Attendance and Absense

“Central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential is an assumption so widely understood that it is insufficiently stated – pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind. Children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school. School Attendance, DfE, Autumn 2020

The government expects:

Schools and local authorities to:

• Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence;
• Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; and,
• act early to address patterns of absence.

Parents to:

• Perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly.
• All pupils to be punctual to their lessons.

Here at St Andrew’s Primary School, we understand that children occasionally cannot attend school due to illness or appointments which cannot be scheduled outside school hours. If this is the case, please telephone Ms Ashley in the office (01743 741331) or use the absence reporting section on our Parent App. For appointments, please provide a copy to the school office, or photograph and upload via our Parent App.

If you are having difficulties with attendance, please arrange a meeting at the earliest convenience so that we can work together to resolve any problems. We work closely with the EWOs (Educational Welfare Officers) and they will contact parents if they have concerns about a child’s attendance.

Attendance Policy