Attendance
Our aim is to bring the best out of every pupil that attends Elm C of E
The Importance Of Attendance
REMINDER: Children's attendance should be 100%. Any holidays or unathorised absences taken during school term time may result in a penalty notice being issued (per parent, per child).
"There is a clear link between poor attendance at school and academic achievement… children have little chance of catching up their peers if their attendance is bad." (Department for Education. Improving Attendance at school. Crown 2012)
At Elm C of E we value education and the right for every child to be educated. At the heart of this is regular attendance. We reinforce to children that "We come to school to learn," and that "if we aren't at school, we aren't learning." Being at school every day is very important so that children don't miss out on valuable learning time.
The only reasons to be absent from school should be due to illness or exceptional circumstances. No holidays will be authorised in term time under any circumstances.
Our attendance policy and procedures are in line with Local Authority policy and Wisbech Schools Partnership.
Our Attendance Target:
Don’t be late! Every Minute Counts
If your child is late every day by-
5 minutes means 3 school days lost
10 minutes means 6.5 school days lost
15 minutes means 2 weeks lost (10 days)
20 minutes means 2 weeks 3 days lost (13 days)
30 minutes means 3 weeks 4 days lost (19 days)
If your child arrives after registers have closed this is marked as one unauthorised session.
Elm C of E Attendance Information for Parents :
School Start Time : 8.40am
Registration Time: 8:45am
Registers will close : 9.10am
School End Time: 3:10pm
TOTAL Time: 6.5 hours per day = 32.5 hours per week
To report an absence :
Contact the school office :
01945 860295 and follow the instructions.
Academy Attendance Champion : Miss Emma Duncan
eduncan@elm.cambs.sch.uk
First Day Absence procedures:
Parents are expected to notify the academy each day if their child is unable to attend for an unavoidable reason, such as illness. If the academy does not receive notification, we will:
• Send a message asking you to make contact with the school as soon as possible.
• Call all numbers for those with parental responsibility.
• Call other contacts
• If all avenues of communication have been exhausted with no response we will conduct a home visit.
List of services
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Attendance figures explainedList Item 1
Attendance is based on a child being at school in time for the morning register as well as the afternoon register so being marked present for 2 sessions a day.
Both these sessions count towards their overall attendance figure which is simply a percentage of how many sessions your child has been present throughout the current academic year.
The only reasons a child will be marked as present when they are not in school are if they are being educated at a different location, or at a school event such as residential or sporting.
There are a variety of different reasons that a child may be absent from school and the school will assign an appropriate code on the register to make staff aware of the reason.
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Authorised AbsenceList Item 2
Absence from school can be authorised for the following reasons:
Medical appointments
Illness where the school has been notified by phone or in writing
Religious observance
NOTE: An authorised absence is still recorded as the child not being in school and will have a negative effect on their attendance figure.
Absence from school will be unauthorised in all other circumstances unless deemed to be ‘exceptional’ by the Headteacher. This does not apply to term-time holidays, which will always be unauthorised.
Please see the information below, from the Local Authority, regarding unauthorised term time leave.
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UNAUTHORISED TERM TIME LEAVE (includes Holiday):List Item 3
Any parent who takes a child out of school for term time leave of more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period, not authorised by the school (under exceptional circumstances rule), may receive a Penalty Notice. Such cases will have to be supported by evidence of previous unauthorised term time leave (more than 6 consecutive sessions over a 4 week period) taken in the last 3 years and evidence of parents being warned about a potential Penalty Notice.
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Why we feel a child’s attendance is so importantList Item 4
Children’s learning in school is based on a build up of skills and knowledge.
This build up is continually planned by teachers on a day to day basis. Children that miss one session could miss out on a potentially important session and although every effort is made to catch children up when they return, this is usually not as effective and takes time away from the rest of the class.
If children miss out on a number of sessions this can significantly affect their overall progress.
Children that are away from school on a regular basis can miss out on opportunities to build strong friendships and can sometimes find it harder to build strong friendships within school