Attendance
ATTENDANCE
Make Everyday Matter at Kelsall Primary School
Kelsall Primary School is committed to providing the best educational experience for all children and good attendance and punctuality is critical to this outcome.
Each academic year has 190 school days, this leaves 175 non-school days for family time, holidays, visits and appointments.
If a pupil is absent for just 1 day each term that equals 6 days or 39 hours a year of lost learning.
Every Day Counts!
It is vital that pupils attend school, on time, every day in order to gain the greatest benefit from their education.
Punctuality
School opens at 8:40am and the school gates close at 8:50am. All children are expected to be in their class by 8:50am.
School closes at 3:10pm (KS1) and 3:15pm (KS2).
Nursery Opens at 9am and closes at 3pm (Term time only)
We expect pupils to arrive and to be collected punctually at the start and end of each day.
Senior Leaders in school monitor attendance carefully and regularly. If persistent absence and/or lateness are identified, contact will be made with parents to make them aware of the issue and discuss ways that this can be improved. Please read our attendance policy for further details.
Reporting Absence
When your child is ill
If your child is unwell it is essential that you inform us on the first day of illness by telephoning the School Office by 9am. Please state your child’s name, class and a specific reason for their absence. When a child is absent with no explanation, we instigate a first response process to establish their whereabouts and reason for non-attendance. This will be by phone call and a School Spider message.
If your child will be absent for longer than a day, please update us on each day of the absence.
If your child is absent due to sickness and diarrhoea, we ask that they not return for 48 hours following the last episode. If your child has had one instance of vomiting and parents or carers are confident that it is due to another reason rather than a sickness bug, such as tiredness, over-exertion or eating something unusual, children may be well enough to attend or return to school, and the 48 hour rule may not apply. We would however, urge parents to take a cautious approach in deciding if your child has a sickness bug.
Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Appointments
As a school we have a duty of care to ensure that all children registered with us are kept safe. Pupils with hospital, dental or other medical appointments during school time should be brought to school unless their appointment is before 9:30am and must be collected by a Parent/Carer from the School Office. This must be confirmed in writing or on presentation of the appointment card. Children should be brought back to school after their appointment, as soon as possible.
Medical Conditions
It is very important that the school knows about any diagnosed medical conditions your child may have such as eczema, asthma, allergies etc. Please complete a Medical Form which can be obtained from the School Office.
Emergency Contact
From time-to-time accidents occur or children become ill. It is important that the school has an address and telephone number where parents can be contacted in an emergency. Please inform the School Office if there is any change to your emergency contact details.
Leave of Absence/Holidays During TermTime
If you wish to apply for a leave of absence for your child, please ensure that you have referred to the Attendance Policy. Due to changes in legislation, only absence requests with exceptional circumstances will be granted. There is no automatic entitlement, in law, to time off during term time.
Guidance from the DfE explains that these reasons should not be authorised.
- Extended family holidays
- One day trips to see relatives
- Birthday or event holidays
- “Educational” visits
- Holidays to long haul destinations
Below is a list of some circumstances when the principal can authorise a holiday.
- Parent in the armed forces returned home for limited period in term time during tours of duty
- To allow family time prior to and following the death of a very close relative
- Life threatening and life limiting illness of child or sibling
- A visit abroad prior to a family move to that location
Please read Cheshire West and Chester Council's Guidelines to Fixed Penalty Notices for Unauthorised Holidays for more information.
All requests for a leave of absence must be, by law, made in writing and in advance for the attention of the Headteacher. As a school, we request parents use the ‘Absence Request Form’ which is available from the school office. Absence requests are only authorised in exceptional circumstances. If you choose to remove your child from school when the request has been denied it will be recorded as unauthorised and the school may request the Local Authority issue a penalty notice.
DID YOU KNOW…
…that 2 weeks absent from school brings a child’s attendance down to 87%
…a child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
HAVE YOU EVER…
- Arrived to a movie when it has already started?
- Turned up at a party late?
- Come to a gym class when everyone has got the routine?
- Walked into a meeting late?
Just take a minute to think about how that feels… you feel like you don’t know what’s going on, you are playing catch up, your colleagues/friends are discussing ideas and plans you were not part of arranging. This feeling is the same for your child when they arrive even 10 minutes late for school. Friends have formed groups to work in and are busy discussing ideas and being on task. They have missed the very important lesson input and they are playing ‘catch up’ academically and socially.
Why is it so important, its only the odd day…What could happen?
- they can fall behind in work
- affect their motivation and their enjoyment of learning
- lead to poor behaviour
- affect their confidence
- mean they miss out on the social life of school and extra curricular opportunities and experiences
- affect their ability to have or keep friendships.
