Attendance

Punctuality and good school attendance are essential for any child to make progress and reach their full potential. The government have set a target of a minimum of 96% attendance for every child in school and it is important that we strive to achieve this. Research clearly shows that children with attendance below 95% achieve less well at school than other pupils, and can even affect their performance at high school. Please click on the link for further information on this research: Impact of attendance on GCSE grades

Applications for time off school for family holiday during term time

The law relating to holidays during term time changed in 2013.

The law now states that:

• Parents do not have an entitlement to take their child on holiday during term time.
• Parents must apply in writing to school for leave absence at least 4 weeks before they leave if they wish to take holiday during term time.
• Schools can only give permission for leave of absence if there are exceptional circumstances for taking children out during term time. Cost is not considered to be an exceptional circumstance.
• Each application will be considered individually and will be at the discretion of the Headteacher and Governors of the school. Parents will be notified of the decision.
• If permission to authorise the absence is turned down and parents still remove their child from school then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
• Government guidance strongly dissuades parents taking holidays in the first few weeks of a school year as this can have a negative impact on the child educationally.

 

Attendance excluding pupils who have not yet turned 5 years old is 97.7%