I am asking for your support in improving whole school attendance and punctuality. During the COVID pandemic it was necessary for pupils and families to isolate if they or a close contact tested positive.  That is not now the case and it is essential that we build back up on our previous positive attendance rates.

The impact upon children’s education through lost learning is huge. At a time when so much education has been disrupted it is vital that we make every school minute count.  I urge you to ensure that your child is in school and on time every day to prevent anyone falling behind with their learning. 

Government departments track school attendance figures. It is considered that attendance of 90% or below is persistent absence which will be closely monitored by school staff.  Failing to improve on this 90% can lead to prosecution, which school want to help families avoid. 

Park Schools Federation has a whole school attendance target which is 96.5% for both schools.

There are things you can do to improve your child’s attendance and avoid falling into the persistent absence category:

• If your child is unwell and you are unsure whether to send them to school, contact the office to seek advice on 01623 742663. There are times when it is not appropriate for children to come to school, high temperature or sickness and diarrhoea. Having said that, children can come to school with the sniffles and aches and pains. We will always contact you if we feel that your child needs to go home.
   
• Avoid taking any holidays during term times
   
• Keep up to date with what % attendance your child has so that you know if they are at risk of persistent absence (office staff will provide you with your child’s current attendance early in the next term)
   
• Speak to school staff with any concerns.
   
• Talk to your child about the importance of them being in school and let them know how important you feel it is.

The table below provides an example of the impact of lost learning through pupil absence:

So a child who has an attendance of 80% has missed 38 days of school and has missed 190 lessons.

Punctuality is also highly important. Pupils who arrive late to school are not only losing learning but also disrupting the learning of others as they arrive late for lessons.  Pupils do not like being late into school and we witness how upsetting it can be for them.  We want to prevent this.

The table below provides an example of the impact of lost learning through pupil lateness.

We want to help families get their child to school on time.  Here are some things you can try:

• Have everything you/your child needs for school prepared the night before
• Ensure that your child goes to bed reasonably early so they are not too tired to get up in the morning
• Ensure your child has a good night’s sleep by minimising their use of devices at bed time.
• Have a consistent bedtime routine for your child
• Set an alarm to allow plenty of time for your morning routine in getting to school on time

Thank you for your support.  I hope we can make improvements to attendance and punctuality.

We all need to work together to improve our attendance between now and the end of the summer term. You will see posters and advertising going up over the next few weeks. We will be running many assemblies about the importance of great attendance. Children will be rewarded on a half termly basis if they have 100% attendance.

I do understand that this is a sensitive issue. Being a father of 4 children I know that I must tread carefully because you as parents are best placed to know if your children are well enough to attend school. Having said that, our attendance in this first half term is very low, combine this with the many late marks, suggests to me we have an issue.

I am certain that part of the issue will be uncertainty around Covid and the impact on the pandemic. We must move forward and together we must improve our children’s attendance.