Attendance
Statement of Intent
At Vale View we are committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our pupils. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them. Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience.
In partnership with parents we have a duty to promote good attendance.
Parental Responsibility
Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and arrive on time. Regular attendance is essential to the all-round development of the child and they should be allowed to take full advantage of educational opportunities available to them in order to make good progress in their learning.
Why is attendance important?
Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and sets them up with good habits from an early age through to adulthood and the working world.
It also gives children the opportunity to:
- Make friends and feel included
- boost social skills, confidence and self-esteem
- develop the skills to learn new things
- achieve their full potential
- improve their prospects
Small changes can make a big difference
Parents are advised to:
- Show your child that you think school is important
- Not keep your child off school if they are worried or have a problem – you should come and talk to the school
- Praise you child’s achievements
- Recognise that if your child gets into bad habits from an early age, these are hard to break later in life
How good is your child’s attendance?
All pupils are expected to attend regularly to be able to access and achieve their full potential at school. It is accepted that some of our pupils have medical conditions which may impact on their attendance; it is important that school understand how we can support children with medical needs and ask that you discuss your child's individual needs with our SENDco Mr Vellani.
90% attendance might sound good, but… |
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90% attendance is the same as: |
½ day missed each week |
20 days in each school year |
A full month out of school |
So, 90% is not as good as it first seems. |
Days off school add up to lost learning
175 Non school days a year 175 days to spend on family time, visits, holidays, shopping, household, jobs and other appointments |
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190 days in school days in each year
190 days for your child’s education |
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10 days absence |
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19 days of absence |
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29 days absence Half a term missed |
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38 days absence |
|
47 days absence |
180 Days of Education |
171 Days of Education |
161 Days of education |
152 Days of Education |
143 Days of Education |
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97 – 100% Excellent |
Less than 96% Be aware |
90% Be Aware |
85% Worrying |
80% Serious Concern |
75% Very Serious Concern |
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Best chance of success. Gets your child off to a flying start. |
School Monitors Less than expected level of attendance |
WORRYING Less chance of success Makes it harder to progress |
SERIOUS CONCERN Not fair on your child Referral To Early Help and/or KCC School Liaison Officer may be considered |
Being late also adds up to a loss of learning
- If your child is 5 minutes late every day that adds up to over 3 days lost over each year.
- 10 minutes late every day adds up to over 6 lost days each year
- 15 minutes late is the same as being absent 2 weeks each year.
Late arrival to school
When your child arrives late at school, he/she misses the teacher’s instructions and the introduction to the lesson. Your child may also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late. In EYFS and KS1 children may also miss their daily phonics session which can impact very negatively on their Reading development.
Please help your child to be punctual.
What can I do to increase my child’s attendance?
- Only keep your child at home for genuine illness.
- Book appointments after school or during the holidays. Attend school before or after appointments, do not take the whole day off.
- Avoid taking holidays in school time.
- Parents and carers have a responsibility to make sure that their children attend school regularly, on time and receive a full-time education.
It is the law
A child registered at school can legally only miss schools in very limited circumstances. These are:
- When your child is really too unwell to attend
- When the school have authorised the absence beforehand.
If your child is missing without good reason, schools and local authorities have a number of legal powers that they can use.
Authorised Absences include:
- Genuine illness resulting with seeing a doctor
- Religious observance
- Family bereavement
Unauthorised absences include
- Holidays and family outings
- Traffic
- Unable to get child to school
- Birthday celebrations
- Oversleeping
- Parent appointments or ill health
- Sibling appointments or ill health
- Waiting for a delivery
- Waiting for a builder, plumber, electrician
- No uniform or uniform not ready
- Shopping
In cases of illness, parents are asked to telephone the school on 01304 202821 and speak to a member of the office team or leave a message on the absence line. Please remember to give specific details of the illness because “poorly/unwell” is not sufficient. If school have not been notified of your child's absence we operate a 'first day calling' system whereby we make contact with parents to ascertain the reason for absence - if we are not successful in identifying a reason for a child's absence we may make a home visit.
If the absence continues please keep the school updated. A note confirming the reason for absence should be sent in with your child upon their return to school.
Requesting Absence from School
Any request for absence must be made in writing with an explanation of why the absence is being requested, the start and end dates and the reason for the absence. From 1 September 2013, headteachers have been unable to agree leave of absence during term time unless they are satisfied there are exceptional circumstances and authorised absence cannot be given retrospectively. Please give sufficient time for your request to be considered or the absence will be unauthorised.
If you require any advice, support or guidance, please contact the School Office.
Our attendance policy can be found below.