Attendance & Punctuality

Attendance

Good Attendance is vital if your child is to achieve their full potential at school. Below is an example of how days off school can impact on overall attendance. It is also necessary that your child be in school every day. The school day starts at 8.55am and after registration, children go straight to planned activities. If they are late, they miss the beginning of lessons and disturb the whole class’ learning time.

We want to ensure that every child is in school each day. If your child is absent – for any reason, we can offer support to you by:

• Helping with advice on routines both at bedtimes and in the morning to ensure that your child is punctual.
• Organising an appointment with the School Nurse to discuss ongoing medical needs.
• Contacting the Education Welfare Officer who can also offer advice.

The attendance target for our school is at least 96%

A year has 365 days, 52 weeks and 12 months.

A school year has 195 days, 39 weeks and 6 holidays, including 3 half terms.

Five days in each school year are training days for teachers – INSET days.

Pupils attend school for 190 days.

A school day is divided into two sessions. A pupil, therefore, should attend 380 sessions.

One day off per school year means that a pupil has about 99.5% attendance.

Ten days off per school year means that a pupil has about 94.7% attendance.

90% attendance means 4 whole weeks off school.

Educational Visits

Our pupils derive great educational benefits from taking part in organised visits. These give the opportunity to develop skills and provide experiences beyond those available in the classroom. The school actively promotes the use of exciting, highly motivating environments and activities to stimulate pupils of all ages and help them to learn. We follow the Local Authority guidelines on educational visits and residentials, and all the recommended procedures are put in place. All trips are planned well in advance.

Parents play a vital role in such visits, and it is important that they cooperate with the school regarding the behaviour of their children and about such matters as filling in and signing consent forms, providing emergency contact telephone numbers and supplying all necessary details of their child’s medical conditions, dietary requirements or allergies.