We recognise the clear link between good attendance and children’s attainment. We therefore expect all children to attend school regularly and on time.
Oakhill Primary Academy encourages regular and punctual attendance in the following ways:
- Providing a caring and welcoming learning environment
- Responding promptly to a child’s and/or parent’s concerns relating to events in school
- Marking registers accurately and punctually during morning and afternoon registration
- Publishing and displaying weekly attendance statistics
- Celebrating attendance in our weekly Celebration Assembly and rewarding good attendance
- Monitoring Pupil attendance, informing parents/carers in writing of irregular attendance, arranging meetings if necessary and referring the family to the Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) if irregular attendance continues
If your child is absent due to illness or for any other valid reason, please contact the school office (01226 284493) on the first day of absence
The school operates a very strict policy regarding leave during term time.
No child will be allowed to leave the school premises during the school day unless collected by a Parent/Carer or a nominated adult (aged 16 years and over) who is a named contact for the child. All pupils must be signed out at the school office and the reason for them leaving the school premises must be specified. Written confirmation of an appointment is required for all medical and dental appointments. We encourage parents to make medical and dental appointments in the school holidays wherever possible, or out of school hours.
As parents/cares we expect that you will:
- Always encourage regular school attendance and be aware of your legal responsibilities
- Always ensure that your child arrives at school punctually and ready for the school day
- Ensure that you contact school whenever your child is unwell and unable to attend school
- Contact the school by 9.00 am on the first day of the child’s absence and telephone every day thereafter unless your child has a doctor’s certificate
- Contact us promptly whenever any issue occurs that may keep your child away from school
Responding to non-attendance
When a pupil does not attend school we will respond in the following manner:
- On the first day of absence, if we have not heard from the parent/carer by 9.30 am the school will ring the child’s first nominated point of contact. We may follow this with a home-visit if we are not able to make contact with you by telephone.
- If by the end of the second day, there has still been no contact made we will send a letter of concern and invite you into school to discuss your child’s absence. You will be notified that if the absence persists a referral will be made to the Education Welfare Service. Failure to comply with the expectations set out by the Education Welfare Service may result in further action, an application for an Education Supervision Order or court prosecution.
Grant for leave of absence is only given in very exceptional circumstances.
The school term dates are published a year in advance and therefore we do not support or authorise parents taking their child out of school during term time. If a family feels leave in term time is unavoidable, a Grant of Leave of Absence (in very exceptional circumstances) must be completed at least two weeks prior to the leave date. This can be obtained by writing to the Head teacher, via the School Office.
Punctuality
As all school days begin with a core area of learning (reading, writing or maths) it is very important that your child arrives on time every day.
- If pupils arrive at school after the close of the register (09.00) without a written explanation, a late mark will be recorded.
- If a child arrives late after 9.30 am, it will be recorded as a late absence and counted as an unauthorised absence. Where a child is persistently late, we consider this cause for concern and will ask to meet with parents to discuss a suitable way forward and/or notify the Educational Welfare Service.
99/100% |
This is excellent attendance- well done! |
Above
|
Above 97% – Less than 6 days absence a year: excellent attendance! Pupils with this attendance should achieve the very best they can, leading to the best possible start to their education. |
95% |
95% – Less than 10 days absence in a year: pupils with this attendance are likely to achieve their targets and will be well prepared for progressing to Key Stage 2. |
90% |
90% – 19 days absence over the year: pupils with this attendance are missing a month of school per year and may fall behind in literacy and mathematics; it will be difficult for them to achieve their best. The EWO will become involved. |
85% |
85% – 29 days absence in a year: these pupils are missing 6 weeks of school a year, it will be very difficult for them to keep up and achieve their best. This is very poor attendance and is cause for concern. The EWO will be involved until attendance is improved. |
80% and below |
80% – pupils with this attendance are missing a day for every week of school. It will be almost impossible to keep up with learning. This is very poor attendance and will be referred to the Education Welfare Department for further action to be taken. |
Please Note: All Parent/Carers must notify the school of any absence of pupil including those who attend the Foundation Stage 1 (morning and afternoon sessions).
A copy of our policy can be found on the policies section of our site