Clarendon Primary School promotes and expects good attendance and punctuality from its children in order for them to make the most of the opportunities that school has to offer. Good attendance enables children to make friends, gain important knowledge and develop a variety of skills and good attendance habits which will prepare them for their future. We believe that children achieve their full potential when in school and we rely on our partnership with parents to ensure that their children are punctual and attend school regularly.
By law, schools must record absences and the reason given. If a child cannot come to school because of illness, parents must contact the school before 8:30 am, and each subsequent day of absence thereafter. If a parent fails to inform the school as to why their child is not in school, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. School has the right to investigate absences further, especially if there is cause for concern.
If a child is absent from school and we have received no notification as to the reason why, every effort will be made to contact an appropriate adult. When contact is made with parents, the school will determine if the absence is authorised or unauthorised; if no contact is made, it will be assumed that the child is absent without permission. The school will only authorise a medical absence if the circumstances are unavoidable and has the right to request medical evidence if a parent rings the school to confirm their child is unwell, or if there is cause for concern. School is unable to authorise any holiday request.
Attendance is monitored closely by Administration staff, Teachers and is overseen by the Deputy Head teacher, Mrs Cairns, who can be contacted via the school office. Attendance percentages (for classes) are calculated at the end of every week and shared on the newsletter. Individual children with an attendance percentage below 90% fall into the ‘Persistent Absentee’ category and the school has a responsibility to reduce the number of children whose attendance is below 90% over the school year. When a child’s attendance falls below 90% (at any stage of the year), an attendance meeting with parents will be arranged and unannounced home visits will be made. The purpose of this meeting is for you and your child (if appropriate) to meet with Mrs Cairns and/or other staff members to identify the reasons for absence and to work together to resolve any concerns and improve attendance.
The current law does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child out of school during term time. The Education Regulations 2013 prohibit Head teachers from granting leave of absence to a pupil except where an application has been made in advance and the Headteacher considers that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.
If the absence is not authorised and the leave of absence is taken, the case will be referred to the Local Authority, who may issue a Penalty Notice for £160 (or £80 if paid within 28 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.
Any second penalty notice issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period will be issued at the rate of £160 to be paid within 28 days, with no option for a discounted rate.
The threshold at which a penalty notice must be considered is set at 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-school week period. This may include absences as a result of arriving late after the register closes. The 10 school weeks may span different terms or school years.
A maximum of 2 penalty notices may be issued to a parent for the same child within a rolling 3-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s), another course of action will need to be considered (such as prosecution or one of the other attendance legal interventions).
Non-urgent medical appointments should not be made during the school day. If the appointment needs to be during school hours, please provide the school with appointment cards or hospital letters, so that a copy can be taken for our school records.
If you have a concern or there is an issue around attendance, please contact the school. There is advice and support for children and their families. Staff in school may refer the child to the school nurse if a child is repeatedly absent from school for medical reasons.
Clarendon Primary School expects good punctuality. Our school doors open at 8.30 am for school-age pupils. The school day commences at 8.40 am and registers are closed at 8.50 am. We operate a ‘late-gate’ whereby Mrs Stone will welcome children into school and support them with routines to ensure that they are not regularly late for school.
How can you help?
For further information on penalty notices, please click here for the Local Authorities Guidance or click here for the Resources for Families pack, which is produced in association with the Department for Education.
This is an incentive used to document class attendance figures so that children can see how their class compares to others in school, creating some healthy competition. This is updated weekly in real time and will also be displayed on the new hall display.
This is every Friday and will show the weekly attendance scores and celebrate the class with the highest attendance figure. Classes with 97%-100% attendance are now eligible to collect Clarendon Coins.
Each class whose weekly attendance is between 97% – 100% will be allocated Clarendon Coins, either 5, 3, 2 or 1, which can be banked up each half term and exchanged for a treat which has a Clarendon Coins value and is chosen collectively by the whole class. This will be updated weekly on the hall display.
At the end of each half term, children with 100% attendance for that half term will get a golden ticket to put in the golden box, a name will be pulled out during the assembly and that child will be given a gift voucher. This will be repeated each half term.
Any children who have been highlighted as having attendance issues, including those who are persistently absent from school and have had a support meeting, or in the worst case a warning letter, will be monitored and if an improvement has been made over the half term, our Attendance Team will select one of them for a family award, such as a family Cinema ticket.
This is for the children at the end of the school year who have had 100% attendance all year round, this includes no late marks or appointments during school time. The reward this year is a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
This is a status given to any children who have had 100% attendance more than twice in their school career. They will then be added onto the Hall Display for the next academic year.
It is for children who have arrived at school on time all week. Their class teacher will choose someone who will join the top table on a Friday and have lunch with the headteacher as a reward for showing good punctuality.
