At St. Stephen’s we believe regular attendance at school is crucial for a child’s educational development and self esteem. We regularly monitor and reward attendance.
At St Stephen's CE Primary School, we have the highest aspirations for your child: we know that the world is run by those who turn up, and that every lesson counts towards your child’s achievement. We also know that you, as your child’s parent/carer, want your child to get on well in life. Children only get one chance at school, and your child’s chances of a successful future may be affected by not attending school every day on time. When children do not attend or are late, they:
Yes. There is a clear link between poor attendance at school and lower academic achievement.
In primary schools, less than 65% of children get good results in mathematics and English in schools when they have an average of 15 days absence, compared to around 90% in schools where the average is less than 8 days. Many parents are surprised how quickly their children accumulate 15 days absence – we will include your child's attendance on their termly report to let you know what your child’s absence has been for the term; as well as ensuring your child’s attendance s discussed at parent’s meetings.
Of the children who miss more than 50 per cent of school, only 3% manage to achieve five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C. 73% of children who have over 95% attendance achieve five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C. While GCSEs may seem some time away, setting good attendance and punctuality patterns from an early age, from Nursery and Reception through to Year 6, will really help.
By law, all children of compulsory school age must get a suitable, full-time education. As a parent/carer, you are responsible for making sure this happens. Once your child is registered at St Stephen's CE Primary School, you are responsible for making sure he or she attends regularly. If your child fails to attend regularly - even if they miss school without you knowing - the Local Authority (LA) may take legal action against you.
The LA is responsible for making sure that parents/carers fulfil their responsibilities, and the school must tell the LA if your child is regularly absent from school. As a parent/carer, you are committing an offence if you fail to make sure that your child attends school regularly. You run the risk of being prosecuted by the LA if your child’s attendance is poor; parents/carers can be fined up to £2,500 or imprisoned for failing to ensure that their child attends school regularly.
At St Stephen's CE Primary School, we want work with you in partnership to ensure that this does not happen. We have a policy on attendance that you can find a link to below, and strongly encourage you to speak to your child’s class teacher if you are having difficulties with getting your child to school on time.
There may be times when your child has to miss school because she or he is ill. Please notify us of this on the first day (and every subsequent day) of absence before 9:15am. If there are patterns of sickness, we work with your child, you and your health professionals to try and resolve these issues. Children may be offered medical or dental appointments in school time.
Please try to make routine appointments such as dental check-ups during the school holidays or after school hours. If you need to request an emergency absence, please use the Request for Absence form. The school does not usually authorise holidays in term-time. If the headteacher declines your absence request and the absence is taken anyway, this will be regarded as an unauthorised absence. Unauthorised absence carries a risk of a fine, parenting contract or prosecution and may result in your child losing their place in the school.