Why Attendance Matters

We want St Laurence children to have a “love of learning, life and each other.”  When children miss school, or come in late, they don't just miss out on learning, they miss  playing games and sharing experiences with their friends, and they miss out on making memories with events and activities we do in school.   Our learning builds up day after day, so missing out on those steps means it can be harder to pick up new learning too.  Coming to school every day helps children's wellbeing and their progress.   It is actually a legal duty for parents to ensure children come to school on time each day.

 

 

The Senior Attendance Champion is Mrs Catherine Smith, Headteacher.

Attendance at school is carefully monitored because being in school is important to your child’s achievement, wellbeing, and wider development.  Our aim is for no child to miss no more than 8 days during the year.  This gives an attendance percentage of 96%. 

Absence from School

Illness

For any unplanned absence, such as illness, please inform school by telephone call, email or Arbor Parent App message by 9.00am on the first day of absence.

If you are unsure if your child is well enough for school, please check the NHS guidance:

• NHS: Is my child too ill for school?
• YouTube: Is my child too ill for school?

In school, we are happy to give your child both prescribed and over-the-counter medication such as paracetamol (e.g. calpol) or antihistamine (e.g. piriton) if this helps them to be in school.  Please hand medication into the school office and complete a permission form with dosage.

 

Illness During the School Day

If your child is unwell or has had an accident which needs further medical attention, we will contact you.  We may ask for permission to give medicine, ask you to come to school to check on them or tell you they are not well enough to be in school and ask you to collect them.

We always send a message if your child has bumped their head. This is just for your information and does not mean they necessarily need further medical care.  However, if we feel your child's head bump is more serious, and may require medical intervention or closer monitoring than is possible within school, we will  phone you and speak to you directly.

Returning to School After an Illness

If your child has been absent please make sure that they are well before returning, especially if the illness is infectious. In the case of sickness or diarrhoea please keep your child at home until they have been free of symptoms for at least 48 hours. We follow NHS guidelines (see link above)

Medication in school:  we are able to give children over the counter (such as paracetamol) and prescribed medications (such as antibiotics) during the school day to help children be in school.  Please hand your child’s medication in to the school office and complete a medication authorisation form.

Also see our Supporting Pupils with Medical Needs Policy.

 

Appointments

Dental and medical appointments should, wherever possible, be made out of school hours. If your child has an unavoidable appointment, please inform the school office as soon as possible.

Please be aware, that although these may be an authorised medical appointment, if your son or daughter misses a morning or afternoon registration, the appointment will affect your child’s overall attendance percentage.

Holidays or Other Leave of Absence in Term Time

Leave from school will not be authorised during term time except in exceptional circumstances.  Permission must be applied for in advance using our Pupil Leave of Absence Request form, found at the bottom of this page.

 

Penalty Notices for School Absence

There is a national framework for Penalty Notices, which ensures consistency in response to unauthorised absence across schools in England.  A penalty notice may be issued for unauthorised absence such as holidays taken in term time. A penalty notice allows parents to discharge an offence by paying a one-off penalty without the matter being referred to court where they could receive fines of hundreds of pounds and a criminal record.

Local Authority penalty notices FAQ for parents

 

Punctuality

The doors to school are open from 8.40am to 8.45am. After this time, your child should enter through the Bunbury Road Entrance.

• If your child arrives after 8.55am they will be marked as late. Persistent lateness may result in legal action.
• If your child arrives after 9.15am they will be marked as unauthorised late. Persistent unauthorised lateness may result in legal action.

If your child will arrive late to school, please contact the school office as soon as possible to notify us of the expected arrival time and reason for lateness.

 

Supporting Your Child’s Attendance

We want to help support you with any problems you may have with getting your child to school.  It may be that they have worries about saying goodbye, or have experienced bullying.  It may be because of your family circumstances, like managing lots of different school runs, or affording bus fare. If you have any problems that are making getting your child to school hard, please let us know so we can try to help.  Our pastoral support worker, Mrs Passenger is happy to chat and help.

Some simple things you can do to support your child’s attendance:

• Ask your child questions about their day to show an interest and talk positively about school – “Did anything make you laugh today?” “Who was a good friend to you today?” “Did you learn anything new today?”
• Have a routine for getting up, getting dressed, having breakfast and leaving the house – this reduces the morning stress!
• Prepare the night before by packing bags, laying out clothes and having a good night’s sleep.
• Help your child develop friendships by organising play dates or meet-ups with other children in their class.
• Talk to your child about the importance of attending school to support their learning. Model this by only letting them stay at home if they are truly too ill for school, and by booking appointments after school and in holiday time.
• Communicate with school if your child has had an upset which is making them feel like they don’t want to come in – usually these issues can be sorted out quickly and we can help reduce the anxiety for you and your child. Speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance, or to one of the SLT who are on the door each morning.

In the rare cases of frequent or unauthorised absences, and persistent lateness, we will follow the Local Authority Support First Scheme as outlined in our Attendance Policy.

Attendance Codes

You can check your child's attendance using the Arbor Parent App.  We will also share an attendance summary with you during our termly parents’ evening.   

Here is a breakdown of the attendance codes from the Department for Education that we use in school:

Links for further advice

• Place2Be: My child doesn’t want to go to school
• Young Minds: School Anxiety Parents’ Guide
• DfE Blog on School Attendance