Your child's daily attendance at school is very important.
Did you know...
- a child who is absent a day of school per week misses an equivalent of two years of their school life
- 90% of young people with absence rates below 85% fail to achieve five or more good grades of GCSE and around one third achieve no GCSEs at all.
- poor school attendance is also closely associated with crime a quarter of school age offenders have truanted repeatedly
Attendance and punctuality are a priority at St Clare's and it is our aim to keep absences to a minimum as there is a strong link between attendance and academic progress. We aim to promote a culture across the school which identifies the importance of regular and punctual attendance.
It is parents’ duty to ensure that their child attends school and arrives on time.
For more information, please see our Attendance Policy below;
Late arrival
Pupils who arrive after 8.50am must go straight to the school office at the main entrance to sign in and give a reason for their lateness.
Pupils who arrive after the register has been taken (8.50am) but before it is closed (9.20am), will be marked as code L. This is classed as late but present for the session.
Pupils who arrive after the register has closed and without a valid reason for being late (such as attending a dental or medical appointment) will be marked as code U, which is classed as an unauthorised absence but indicates that the pupil was physically present in school for part of the session.
Absences
Parents are asked to ring school or send a message via Arbor by 9 am on the first day of an unexpected absence to provide the reason for absence, if a reason is not provided, the absence will be marked as unauthorised.
Parents will be expected to make medical or dental appointments outside of school hours wherever possible. Attending a medical or dental appointment will only be counted as authorised if the pupil’s parent/carer notifies the school in advance of the appointment and provides evidence of the appointment. Parents will be responsible for ensuring their child misses only the amount of time necessary to attend the appointment.
The school will only grant a pupil a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances and will consider requests on an individual basis.
The school will expect parents to contact the headteacher in writing, using the Leave of Absence Request Form at least two weeks prior to the proposed start date. The form is available below.
Under the national rules, all schools are required to consider a fine when a child has missed 10 or more sessions (5 days) for unauthorised reasons.
From August 2024, the fine for school absences across the country will be £80 if paid within 21 days, or £160 if paid within 28 days.
In the case of repeated fines, if a parent receives a second fine for the same child within any three-year period, this will be charged at the higher rate of £160.
Fines per parent will be capped to two fines within any three-year period. Once this limit has been reached, other action like a parenting order or prosecution will be considered.
If you’re prosecuted and attend court because your child hasn’t been attending school, you could get a fine of up to £2,500.
Illness
Children may be feeling a bit under the weather but are still well enough to attend school. We always look after children's wellbeing and if there are any issues, we will contact parents/carers to discuss.
The NHS have a useful guide about certain illnesses and when your child is well enough to come to school.
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
As a school we celebrate and promote children’s attendance with individual, class and whole school rewards based on 96% -100% attendance; this is done on a weekly, termly and end of year basis and represents a significant investment for the school. We see this as being a really important part of our work as every school day matters!
If you need additional support with your child's attendance please do not hesitate to contact our Family Support Work, Mrs Clayton on 01772 787037.
Thank you for your support in ensuring excellent attendance and attainment at St Clare’s Catholic Primary School.
