Widecombe-in-the-Moor Primary

Attendance

Key Documents:

Widecombe attendance information

School Attendance Flow Chart

Attendance Letter Sept 22.docx

Absence request form (S2 Form)

Attendance Matters!

Did you know, the minimum satisfactory attendance, as set by the Government, is 96%. Any child with below 90% attendance, regardless of the reason for the absence is considered to be a persistent absentee. Persistent absentees are less likely to achieve their full potential and may be referred to the Education Welfare Officer.

Be on time

If your child is 15 minutes late every day, it will add up to 2 weeks of the school year being missed!

Remember:

8.45am - Gates Open

9.00am - School Starts

If you arrive between 9.00 and 9.15 your child will receive a Late mark. After this time, will result in your child getting an unauthorised late mark.

Please remember, if your child is not going to be in school, you MUST let the office know by 9.00am. If contact with the office has not been made by 9.30am and a valid reason given, your child's absence will go down as UNAUTHORISED.

Requesting an Absence from School

Every minute of every school day is vital and pupils will only be granted authorised absence by the school in exceptional circumstances. A family holiday is not normally considered by the Government to be exceptional and therefore, no term time holidays will be authorised by the school.

Should you choose to take your child out of school without authorisation then Parent Responsibility Measures could be instigated. this could mean receiving any of the following:

- A penalty notice (assuming one has not been issued in the past 2 years)

- A summons to the Magistrate Court which could result in a fine of up to £2500 and/or a term of imprisonment for up to 3 months.

If you would like to request an absence from school please download an 'S2 form' from the key documents above.

For children with symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19

As a Trust, we are following general government guidance which can be accessed through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-symptoms-of-a-respiratory-infection-including-covid-19

Attendance and Last day of term finish time.

As you are probably aware the government have been highly concerned about the continued falling attendance rates this year and in schools year on year since the Covid pandemic. The DfE are mounting a campaign through schools to ensure parents are aware of the implications of missing learning time in school. Although the emphasis is more on secondary education than primary, we at the Link are supporting that initiative by reviewing our approach.

An initial action will be to ensure that pupils are in school to the very end of the school day at the end of each term, pupils will not be leaving earlier than the published end of the school day. We felt it was only fair that we made this clear to parents early in the term to avoid any problems nearer the time.

Attendance concerns will continue to be dealt with robustly and in support of the campaign we will be sending DfE generated/ suggested reminders out to ensure you are all kept well informed.

Many thanks for your understanding regarding this national drive.