Punctuality is a very important life skill to have and it is important that children and parents know that arriving late to school, even by only a minute or two is not acceptable. Arriving late can be very unsettling for children as well as the class teacher, and children may miss out on important lesson instructions.
It is the responsibility of all of us to support good attendance. Class teachers are required by law to mark registers twice daily at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. Any absences will then be recorded. Registers are legal documents and have to be completed with the correct coding.
Parents are legally required to bring their child to school every teaching day. If their child is ill or there are other circumstances that prevent the child from attending, then it is the responsibility of the parents to inform school of these reasons. We ask that they contact us by telephone on the first day of absence or by letter. If no contact has been made the school will telephone in order to establish reasons. We strongly urge that non-emergency medical and dental appointments are made outside of school hours.
Reasons for absence are marked in the registers by teachers or, if the school is informed by telephone by the Business Manager using the relevant attendance codes. Parents are given time to reply but if there has been no response by the following Friday then the child’s absence is marked as unauthorized.
The school monitors attendance monthly and parents are contacted by letter when attendance falls below 90%. If a child’s attendance level falls below 85% then the Headteacher may call for a meeting with the parents or report to the Education Welfare.
Start of School Day
Staff are available in the playground from 8.45 am to enable parents/carers to drop off siblings so that children can all be in on time each morning. Doors will be closed promptly at 9.00 a.m. when registration starts. Children must be in class by then as this is the official start of the school day. Children attending morning Nursery should arrive for 8.45 a.m. start and children attending afternoon Nursery at 12.30 p.m.
Late arrival
Children arriving after 9.00 a.m. are recorded as late and the time of arrival noted. Arrival after 9.10 a.m. when registers have been completed and returned to the main school office are usually recorded as an unauthorised absence for the morning session unless a valid reason is given and accepted by the Headteacher. If you know that you will arrive later than 9.00 a.m. due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g., car break down, major travel disruption) please telephone the school 01670 512803 and leave a message.
Appointments
If your child has an appointment during the school day which is unavoidable and will be late coming to school, please inform us in writing the day before the appointment. We are required, by the Local Authority, to verify and monitor appointments during the school day so we will also need to see the appointment details. Please try to keep medical and other appointments out of school hours or in between registration times.
End of School Day
The school day ends at 3.15 p.m. (11.45 a.m. for morning Nursery children and 3.30 p.m. afternoon Nursery pupils).
Late pick up of children at end of school day
Children not collected on time are brought to wait outside the main school office. The time they are collected is recorded and a valid reason must be given for the late collection. If you know you will be late due to unforeseen circumstances, always telephone the school and give an estimated time of arrival so that your child doesn’t get anxious.
