Attendance & Punctuality

Our Senior Attendance Champion is - Miss C Ingrams (Headteacher).  Please contact via the school office (LWPoffice@watschools.org.uk).

Day to day contact to discuss Attendance matters is - Mrs L Cunningham (Senior Office Administrator) or Miss C Ingrams (Headteacher).  Please contact via the school office as above. 

Our approach to improving attendance and persistent absence  

Our school adopts the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework, this is modelled on the work of Professor Katherine Weare. The emphasis is on developing a school culture and climate which builds a sense of connectedness and belonging to ensure all children can attend school and thrive.  The approach ensures we prioritise building solid working relationships with children / parents prior to any escalation.   
The staged approach we use ensures we identify triggers early that can lead to poor attendance issues such as mental health issues, lack of trust, communication and relationship breakdowns and the possible lack of networking opportunities both internal (in-school) and external (external agencies). 

Aims of the strategy 
Increase school Attendance and reduce Persistent Absence to meet set targets. 
Ensure Attendance is well managed within the school, with the appropriate level of resources allocated. 
Enable the school to make informed use of Attendance data to target interventions appropriately.
 
Objectives  

- create an ethos within the school in which good attendance is recognised as the norm and every child/young person aims for excellent attendance.  
- make attendance and punctuality a priority.  
- set focused targets to improve individual attendance and whole school attendance levels.  
- embed the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice framework which defines agreed roles and responsibilities and promotes consistency in carrying out designated tasks with respect to promoting attendance and punctuality.  

- record and monitor attendance and absenteeism and apply appropriate strategies to minimise absenteeism.  
- develop a systematic approach to gathering and analysing relevant attendance data.  
- provide support, advice and guidance to; parents, children and young people and develop mutual cooperation between home and the school in encouraging good attendance and in addressing identified attendance issues.  

Regular school attendance 


Good attendance shows secondary schools that your child is reliable.

 
Our school records details of all children’s attendance and absence from school. We do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must inform the school immediately.  The school will record the absence and the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department of Education also receives annual attendance data for the school. 
 
 
Your responsibilities as a parent 


By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school. Although some parents choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education. 


Once your child is registered at our school, the parent is legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis.  If your child does not attend school on a regular basis, you could be subject to a fine or be prosecuted in court. 


How to prevent your child from missing school 


You can help prevent your child missing school by: 
- making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality 
- taking an interest in their education, ask about schoolwork and encourage them to get involved in school activities 
- discussing any problems they may have at school and letting their teacher or headteacher know about anything serious 
- not letting children take time off school for minor ailments, particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work 
 
To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings: 
- after school hours 
- at weekends 
- during school holidays 

As a school we cannot agree to your child going on holiday during term time. 

 
 
 

 

 

aaa-guide-for-parents-on-school-attendance.pdf

Toolkit for schools: communicating with families to support attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Summary_table_of_responsibilities_for_school_attendance.pdfWorking_together_to_improve_school_attendance.pdf