Our school aim is to ensure that all children are able to achieve their very best by taking full advantage of the education opportunities that are available to them. We hope to do this by ensuring high levels of attendance and punctuality and creating an ethos in which good attendance is valued by both school and parents/carers. When children attend school regularly they are more likely to succeed academically, as well as learning social skills, giving them the opportunity to engage positively with their peers and build strong friendships.

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Our attendance target is 96%

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All our attendance procedures, strategies, conversations and meetings are intended to be supportive and collaborative - we want to work together with families to ensure all our pupils are in school as much as possible, whilst showing understanding and developing an open dialogue in those circumstances where this is not possible. 

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Our attendance procedures are below along with a link to our policy. If you have any queries about attendance, please contact our attendance lead, Miss Z Mills. 

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Promoting Good Attendance

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Good attendance is promoted as part of our school culture and ethos. Each week in Celebration Assembly we discuss our attendance goal, the importance of good attendance and we reward hose classes who have met our school target of 96% for the week. To do this we: 

• Announce and applaud all classes who have over 96% attendance for the week in assembly. 

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• Report weekly attendance, including the highest attending classes, on our newsletter. 

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• Have an Attendance Board where each class achieving 96% or above attendance can earn a badge. Once a class has earnt 6 badges, they get £10 in their "pot". At the end of the year all the money saved gets spent on Playground Equipment - this is led by School Council. 

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• Each week, the class with the highest attendance gets 5 minutes of extra break. 

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• At the end of each term, we give an additional £10 to every class with an average attendance of over 96%.

Attendance Monitoring 

We are proud of the positive relationships we have with our parent/s and carers and know that strong partnerships are the most effective ways to help ensure good attendance. For the majority of our children and families’ attendance isn't an issue. To ensure that pupils’ attendance meets the expected standard, and effective support is provided where pupils’ attendance falls below expected levels:

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• Attendance is discussed by classroom staff and pupils on a regular basis, including through SEND and Pupil Progress meetings. 

 

• School will inform all parents/carers of their child(s) attendance by letter each half term (From November onwards).

 

• When a pupil’s attendance becomes a concern parents/carers are informed via letter. This is typically when a child’s attendance falls to 95% and below. These letters are colour coded and intended to make you aware of your child's current attendance and to ensure you know we are here to support you with anything you might need. 

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• Letters will also be sent home to acknowledge where attendance has improved and where a family is continuing to work with us around a longer term specific issue or through early help. 

 

• School will arrange a meeting with parents/carers to discuss attendance issues once their child’s attendance falls to 92% or below. These meetings are intended as supportive and collaborative discussions to work with you to overcome any potential barriers to your child's attendance. ​

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If your child is not in school: 

 

• Contact is made with parents on the first day of absence for any pupil where absence has not been reported. (School will use all of the contact numbers for pupils).  You can report absence by leaving a voicemail, emailing us, or calling in to the school office. 

 

• If contact cannot be made to ascertain why the pupil is not in school, then a Safe and Well home visit will take place. 

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• Priority contact for absent pupils each day will be made to parents of children who walk to school alone. 

 

Attendance reviews will take place every half term. Any actions taken to address poor attendance will be recorded on the child’s chronology and school will retain records and analysis to inform future discussions. 

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Attendance Meetings

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The purpose of an attendance meeting is to look at ways school and families can work together to improve a child’s attendance. ​Parents/Carers will be required to attend a meeting with school leaders and the school attendance lead if their child's attendance falls below 92%. During the meeting the attendance lead and parents/carers will form a plan of actions to help improve attendance within a four-week time frame.

 

If in the unlikely event that attendance fails to improve following the implementation of the plan the school may need to make a referral to the Rotherham Attendance Pathway. While we continue to support you to ensure good attendance for your child, this next step means that failure for this to improve mag may lead to a court summons and/or a fixed penalty notice (fine).

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Term Time Holidays

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 Holidays in term time will not be authorised, except in very exceptional circumstances and this will be at the discretion of Mrs Littlewood. If a holiday is taken in term time and the Local Authority criteria for a fixed penalty notice (fine) is met, then a referral will be made. It will be then the responsibility of the Local Authority to determine if a fine should be issued. A second referral for fine could lead to a court summons.