Paper copies of these forms and leaflets can be provided if needed. If you would like to request a paper copy please call or visit the school office.

Attendance Matters

Wyndham Primary School fully recognises its responsibilities to ensure pupils are in school and on time, therefore having access to learning for the maximum number of days and hours. As you know, children need to attend school regularly and on time to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them by law.

Although parents/carers have the legal responsibility for ensuring their child’s good attendance, the Head teacher and Governors at our school work together with other professionals and agencies to ensure that all pupils are encouraged and supported to develop good attendance habits.

Children who are persistently late or absent soon fall behind with their learning. Children who are absent from school frequently develop large gaps in their learning which will impact on their progress and their ability to meet age related learning expectations. A child whose attendance drops to 90% each year will, over their time at primary school, have missed two whole terms of learning.

Our School Policy on Attendance and Punctuality is available via the ‘Policies’ tab on this website. You can also request a copy from the school office. Please take some time to refresh yourselves with a brief outline of our attendance and punctuality protocol:

Absence

Please ensure school you contact school with a valid reason for absence before 9:00am each day your child is not in school. Where we have not received reasons for absence school will contact you by text message, e-mail or by telephone. Without a reason provided, this could result in an unannounced home visit or the absence being unauthorised. Please also contact us if your child will be late for school.

Please remember that children come into school at 8.45am, registration is straight after that with learning beginning as soon as the register has been completed.

Children with diarrhoea and/or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 48 hours (2 days).

If your child is vomiting and/or has diarrhoea and has been to see his/her GP and you know the cause of the illness, please let the school know as soon as possible as it may help prevent further cases. Anyone who has been in contact with someone who is vomiting and/or has diarrhoea but does not have the symptoms themselves may attend school as normal.

Parents of any children who are vomiting and/or have diarrhoea in school will be notified immediately so that they can be taken home.

Holidays in Term Time

As you know, legislation makes it clear that schools may not grant any leave of absence from school during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances. This will mean that applications for leave of absence for the purpose of a holiday in term-time will be refused unless parents can demonstrate and prove there are exceptional circumstances relating to the holiday request. Children attend school for 190 days per year which leaves 175 days during school holidays and weekends for family events including holidays and medical appointments. A leave of absence form must be requested from the school office if you anticipate taking your child out of school during term time.  Following submission of the form, you will be invited to attend a meeting with Mrs Cleary, who will give due consideration to each individual request.

If you take your child out of school without permission this will be recorded as unauthorised absence (truancy) and noted on the child’s Record of Achievement and may result in each parent being issued with a fixed penalty fine for each child taken out of school.  From September 2017 a penalty notice for an unauthorised holiday during term time has reduced from 10 days unauthorised absence to only 5 days of unauthorised absence. Clarity from the Supreme Court has been provided to schools/academies confirming The Education Act 1996, stating that;

“If a child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school, fails to attend regularly at the school, his/her parent is guilty of an offence”.

Monitoring Attendance

Office staff and the Lead Professional have the responsibility for ensuring that all attendance data is accurately recorded.  Weekly meetings are held between the Head teacher and Lead Professional to discuss all attendance and punctuality concerns.  Appropriate actions are taken following these meetings such as; unannounced home visits, letters sent to parents or meetings arranged to discuss attendance concerns with parents.

Rewards

Certificates, postcards, stickers and other privileges will be presented to those children who maintain good attendance and punctuality at the end of each half term. Weekly house points for good attendance are awarded in assembly each week. A weekly draw is carried out to award a child from each class, who has 100% attendance for that week to have a special Friday brunch.