Attendance Information
Attend today, Achieve tomorrow
Good attendance
Our attendance target is 97% because although we would all wish it to be 100%, we all know that small children catch all kinds of bugs and viruses and need to take a little time to recover. There may also be pupils who have serious medical needs which mean they need medical treatment during school hours. If your child has a sickness bug (vomitting or diarrhoea), please ensure they stay off school for 48 hours after the last episode. This helps to contain the spread of the illness.
Illness aside, the impact of poor attendance is far reaching. Not only does it affect a pupil’s achievement, it also impacts on their friendships and sense of belonging.
90% of something sounds very positive, but when it comes to attendance, 90% means missing 18 school days, or over three and a half weeks. Parents and schools have a legal duty to do everything they can to ensure good attendance.
The pace of learning is fast, especially for very young children. In Reception, for example, pupils are taught a new sound every day. If they miss a week of school due to a term-time holiday, they will miss that vital learning. Learning builds upon prior learning, therefore it is not easy to catch up when they return, because the class will have moved on. New learning depends on prior learning. Our staff will always support pupils to catch up on what they have missed, however, this is not an ideal position for your child to be in, therefore, if an absence can be avoided, it should be.