Attendance at school is not only a legal requirement but also has a huge impact on the attainment and progress of our children.
Attendance also has an impact on the judgement Ofsted makes – a school with attendance below the national average (and it is not improving) cannot be a “good” school.
This is why it is so crucial to maintain really good attendance and punctuality throughout the year.
Expectations regarding Attendance
Our full Attendance Policy can be found on the Policy page of the website but is also attached at the bottom of this page. Please read this to be aware of what is expected of you as a parent/carer regarding attendance.
It is each parent/carer’s responsibility to ensure that children arrive at school on time and attend school every day.
Absence Reporting
Illnesses
Absences due to illness should be reported to the school office. For safeguarding purposes, this must be done on the first morning that your child will be absent and by 8.30am at the very latest.
You can report your child absent by calling the school office on 01908 240038 and speaking to a member of our office team or by leaving a message on our answer machine.
Alternatively, you can send an e-mail to kentshillschool@mket.org.uk.
PLEASE NOTE: You will need to ring or email every day of the absence unless the school office have advised you otherwise.
Any absence that we do not know the reason for will be marked as unauthorised until a reason for absence has been provided. This will be recorded on your child's attendance record.
Planned Absences
Any planned absence should always be reported to us in advance. If you are requesting an absence, you will need to fill out our “Request for Exceptional Leave of Absence” form. These can be found in the letter holder on the wall in the main school reception area.
Please return completed forms to the School Office for processing as soon as possible prior to the proposed absence.
Medical Appointments
We request that, where possible, routine medial and dentist appointments are arranged outside school hours as these appointments will reduce your child’s percentage attendance and ultimately affect their learning. We do understand that some appointments, such as hospital consultations are not always possible to arrange outside of school hours.
However, if your appointment time allows your child to come to school first, for registration and at least part of the morning and then leave, this will have a positive impact on their attendance.
Likewise, we would always encourage you to bring them back into school for afternoon registration, where the time and duration of the appointment permits.
Did you know?
- 95% attendance = 10 days absent a year
- 90% attendance = 20 days absent a year
- 85% attendance = 30 days absent a year
- 80% attendance = 40 days absent a year
“Every Minute Counts”
| If your child is late every day… | In a year your child would lose the following days education… |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes late | 3 days |
| 10 minutes late | 6 ½ days |
| 15 minutes late | 10 days |
| 20 minutes late | 13 days |
| 30 minutes late | 19 ½ days |
Establishing good patterns of attendance now – and only taking days off when it is really necessary – is preparing our children to succeed in their future lives.
- If a child arrives after the register has been taken (this is 8.50am) they will be marked as late and if they arrive after 9.00am the session will be recorded as an unauthorised absence; and
- Holidays will not be authorised and if they are taken parents may be subject to a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fine.
