Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance 

We want every child to feel happy, safe and ready to learn each day. Coming to school regularly and arriving on time helps children build confidence, develop friendships and make the best possible progress in their learning. 

We know that sometimes children are unwell or family circumstances arise, and we encourage parents and carers to talk to us openly so we can support you and your child. 

Reporting Absence 

If your child is unable to attend school, please let us know as soon as possible. 

You can report your child’s absence by: 

• Calling the school office on 01255 427073 and selecting option two 
• Email the school attendance officer at [email protected]

Please include your child’s full name, class and reason for absence. 

If we do not hear from you, the school will follow up to check your child is safe. This may include further contact in line with our attendance procedures. 

Why Attendance Matters 

Every school day counts. In primary school, learning builds step by step, and missing even a small amount of time can make it harder for children to keep up and feel confident. 

As attendance drops, the amount of learning missed increases quickly: 

Attendance at a Glance 

Authorised and Unauthorised Absence 

Only the school can authorise absence, in line with education regulations. Parents and carers cannot authorise absence themselves. 

If your child’s attendance falls below 90%, we will contact you to talk about how we can support improvement. Where absence continues without authorisation, further action may be required in line with local authority guidance. 

Term-Time Leave 

We kindly ask families to avoid taking holidays during term time. Time away from school can affect learning, routines and friendships, particularly for younger children. 

Term-time leave is not routinely authorised and may be recorded as unauthorised absence. 

Punctuality

Poor punctuality is not acceptable.  If your child misses the start of the day they can miss learning and do not spend time with their class teacher getting vital information and news for the day. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons which can be embarrassing for the child and can also encourage absence.  Learning will not be stopped when late children arrive in the class as this is unfair on the children who are punctual to school.  It is the responsibility of all parents and carers to ensure that their child/ren are in school on time.

All times are taken from the clock in the main office

8.40am: Playground gates open and pupils can go into school.

8.45am: Registers open.

8.50am: School gates are closed, learning time begins – all pupils who are late, must now go to the front office.

9.00am – 9:30am: Children are registered as ‘late’. Parents/Carers will have to provide the exact reason as to why they are late. This will be recorded on the register as code L. Code L does not contribute to the issue of penalty notices.

9:30am onwards: Children are registered as ‘very late’. Parents/Carers will have to provide the exact reason as to why they are very late. This will be recorded on the register as code U. Code U does contribute to penalty notices as it is an unauthorised absence. It is very important to avoid code U by being on time for school every day.

What if I have been to the doctor or the dentist?

If it is possible please arrange for medical appointments to be outside of school time. However if you have had to go in an emergency for your child, you must bring with you evidence that you have been. This can be an appointment card, a prescription that has been issued on that day, or evidence that you called the surgery to speak to someone and take advice. If the school has seen the evidence then the absence will be recorded as code M. This is authorised. If there is no evidence then it will remain as code L or code U.

Attendance Team

If you have any questions at all about your child’s attendance, here is who you can ask:

• Miss Coles (Attendance Lead) – Miss Coles is one of the staff members who may call you if your child is absent. You can talk to Miss Coles about why your child was late or absent and you can bring any medical evidence to her. She will invite you to meetings about attendance and you could ask to speak to her if you have important information about your child’s attendance. Miss Coles mostly works with families where the children are persistently absent (attendance less than 90%) because this is very serious. Miss Coles also does assemblies and rewards for really good/most improved attendance.
• Office Staff – These are the staff you will speak to first if you phone the school about absence. You can explain to them the reasons for your child’s absence or lateness and they will note it down. They may ask you questions to be really clear they are putting down the right thing. The office have forms and leaflets to do with attendance.
• Mr Wood– If you want to request a holiday during term time or special leave then you must write to Mr Wood. He is the only person who can allow families to miss any school for this reason. Please remember the policy of the school, the local authority, the Trust and the Government is to say no to holidays during term time.
• Education Welfare Officer (EWO)– We work very closely with the EWO from Essex county council. She supports Miss Coles by taking on the cases where pupil attendance is extremely low – less than 90%. The EWO is the person who works with the school to issue fixed penalty notices where they are required, and to prepare cases for court.