Attendance

At Westerings Primary Academy we are very committed to maintaining high levels of attendance. We check on the first day of absence to find out why any child is absent if we haven’t been contacted by parents/carers.

If your child is absent please could you telephone or email the school office to notify us on the first day of absence.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

At Westerings, we expect that all children will attend school regularly. Occasional absences are to be expected (illnesses, for example) which is why we have set an ambitious but realistic target of 97% for every child. Even at 3% absence, this reflects around 5-6 days of lost learning within a school year.

What is meant by unauthorised absence?

Some absences are allowed by law. For example, if a child is ill or there is a family crisis such as a funeral. However, there are other times when pupils are absent which are not permitted.

We need the help of parents/carers to cut down on unacceptable types of absence.

We realise that on some occasions there may be a particular problem that causes your child to be absent. Please let us know and we will deal with it sympathetically.

In cases of absence for any reason, please telephone the academy by 9.30 a.m. on the first day of absence, and leave a message on our automated message system. You can also email contactus@westerings.org to notify us. Any unexplained absences are indicated in the register as ‘unauthorised’.

A child arriving late after the register has closed should report to the main office. If they are unaccompanied by an adult they should have a note explaining why they are late.

Attendance and absence is robustly monitored by the academy. Frequent unauthorised absence may be referred to the Educational Welfare Officer who has responsibility to enforce academy attendance, and will, if necessary, take court action. Legal proceedings may be brought in cases of irregular, unauthorised attendance defined as follows:

  • Four disrupted weeks in a half-term period

  • Prolonged unauthorised absence i.e. more than 10 continuous academy sessions in a half-term

  • Persistent lateness during a half-term period

  • Unauthorised holidays

Punctuality

It is important that children arrive on time. Our morning session starts at 8.50 a.m. and afternoon session at 12:55(KS1) and 1.15p.m. (KS2)

If your child is not present when the register is taken they will receive a late mark up until 30 minutes after registration, after that time an unauthorised absence is recorded.

Any pupil who arrives after the registration closes must go to the Academy office to register their attendance.


attendance-matters-a-parents-guide.pdf