Attendance
The Attendance Team
At Southglade Primary and Nursery School we are committed to ensuring that all children excellent school attendance. Our school target this year is 97%
We have a dedicated team of staff members who work to promote the importance of attendance across the school.
These staff members are:
Mrs Jo Rowlett (Deputy Head and ADSL)
Mr Daemon Wilkinson (Attendance Improvement Officer: in school on a Wednesday)
Mrs Angela Main (School Business Manager and DSL)
Mrs Michelle Burrows- (Office)
Mrs Dianne Finnie- FSW
Throughout the year you will receive updates about our attendance incentives in school.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact one of these staff members.
Attendance at Southglade
At Southglade Primary School we have high expectations for attendance and punctuality. It is a proven fact that every child achieves better when they are at school every single day. As a school we use a range of creative strategies to promote good attendance habits. These will be updated in light of covid-19 and the impact that this has had on policies and practise at school.
This diagram below highlights the importance of attendance and the link it has with academic achievement:
100% Excellent
| At 100% you give your child the best chance to succeed and achieve the best grades that they can. |
96%-99.9% Good
| 96%. Less than 8 days absence in a year. Pupils with this attendance are likely to achieve their target grades and will be well prepared for starting secondary education. |
90%-95.9% Cause for concern
| 90%. 19 days absence over the year. Pupils with this attendance are missing a month of school per year and may fall behind in Maths and Literacy; it will be difficult for them to achieve their best. = 4 Weeks lost in a school academic year |
89.9%- 80% Serious cause for concern
| 85% equates to 29 days absence in a year. These pupils are missing 6 weeks of school a year. It will be very difficult for them to keep up and achieve their best. = 6 Weeks ( ½ Term) lost in a school academic year Any % below 90% and your child is classed as persistently absent. |
<80% Critical
| 80%. Pupils with this attendance are missing a day for every week of school. It will be almost impossible to keep up with work. Parents of pupils with this level of attendance could be issued with a Penalty Notice. = 8 Weeks lost in a school academic year |
Reporting Absences
Parents must contact school each day to share reasons for absence. If contact is not made, the reception staff will try to phone home. If school cannot make contact with parents to ascertain the reason for absence, a home visit will be carried out by the attendance team.
If no contact is made the absence will be unauthorised. If a child has 10 unauthorised sessions (five days) in a ten week period, a referral to Education Welfare will be made.
Parents should endeavour to make medical appointments outside of the school hours. When this is not possible the child should attend school before and after the appointment.
Persistent Absentees
When a child's attendance is too low and it drops below 90% you will contacted by a member of the school's attendance team via letter. You will then be placed on a monitoring plan. If there is no improvement in the attendance level of your child then you will be invited to an attendance meeting where individual targets will be set. Prior to this meeting being held, school will contact your child's class teacher to find out the impact of poor attendance/ punctuality is having on the learning of your child. A member of the attendance team will then discuss with your child how they feel about not regularly attending school- the child's voice is crucial within the whole process.
A period monitoring will then take place; if there is no improvement following this, then a referral to the Education Welfare Service may be made. In some cases, low attendance may trigger a referral to children's services.
For more detailed information please refer to Southglade Primary School's attendance policy which is also attached at the bottom of this page
Holidays
Leave of absence including holidays will only be authorised in exceptional circumstances. All leave of absence requests should be submitted using the leave of absence request form that is available from the school office. Please ensure that forms are completed in good time. If leave of absence isn't granted a referral may be made to the Education Welfare Service and a fine may subsequently be issued.