USEFUL LINKS

Attendance Policy – Willow

Attendance Guidance 24 (Summary poster)

New Attendance Guidance 2024 (full)

Absence Request Form

 

Learning lost due to low attendance:

Types of absence

Every half-day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the reason for absence is always asked for.

Authorised absences

These are mornings or afternoons away from school for a valid reason such as illness, emergency medical or dental appointments (routine appointments should try to be arranged outside of school hours) and other emergencies. Proof of medical appointment may be asked for to enable us to authorise the absence.

Unauthorised absences

An absence is classified as unauthorised if the reason was not recognised as acceptable. The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Authority provide information for schools as to what is acceptable and what is not.

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

• A birthday
• Holidays – unless exceptional circumstances
• A shopping trip
• A haircut
• Day trips out

What to do if your child is absent:

Contact the school office by 9am and leave a message providing a reason for the absence, including specific illness details. The message needs to include the pupils full name, class and the reason for absence. If the pupil is to be off school more than one day then the parent/carer must call and leave a message on each subsequent day. If the school does not receive notification of the absence then a phone call will be made and/or Class Dojo message will be sent requesting a reason. If school has no response, then we may carry out a home visit.

Promoting Attendance and Support

We believe that working together with parents/carers is the best way to result in positive attendance outcomes for out children. We have a dedicated team available to support anyone with challenges they are facing around attendance.

We have introduced a range of rewards and systems in school to promote good attendance and punctuality with the children. Please note that the reward conditions are adjusted to ensure that this is an inclusive system where children have a chance to win.

Weekly winners – every week children with 100% attendance have their name added to their classes attendance wheel. Two winners from each class are then randomly selected in our Friday’s PRIDE assembly and they are added to the end of term attendance wheel. Children know that they have to be ‘in to win’.

Half-termly winners – At the end of every half term, a winner is selected at random from an EYFS/KS1 attendance wheel and a KS2 wheel to win a prize. Any child who has had 97% or above attendance for the whole half term has the chance of winning a tablet.

100% attendance – Every term a child has 100% attendance, they win an attendance teddy. If they have 100% for the whole year then they receive a certificate and a special prize.

Birthdays – If pupils attend school on their birthday they will receive a Birthday sticker, Birthday bubbles and a Happy Birthday song from their class. (Any weekend birthdays will be celebrated if the pupils have attended the Friday and the Monday either side of this).

Attendance Monitoring

As attendance and punctuality is so important to us, we cannot be complacent where there are instances of low pupil attendance, or if pupils are regularly late to school.

The trust and local authority are very supportive and therefore encourage our school to adopt measures and involve external agencies if the level of attendance requires us to do so. Attendance will be monitored frequently and letters sent to parents/carers where attendance is particularly low. If there is not an improvement in attendance then supportive meetings will be held to discuss ways in which can can work together to improve attendance. However, continued unauthorised absences could result in a penalty notice being issued and in some cases legal action being taken. Please see new attendance guidance on the link above for more details regarding this.

Holidays in term time

As a school, we are not allowed to authorise any requests for children to be taken out of school for a holiday during term time. Request for leave can only be granted in exceptional circumstances, and a holiday is not considered exceptional. Request for leave must be made to the school in advance of the absence by completing a leave of absence application form (see link above). Parents may receive a penalty notice is a child is absent without permission.

We appreciate the challenges that some families face when booking holidays, particularly during school holidays, however, regular attendance at school is vital in helping children and young people to achieve their full potential and get the best possible start in life.

Punctuality

It is very important that all children arrive on time. The gates open at 8:40am and school starts promptly at 8:50am. If your child arrives after 8:50am then they are late and will need to come through the main office. Late children will need to be signed in giving reasons for lateness.

If children are regularly late, a meeting may be held to discuss how we can offer support to improve punctuality.