Attendance Leads are Alan Williams (HT) and Sue Hope (Office Manager)

Attendance Governor is Tanya Ramsey

Excellent attendance is extremely important in our school. We are delighted to have been awarded the GOLD Attendance Quality Mark recognising our commitment to promoting excellent attendance at our school. The report noted that "the culture and ethos supports children in wanting to come to school.... and the school places a high priority on supporting pupils, including the most vulnerable." We want children to enjoy coming to school and make the most of all the opportunities presented to them here. We believe that attending school everyday creates attendance habits that last a lifetime and gives our children the best chance to make excellent progress! Attendance matters!

Our target for attendance is at least 97%. This will mean every class aiming to reach this expectation.  To help achieve this we provide a welcoming, stimulating and caring environment where all our families feel valued and supported. Our school staff will work with families to ensure that each child attends school regularly and arrives on time.

Excellent attendance at our school is given a high profile. We celebrate this with our children both in class and in assembly. We want our children to develop good habits of punctuality and attendance which we believe will set them on the right path in the future. We believe that getting this right from an early age will place our children in a good position to succeed in later life. Prospective employers want to recruit people with excellent attendance and punctuality!

Having a good education will give your child the best possible start in life! Children who do not attend school regularly are more likely to:

• Get behind on their school work
• Find it harder to make and maintain friendships
• Be less happy at school 

Absences

It is essential that you call the school if your child is going to be absent from school. Please try to speak to a member of staff who will support you in making a decision about keeping your child off school if they are sick. If we do not hear from you we will call you to clarify why your child is not in school and follow our school attendance policy.

Persistent Absenteeism

If your child's attendance is below 90% this is classed as persistent absenteeism and is of major concern to the school and the Local Authority.

If your child has an attendance of only 90% this can mean the following:

• they will miss the equivalent of 4 whole weeks of lessons in a school year
• they would be absent for the equivalent of one half day a week.

Term-Time Holidays

The Department for Education has made it very clear that schools should not authorise holidays in term time unless there are very exceptional circumstances. We are often provided with reasons such as work commitments (unless in the armed forces) and special family occasions such as birthdays and weddings or 'surprise' holidays booked by family members which cannot be accepted.

You may receive a penalty notice if you take a holiday in term time and if this is part of any further concerns about your child's attendance additional action may also be taken.