Attendance

Attendance

At Croughton All Saints School, we aim to:

1. Maintain an attendance rate of a minimum of 96% – this is the national average.
2. Maintain parents’ and pupils awareness of the importance of regular attendance.

Punctuality

School gates open at 8:40.  Morning registration is at 8:55. Your child must be in class by 8:55.

The School Day (Y1 - Y6)

Children have 15 minutes break in the morning

The School Day (Nursery/EYFS)

Arriving Late

It is important to be on time as we want every child to come into school feeling relaxed, happy and ready to learn. The start of the day is often used to give out instructions or organise schoolwork for the rest of the morning.  If your child misses this short but vital session, their well-being and learning may be affected.  Late arrivals are also disruptive to the class and can also affect whole school assemblies.

Arrival after the close of registration may be marked as unauthorised absence, in line with DfE guidance. 

Why does attendance matter?

Attending school on a regular basis is the key to your child doing well at school and will set them up with good routines for later life and the working world. If your child is not in school, then learning is disrupted.

If school are not notified by 9:30am, you will receive a telephone call to follow up unexplained absences.

We report your child’s attendance rate on his/her and annual school report.

We also monitor attendance closely, and we will let you know if we have concerns regarding your child’s attendance.

How you can help?

Inform the school either by telephone or by using our Studybugs App on the morning of the absence, stating the reason for the absence. We ask that you arrange non-urgent dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks.

Absences

By law, schools must record absences and the reasons given.  

Authorised Absence

Some absences are allowed by law and are known as “authorised absences”. For example: if a child is ill, family bereavement, religious observance. We realise that there are rare occasions when there might be a particular problem that causes your child to be absent. Please let us know and we shall try to deal with it sympathetically. 

Unauthorised Absence

There are times when children are absent for reasons which are not permitted by law.  These are known as “unauthorised absences”. Examples of unauthorised absence are: 

1. A family day out
2. Sleeping in after a late night
3. Because it's your child’s birthday
4. A holiday
5. Where there is no explanation for the absence or where the explanation or reason is considered unsatisfactory

Term Time Leave of Absence

We monitor the amount of school time pupils’ miss as a result of family holidays. There is no entitlement to time off in term time.  Leave of absence will only be granted where the Headteacher considers it due to exceptional circumstances, taking into account the nature of the event for which leave is sought, the frequency of the request, whether the parent gave advance notice, the pupil’s attainment, attendance and ability to catch up on missed schooling.

Parents wishing to apply for leave of absence need to request a form and send a written request addressed to the Headteacher: the Headteacher will consider your request and advise you on her decision, (possibly asking to meet with you to discuss). 

Governors

It is the Governor's legal responsibility to monitor and evaluate attendance in our school.  The school’s attendance figures are presented to the Governing Body on a termly basis. The school has a legal duty to publish its absence figures and promote attendance. Equally, parents have a duty to make sure that their children attend.