At Nightingale Primary School we are committed to establishing a safe, nurturing and stimulating learning environment, where the education and welfare of pupils is given the highest priority.
For a child to reach their full educational potential a high level of attendance is essential. Parents/carers and teachers share the responsibility for supporting and promoting excellent school attendance and punctuality for all. It is our duty to strive for 100% attendance for all children.
For your child to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered it is vital that they are at school, on time, every day the school is open, unless the reason for absence is unavoidable. The routines that children develop around attendance and punctuality at school are the same as the expectation of any future employer in the world of work.
Good attendance is important because:
- Regular attenders make better progress, both socially and academically
- Regular attenders find friendships, school routines and school work easier to cope with
- Regular attenders are more successful in transferring between primary school, secondary school and higher education, employment or training
Reporting your child as absent
A child not attending school is considered a safeguarding matter. This is why information about the cause of any absence is always required.
If your child is absent you must:
- Contact us by telephone as soon as possible in the morning on the first and subsequent days of absence, stating your name, your child’s full name, their class and a reason for their absence – please do not just say they are unwell, we need a reason, e.g. high temperature
- Alternatively, you can call into school in person and report the absence with reception
Absences without a reason provided will be classed as unauthorised and may be subject to legal action.
| If your child misses… | That equals… | Which is… | and over 7 years at primary school that is …… |
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1 day per fortnight or 90% attendance
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20 days per year | 4 weeks per year | 28 weeks – more than 2 whole school terms! |
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1 day per week or 80% attendance
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40 days per year | 8 weeks per year | 56 weeks – more than 1 whole school year! |
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2 days per week or 60% attendance
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80 days per year | 16 weeks per year | 112 weeks – nearly 3 whole school years! |
Lateness/ Punctuality
It is important that your child arrives at school on time at the start of the day and for all sessions. The start of the day/session is used to give out instructions, is an opportunity for children to receive feedback and edit work or attend school assemblies. If your child is late they may miss time with their teacher, cause disruption to the lesson for others or be late for whole school assembly, all of which can be extremely embarrassing for them and can lead to possible further absence.
The school day begins when the doors open at 8:35am and pupils are expected to be in school by 8:45am when the doors are closed. Children arriving after this time will be recorded as late and will need to be signed in at the main office by a member of the senior leadership team.
Pupils who are consistently late are disrupting not only their own education but also that of the other pupils. On-going and repeated lateness is considered as unauthorised absence and will be subject to legal action – full details are available in the Attendance Policy.
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Please Note Children who miss 10% or more of school (below 90% attendance) are classed as persistent absentees. Medical proof for further absence will be required. We may start legal proceedings if the absence is unauthorised and attendance does not improve. Full details are available in the Attendance Policy. |
| Arriving late everyday | Equals | Which over the school year is approximately |
| 5 minutes | 25 minutes per week | 16.25 hours or 2.5 days of learning |
| 10 minutes | 50 minutes per week | 32.5 hours or 5 days of learning |
| 15 minutes | 75 minutes per week | 48.75 hours or 7.5 days of learning |
| 30 minutes | 150 minutes per week | 97.5 hours or 15 days of learning which equivalent to missing 3 weeks of school! |
The school day ends at 3:15pm for EYFS and KS1 and 3:20pm for KS2 and it is important for children to remain in school until the end of the day.
Teachers use this time to hand out information such as homework and letters and other communications for parents. This time is also used to reflect on the school day and award star of the day/ class rewards.
Where possible, non-urgent appointments, (i.e routine check-ups) should be made outside of school hours. If this is not possible, proof of the appointment must be provided or the absence will not be authorised.
Promoting Good Attendance
High attainment, confidence with peers and staff and future aspirations all depend on good school attendance. The foundation for good attendance is a strong partnership between the school, parents/carers and the child.
To promote good attendance, we:
- Provide information on attendance for parents/carers, staff and children on our website, in the school newsletter, on the attendance board outside of the Welfare Leader’s office.
- Use coloured bands to aid understanding when reporting on or discussing attendance – see below
- Celebrate good attendance in the celebration assembly each week with the class/classes with the best attendance earning SAM bear or the attendance trophy for the week.
- Have a “Perfect Attendance” poster in each class to track days that they have a “full house” working towards a whole class reward.
- Reward improving attendance on an individual basis.
- Hold a raffle each half term, for each Key Stage for those children who have attended for 100% of the half term. Winners whose names are drawn will receive a prize.
- Issue certificates each term to those children achieving good and perfect attendance.
- Issue annual certificates to those children achieving good and perfect attendance. Those children with perfect attendance for the whole year also win a prize.
Red Band0% – 89.9% Attendance |
Pink Band90% – 92.9% Attendance |
Amber Band93% – 95.9% Attendance |
Green Band96% – 100% Attendance |
My child is trying to avoid coming to school. What should I do?
- Don’t cover up their absence
- Don’t give in and keep them home – this gives the impression that school attendance is not important and is likely to make things worse
- Do talk to us. We want to help – please contact your child’s class teacher in the first instance. Our Welfare Leader, Mrs Sharp, is also available to help