School Attendance

Attendance and Punctuality

We believe that children need to be in school for all sessions, so that they can make the best progress possible.  It is essential that a child’s time at school is maximised and even short absences can have a detrimental effect on children’s learning. Any pupil’s absence or late arrival disrupts teaching routines, so, in addition to affecting your own child, it may also affect the learning of others in the same class. Early poor attendance habits follow right through from primary to secondary school and into employment.

At All Saints C of E Primary School, we believe that the most important factor in promoting good attendance is the development of positive attitudes towards school. To this end, we strive to make our school a happy and rewarding experience for all children. We will reward those children whose attendance is very good. Children receive encouragement from their teachers for being punctual and achieving good attendance. The staff respond to absence and lateness in accordance with the age and social circumstances of the child. Lateness and attendance is dealt with through parents rather than the child. We will also make the best provision we can for those children who, for whatever reason, are prevented from coming to school.

• We expect all children to be at school, and on time, every day that the school is open, as long as they are fit and healthy enough to do so. We do all we can to encourage children to attend.
• Poor attendance or punctuality will be followed up by a visit from our Attendance Team and/or our Education Welfare Officer, who will offer support in order improve your child’s attendance. 
• If you have any problems or concerns regarding your child’s attendance please do not hesitate to contact us.

The School Day

• In the morning the school gates are open from 8.30am and learning commences at 8.40am.
• Charterhouse gates open at 8.30am allowing children onto the supervised playground.  Strathmore Avenue gates open at 8.40am.
• The pupil entrances/gates are locked at 8.50am prompt and any child arriving after the gates are locked will be marked as late.
• All arrivals after 8.50am need to come in through the main entrance and ensure that they are signed in at the school office as they will have missed classroom registration. 

• School finishes at 3.20pm and we expect all children to be collected promptly.

Absences

When your child can miss school:

You can only allow your child to miss school if either:

• they’re too ill to go in
• you’ve got advance permission from the school

Absence Procedures

• If your child is absent from school for any reason you will need to contact the school office before 9.30am informing school of the reason for absence. Please ring the school on 024 7622 4810 and choose option 1 to leave a message.  There is a 24 hour answering service to enable you to leave a message outside of school hours. You will need to let us know your child’s name and class, reason for absence and an estimate of long the absence is likely to be. 
• Any supporting information regarding your child's absence can be emailed to:  aspire@allsaints.coventry.sch.uk
• If your child is absent and we have not received a reason you will receive a telephone call and/or text message to request that you contact the school with a reason for your child’s absence.
• When a reason for absence is not provided the absence will be unauthorised and you may receive a home visit to check on your child's well-being.

• Absences that are not due to a child's illness or have not been granted in advance by the headteacher will be recorded as an unauthorised absence 

• Further advice: NHS Is My Child Too Ill for School?
• Recommended Periods to be kept away from school: Public Health England Guidance on Infection Control

Medical Appointments

• Where possible please try to avoid making medical/dental appointments during school hours.
• If an appointment is during school time it will be necessary to bring a copy of your appointment letter or card into the school office in order for the absence to be authorised.

Leave in Term Time

• Children of school age registered at a school must, by law, attend school regularly. Parents do not have any right or entitlement to take a child out of school for the purpose of term time leave. 
• Parents must request permission in writing from the Headteacher before making a firm commitment to the absence.  A decision from the school will be given within 14 days.  You may be required to attend a meeting with the Headteacher. 
• No family holidays or extended leave are permitted during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Holidays taken during term time will be unauthorised.
• In exceptional circumstances the Headteacher may consider a request for exceptional leave. 

• In addition, there is an expectation that schools will request Penalty Notices be issued to each parent who fails to ensure their child’s regular attendance at school.  These fines have a rising scale beginning at £80.  These changes are outlined in the Education Regulations 2013 which are an amendment to the Education Regulations 2007. For example a family of two parents with two children can expect to pay £320 in the first instance.

Attendance Percentages

• Your child is expected to attend school on 190 days of the year.
• The government recommendation is that the school attendance of every child should be 95% or above if they are to achieve their potential.  

Persistent Absence

When a pupil is persistently absent or persistently arrives late, we will investigate the reason for this and offer support where appropriate to rectify the situation.  

• If a child is later is later than the close of registration (30 minutes after the register is taken), an unauthorised absence is recorded.

• Children who's attendance is less than 90% are referred to Coventry City Council Attendance & Inclusion Team.
• If there is no improvement in attendance a Fixed Penalty Notice will be requested. Coventry City Council will issue a monitoring period to consider the issue of a penalty notice if further unauthorised absence occurs.

Further Information:

• All Saints Attendance and Exception Leave Policy
• Coventry City Council Attendance & Inclusion
• Term Dates and Holidays
• All Saints School Day
• DfE School Attendance & Absence
• Fines For Parents for Taking Children Out of School - What You Need to Know