Attendance
Attendance is a top priority in Scholes Village Primary School. It is well recognised that good, consistent attendance at school is crucial to a child or young person’s future prospects. Reducing absence from school continues to be a priority both nationally and locally, because missing school damages pupils’ attainment levels, disrupts school routines, affects the learning of others and can leave young people vulnerable to anti-social behaviour and crime.
Please see our full Attendance Policy in 'Policies'.
School Targets
The National target for school attendance set by the government is 97%.
This is therefore our target each accademic year.
Last year our attendance was 94.44%.
Although we did not meet the government set target for the year we were slightly above the average attendance of schools throughout the country.
What to do in case of absence
If your child is ill we ask you to do the following:
Ring school and leave a message on the absence line.
If that is inconvenient you can email to tell us about your childs absence from school.
Please state:
Name
Class
Reason for absence
A reason for absence must be left and evidence of medical appointments must be provided.
What is authorised absence
An authorised absence is when a child's reason for absence from school is regarded as a valid reason in the eyes of the government. This is illness, medical appointments and a small number of exceptional circumstances.
If you require your child to be absent from school when they are not ill you need to complete a 'term time absence form.' These can be found on the school website or in the office. This needs to be handed into school and Mrs Burman will consider the request.
Absence will only be authorised when a child is ill, attending a medical appointment or there is an exceptional circumstance.
Family holidays
Holidays in term time are not authorised. Any holiday that exceeds 5 days will be issued a fixed penalty notice from the local authority. This will be a total of £60 per child per parent.
If a family choose to take a holiday in term time each year then even if the time is less than 5 days a penalty notice may still be issued.
A prosecution can be made by the local authority if a family become a regular offender. This can be a fine of up to a £1000 and a criminal record.
Support
If a child's attendance drops below 95% you may receive a letter to make you aware.
If your child's attendance drops below 90% we will ask you as a family to attend a meeting where we can offer support and services.
Celebration
To encourage children to have good attendance and to show how we value it we have adopted the game, Scholesopoly.
Each week a class has a target. If they reach their class target for the week they get to move along the board. Sometimes they will get a bonus prize that all the children will enjoy. The winning team at the end of the year will get a special treat.
We hope this encourages team work and the children understand the importance of attending school.
We also use certificates for 100% attendance each term as well as weekly stickers for KS1 and F.S children.