Our school target for attendance is 97%
At Field End Junior School, we believe that good and punctual attendance at school is vital for every child. It is essential for good learning and progress, and prepares them for adulthood by giving them a positive work ethos early in life. If a child attends school regularly and on time, this helps to become organised and reliable, two qualities which are valued by employers.
We provide high quality teaching and learning experiences to help all pupils reach their full potential. Our curriculum is planned on the basis that children will be at school every day and on time, so that they are able to get the most out of what is on offer and make the most progress possible.
Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Any pupil’s absence disrupts teaching routines so may affect the learning of others in the same class.
Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is the legal responsibility of parents and carers and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.
Parental Requests for Leave during Term Time
The school will not grant permission for any ordinary/family holidays during term time. Exceptional leave will be considered on a case-by-case basis but will always be refused for children in Year 6, and where a child’s attendance is below 95%. All requests for exceptional leave needs to be applied for and evidence will be required in each case. In deciding whether to authorise any periods of Exceptional Leave, the school will consider the nature of emergency, whether there are already any concerns regarding the child’s attendance or concerns about their learning and progress.
Where unauthorised holidays or leave are taken without permission from school, because a request has not been made or has been denied, these will be recorded as ‘unauthorised absence’ or ‘unauthorised holiday’ and the school may refer you to the Participation Team and a Penalty Notice issued.
If a parent/carer is granted Exceptional Leave and the child does not return on the specified return date, any further absences will be marked as unauthorised and a referral will be made to the Participation Team.
The School’s Expectations
All children of compulsory school age between 5 and 16 are required by law to attend school every day on time, to receive an education and it is the parent’s legal obligation to ensure that this takes place. The school expects that all children will attend school every day during term time, unless there is a good reason not to and will arrive on time, appropriately dressed, well rested and fed for the school day. Our minimum expectations for each child attendance is 96%
If a child is unable to attend school, parents/carers must contact the school office to explain why their child cannot attend that day. If the reason provided is acceptable, the school will authorise the absence.
Absence Procedures at Field End Junior School
If your child is absent, you must:
- Contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence by telephoning the school and speaking to a member of the admin team.
- Contact us on a daily basis for the duration of the absence.
If your child is absent, we will:
- Telephone on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you; if there is no response the school will continue to attempt to make contact with the parent/carer for an explanation. A letter will be sent home if there is still no reason given for absence.
As a school, we will do the following:
-
Ensure that there are efficient and accurate systems to record attendance and time keeping.
-
Contact parents/carers direct if their child fails to attend school and they have not told the school why.
-
Contact parent/carers if there is a pattern of authorised/unauthorised absences or lateness.
-
Take immediate confidential action on any problems related to attendance notified to us by parents.
-
Take positive measures to encourage good attendance.
-
Work with Safeguarding and the Participation Team regarding welfare concerns.
-
Ensure that when pupils are at school they receive a high quality education.
Understanding types of absences
Every half-day absence from school has to be classified by the school (not by the parents), as either AUTHORISED or UNAUTHORISED. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required, preferably in writing.
Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason like illness, medical/dental appointments that unavoidably fall in school time, emergencies or other unavoidable cause.
Please note this will affect your child’s percentage attendance.
Unauthorised absences are those which the school does not consider reasonable and for which no “leave" has been given. This type of absence can lead to the Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes:
Parents/carers keeping children off school unnecessarily
-
Truancy before or during the school day
-
Absences which have never been properly explained
-
Children who arrive at school too late to get a mark
-
Shopping, looking after other children or birthdays
-
Day trips and holidays in term time which have not been agreed
-
Excessive illness without medical evidence
Whilst any child may be off school because they are ill, sometimes they can be reluctant to attend school. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between the school, the parents and the child. If your child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and usually makes things worse.
