Attendance
This is a successful school and your child plays their part in making it so. We aim for an environment which enables and encourages all members of the community to reach out for excellence. For our children to gain the greatest benefit from their education it is vital that they attend regularly and your child should be at school, on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.
All school staff will work with pupils and their families to ensure each pupil attends school regularly and punctually.
All Saints' has established an effective system of incentives and rewards that acknowledge the efforts of pupils to improve their attendance and timekeeping and will challenge and support those pupils and parents whose attendance and punctuality could be improved. We have established an effective and efficient system of communication with pupils, parents and appropriate agencies to provide mutual information, advice and support.
Why Regular Attendance is so important
Any absence affects the pattern of a child’s schooling and regular absence will seriously affect their learning. Any pupil’s absence disrupts teaching routines so may affect the learning of others in the same class.
What are my responsibilities as a parent?
Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is your legal responsibility and permitting absence from school without a good reason creates an offence in law and may result in prosecution.
It is important that we receive a telephone call on the first day of absence. In the case of any absence, parents must also provide an explanation of the reason for absence either by
- Email - bursar@allsaintscofe.lancs.sch.uk
- Telephone -01257 262489
- Text - 07478654913
This information will be added to your child’s school record.
Punctuality
Being in school on time everyday is essential. If your child misses the start of the day they can miss work and do not spend time with their class teacher getting vital information and news for the day. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons, which can be embarrassing for the child and can in turn, encourage absence. Being 10 minutes late every day throughout the academic year is the same as missing two weeks of school.
The school day starts at 8.40am and we expect your child to be in class at that time.
Registers are marked by 9.00am and your child will receive a late mark if they are not in by that time. At 9.30am the registers will be closed. In accordance with regulation, if your child arrives after that time they will receive a mark that shows them to be on site, but this will not count as a present mark and it will mean they have an unauthorised absence.
Pupils arriving at school after 9.00 am must report to the school office to be signed in by an adult. Pupils leaving school for any reason must report to the office before they go so that we can ensure that they are appropriately chaperoned and signed out.
Leave in Term Time
Taking a child out of school in term time will affect their schooling as much as any other absence and we expect parents to help us by not taking children away in school time.
Remember that any savings you think you may make by taking a holiday in school time are offset by the cost to your child’s education. There is no automatic entitlement in law to take leave during school time. All applications for leave must be made, in advance, by the parent of residence using the 'Request for leave of absence' form or a copy is available from the school office.
Under current legislation, head teachers are still no longer able to authorise leave in term time. I would like to ask parents to support us in complying with the legislation by not taking leave. We hope that parents will acknowledge and understand the limitations placed on schools in granting any leave in term time.
It is important that parents understand that leave in term time will not be agreed by us at any time unless circumstances surrounding the request can be evidenced, by parents, to be exceptional. Therefore, parents are advised to provide school with any relevant information regarding their request at the point of application if they believe the circumstances are exceptional. Information provided after a decision has been made may not be considered.
We ask that you support us in our efforts to reduce unnecessary absence and thus minimise the impact on the education of our pupils. The pace of the curriculum is such that when your child is away from school, the learning they miss will significantly have an effect on future learning and can often not ‘be made up’.