May 2022
Dear Parents/Carers,
Attendance reminder
As you know, being in school on time and every day is extremely important for all children in order that they receive the best possible start to their learning. Your child’s attendance is vital to a successful education, as this is the foundation for lifelong learning. We have struggled overall with school attendance linked to Covid and more recently Chicken Pox. We are really hopeful that our attendance will now rise significantly, as we know how important it is for children to be in school on time and every day.
Did you know that a child having 90% attendance is the same as having one day off every two weeks? If their attendance drops to 80%, that is the same as having a day off every week. Lessons are planned in sequences and if a child misses a part of this sequence, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to committing that learning to long term memory.
Mrs Powell, Mrs Millington and I, monitor the attendance figures every three weeks along with our Education Welfare Officer. We discuss all attendance below 95% and put actions in place to support children and families where we notice patterns in absence.
Not only do we monitor individual children’s attendance, but we also look at the attendance of each class in our school. Last week the class who received 100% attendance received a treat at breaktime. We are going to bring back more recognition of good attendance during assemblies now that we are able to be together in the hall again. The classes with the highest attendance will be announced in assembly and we will report the figures on our webpage. If a child is in school for 100% of the school year, they will be rewarded with a treat. We very much appreciate that sometimes children must miss school for a medical appointment that cannot be made out of school time. We also appreciate that sickness cannot be helped.
Please ensure that you make all reasonable efforts to send your child into school. Sometimes you might suspect that your child is slightly under the weather, but well enough to come to school. That is fine, as staff will monitor very carefully and if necessary can administer medication and call later on in the day. Clearly, there are some illnesses that mean there is no choice other than keeping them off for the day. The office staff are more than happy to discuss any queries you have.
It is important to remind you the law states that: “The parent of every child of statutory school age is compelled by law to ensure such a child attends school unless there is a reasonable excuse for non-attendance. Failure to do so may result in legal action being taken against you”.
Thank you in advance for your continued support in helping us do the best we can for your children.
Miss Cook
Headteacher