Good attendance is directly related to a child’s enjoyment and achievement at school and it is vital to promote successful learning.
ATTENDANCE TARGETS
At Western Primary School, our attendance target is 96%; this matches the national average for school attendance.
This means no more than 7 days absence from school each year.
Every time your child misses school, they also miss important learning opportunities.
Every time they arrive late, they miss some of their lessons.
Why is attendance at school and punctuality important?
Because every second counts.
90% attendance may sound good. However, this is the equivalent of missing a half day of schooling EACH WEEK. If this continues over every five years a child spends at school, a child with 90% attendance will miss HALF A YEAR’S schooling.
A child with 80% attendance will lose A FULL YEAR of schooling over the same period.
LATE REGISTRATION
Being late to school can have a considerable impact over the whole school year. The table below shows you just how much time can be missed over a year just by being 5 minutes late to school every day:
5 minutes late every day = 3 days of school lost a year
10 minutes late every day = 6.5 days of school lost a year
15 minutes late every day = 10 days of school lost a year
20 minutes late every day = 13 days of school lost a year
30 minutes late every day = 19 days of school lost a year
Ways to ensure your child is in on time
Make sure they get enough sleep
Make sure they have an alarm clock
Make sure their clothes are ready the night before
PERSISTENT ABSENCES
The Department for Education classes children with attendance below 90% as persistent absentees. It therefore presents a concern if a pupils’ absence drops below 90% and we have a duty to work with families who fall into this group. We will work together with Attendance Matters (our attendance partner) to put additional targeted support in place to remove any barriers to attendance. This may include some or all of the following:
- Providing attendance information via written communication
- Telephone calls/visits from our home/school liaison officer and/or Attendance Matters
- Meetings with families to discuss parent views and any underlying issues which may be affecting attendance
- Setting targets to help improve attendance
- Where these measures are not successful and all avenues have been exhausted, we may decide to prosecute parents.
