. As such we ask that parents plan their morning routine in order that children can arrive on the school site between 8.40am – 8.45am and join their class line.

We are very fortunate to have fantastic before school provision via Funclub who offer before school care including breakfast from 7.30am. If you think this could be of help in enabling your children to be in their class line at 8.45 and would like further information, please contact Craig and the team by emailing stpeters@funclubs.co.uk or calling 07771867641.

Absence of Leave Requests

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. 

NYCC Rights & Responsibilities Guide

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.