Attendance

Attendance

Radwinter CofE Primary School recognises that positive behaviour and good attendance are essential in order to raise standards of pupil attainment and to give every child/young person the best educational experience possible.  We believe in developing good patterns of attendance and set high expectations for the attendance and punctuality for all our pupils from the outset.  It is a central part of our school’s vision, values, ethos, and day to day life.  We recognise the connections between attendance, attainment, safeguarding and wellbeing.

The law entitles every child of compulsory school age to an efficient, full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude, and any special educational need they may have. It is the legal responsibility of every parent to make sure their child receives that education either by attendance at a school or by education otherwise than at a school.

Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have an additional legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly. This means their child must attend every day that the school is open, except in a small number of allowable circumstances such as being too ill to attend or being given permission for an absence in advance from the school.

The name and contact details of the senior leader responsible for the strategic approach to attendance in our school is:

Name: Emily Bartram

Email address or contact details: head@radwinter.essex.sch.uk

The name and contact details of the school staff member pupils and parents should contact about attendance on a day-to-day basis is:

Name: Sarah McSweeney (Administrative Assistant) or Lindsay Smith (Office Manager)

Email address or contact details: office@radwinter.essex.sch.uk

The name and contact details of the school staff member pupils and parents should contact for more individual support with attendance (Pastoral Support Worker):

Name: Pippa Hibbs

Email address or contact details: phibbs@radwinter.essex.sch.uk

Absence Procedures

If a child is absent from school the parent must follow these procedures:

• Contact the school on the first day of absence before 8:30am. The school has an answer phone available to leave a message if nobody is available to take your call, or you may call into school personally and speak to the office staff
• Contact the school on every further day of absence, again before 9:00am
• Ensure that your child returns to school as soon as possible and you provide any medical evidence, if requested, to support the absence

If your child is absent, we will:

• Telephone you on the first, and every subsequent day of absence, if we have not heard from you however it is your responsibility to contact us
• If we are unable to contact parents by telephone, we will telephone emergency contact numbers, send letters home and a home visit may be made in the interests of safeguarding
• A referral will be made to Local Authority if no contact has been made with parents by the 10^th day of absence (or sooner if deemed appropriate), at which point your child will be “missing from education.”
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If absence continues, we will:

• Write to you if your child’s attendance is below 95%, or where punctuality is a concern
• Invite you into school to discuss the situation with our School Welfare Officer, Pastoral Support Worker (Mrs Hibbs) or Headteacher if absences persist
• Create a personalised action/support plan to address any barriers to attendance
• Offer signposting support to other agencies or services if appropriate
• Refer the matter to the Local Authority for relevant sanctions if attendance deteriorates following the above actions

Lateness

Poor punctuality is not acceptable and can contribute to further absence. Good timekeeping is a vital life skill which will help children as they progress through their school life and out into the wider world.

Pupils who arrive late disrupt lessons and, if a child misses the start of the day, they can feel unsettled and embarrassed, miss vital work and important messages from their class teacher.  All time out of school affects learning and achievement.  If your child in 5 minutes late every day, this is the equivalent of being absent for 2 weeks of a school year.   

The times of the start and close of the school day for all pupils at Radwinter CofE Primary School are:

Gates open: 8:30 am

Gates close: 8:40am

Registration closes: 8:50am

End of the school day: 3:10pm

How we manage lateness:

• The school day starts at 8:30am when children can begin to come into school 
• Registers are taken at 8.40am and your child will receive a late mark ‘L’ if they are not in by that time 
• Children arriving after 8:40am are required to come into school via the school office. If accompanied by a parent/carer they must sign them into our ‘Late Book’ and provide a reason for their lateness which is recorded
• At 9:00am the registers will be closed. In accordance with the Regulations, if your child arrives after that time, they will receive a mark that shows them to be on site - ‘U’, but this will not count as a present mark, and it will mean they have an unauthorised absence
• The school may contact parents/carers regarding lateness
• From time to time a member of school staff will undertake a ‘Late Gate’ check, greeting late arrivals at the main entrance to the school  

Unauthorised lateness could result in the school referring to the Local Authority for sanctions and/or legal proceedings.  If your child has a persistent late record, you will be asked to meet with Mrs Emily Bartram, but you can approach us at any time if you are having difficulties getting your child to school on time.  We expect parents and staff to encourage good punctuality by being good role models to our children and celebrate good class and individual punctuality.