You can support your child by:
-
Ensuring regular and early bed times
-
Helping with homework
-
Having correct uniform, including PE kit and equipment prepared the night before
-
Providing a healthy breakfast
-
Reporting any academic or social concerns promptly
-
Retaining open and honest communication with your child’s school
-
Being positive about school (even if your own experience was less than positive)
-
Encouraging your child to invite friends home for play dates
Medical/Dental Appointments
If a child misses more than half a morning or afternoon session because of an appointment, this is recorded in the register as ‘M’ – authorised absence. Parents will be required to provide some form of evidence to the school office for these appointments. If your child is absent on day/s just before or after school holiday period, you will be required to provide medical evidence to prove they were ill. If your child is persistently absent due to illness, following a meeting with the school/Participation Team, you will be required to provide medical evidence for any further absences due to illness or your child absence may not be authorised. You will be notified in writing of this expectation going forward.
Persistent Absenteeism (PA)
A pupil becomes a 'persistent absence' when they miss 10% or more schooling across the school year for whatever reason. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s educational prospects and we need parents’ fullest support and co-operation to tackle this.
We monitor all absence thoroughly. Any case that is seen to have reached the PA mark or is at risk of moving towards that mark is given priority and you will be informed of this immediately.
PA pupils are tracked and monitored carefully through our pastoral system and we also combine this with academic mentoring where absence affects attainment. All our PA pupils and their parents are subject to an Action Plan and the plan may include: allocation of additional support through a Mentor or an LSA, use of circle time, individual incentive programmes and participation in group activities around raising attendance. All PA cases are also automatically made known to the Participation Team.
The Role of the Attendance Support Team
Parents are expected to contact school at an early stage and to work with the staff in resolving any problems together. This is nearly always successful. If difficulties cannot be sorted out in this way, the school may refer the child to the Attendance Support Team from the Local Authority. They will also try to resolve the situation by agreement but, if other ways of trying to improve the child’s attendance have failed and unauthorised absences persist, these Officers can use sanctions such as Penalty Notices. The penalty notice amounts to £60 per adult per child identified if paid within the first 21 days rising to £120 per adult per child identified if paid after this period but within 28 days, or prosecutions in the Magistrates Court. The legislation is the Education Act 1996 sec. 44.1 and 44.1.a. “If any child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his/her parent is guilty of an offence.’’
Alternatively, parents or children may wish to contact the Attendance Support Team, Early Intervention and Prevention Services themselves to ask for help or information. They are independent of the school and will give impartial advice. Their telephone number is 01895 250858 or attendancesupport@hillingdon.gov.uk
Punctuality and Lateness
Poor punctuality is not acceptable. If your child misses the start of the day they can miss work and do not spend time with their class teacher getting vital information and news for the day. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons, can be embarrassing for the child and can also encourage absence.
How we manage lateness:
The school day starts at 8.50 a.m. and we expect your child to be in class at that time.
We operate a ‘soft start’ to the day, the school gates will open at 8.30 a.m. and the doors at 8.40 am, when children are able to come into the building.
At 8.50 a.m., the playground gate will be closed and entry will then be via the front entrance.
Registers are marked by 9.00a.m. and your child will receive a late mark if they are not in by that time.
At 9.10am, the registers will be closed. In accordance with the Regulations, if your child arrives after that time they will receive a mark that shows them to be on site, but this will not count as a present mark and it will mean they have an unauthorised absence. This may mean that you could face the possibility of a Penalty Notice if the problem persists
A late book is kept in Reception which parents or children must sign when arriving late, giving a reason. If your child is late, six or more times per half term a letter will be sent home to inform you of this.
If your child has a persistent late record you will be asked to meet with the Headteacher or the attendance manager to resolve the problem, but you can approach us at any time if you are having problems getting your child to school on time.
Each week the class with the highest attendance will be celebrated in our assembly. At the end of each half term, the class who has obtained the highest percentage attendance will have additional playtime..
In addition to this, at the end of each week every child who has met or bettered our school attendance target of 96% will have their name placed into a raffle. At the end of each half term, one name from the Lower School and one from the Upper School will be chosen at random and each will win a prize of a book token.
Those staff responsible for attendance matters in this school are:
Mrs J Phelan, Headteacher
Mrs C Tobin, Deputy Head
Mrs J Jones, Office Manager
Miss P Dubisson, Receptionist
The table below demonstrates how your child’s attendance equates to days, weeks and lessons missed from school.
