Attendance
Should I keep my child off?
/docs/Attendance/Should_I_keep_my_child_off.pdfWhy is regular school attendance important?
Manor Primary School works closely with children and parents in connection with attendance so that each child can achieve their full potential. By law, all children of compulsory school age (five to sixteen) must receive a suitable full-time education.
Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly. If your child fails to do so, you risk getting a penalty notice or being prosecuted. You also need to think about the negative impact upon the following:
- their learning
- their friendships
- their self-esteem and confidence.
Manor Primary monitors the attendance of every child in the school and works in partnership with the Local Authorities Attendance Team . Together we work and support those children and their families who are not attending school without sufficient reason. As a school we are happy to help and support if we can but we can't help if we don't know!
If you are invited to Panel meetings these are not to be looked at as a negative but as a positive, to find out why your child's attendance is not where it should be, how we can improve this and to work as a team to get your child into school so they can be the best that they can be!
We understand children are ill however if your child is fit to learn please bring them to school, if you are unsure please ask the office to advise. It is very important that you contact school, on the first day of absence, to let us know that your child is ill.
| Dojo: Mrs Lightwing | schooloffice@manor.wirral.sch.uk | 0151 677 3152 |
If your child is off school and you are worried that they are missing out on their learning, try these activities at home reading stories, times tables rock stars, look on the website for your child's class where you can find work, rhymes and songs, take away homework, doubling and halving numbers, times tables rock stars or number bots.
90% attendance sounds good, but means that your child misses:
- one half day each week
- nearly four weeks every school year
- over one school year in a school career
Our school's goal is for every child to have 100% attendance
Timekeeping
Timekeeping is also important in the education of your child. If your child is persistently late then they are missing out on important assemblies as well as the start of the lesson.
School doors open at 8:40am and will close at 9:00am promptly.
The gates close at 8.50am ready for learning!
We know that mornings can be hectic and we want to help so children are able to have breakfast if they are on time so don't worry about breakfast time at home just come to school.
If you arrive after this time, please report to the main school office where your child will be given a late mark. Registration will close at 9:30am any child who arrives after this time will be marked as absent. Children in a school survey said 'they don't like being late because they miss important parts in their learning'
We work tirelessly to monitor each child's punctuality, parents who persistently bring their children to school late may be issued penalty notices.
Support and Advice
If you require any support or advice with attendance and punctuality, please contact the main office to arrange an appointment to see myself, Mrs Lightwing or Mrs Sparks, the Wellbeing Co-ordinator.
Attendance Prize
Pupil attendance is vital to a successful education in primary school as this is the foundation for lifelong learning. Missing lessons makes it more difficult for your child to make good or better progress as they will have gaps in their learning.
Attendance Incentives
As a school, we reward the children in a variety of ways:
- 100% attendance - half termly raffles for a £5 voucher plus certificates, badges and stationary prizes
- Badges over the year along with with a half termly Wellbeing session' with Mrs Sparks
- £5 for 5 days initiative as well as our weekly attendance monopoly board!
We also thank the parents...
- 98%+ raffle with flowers or chocolates.. their child's choice!
Attendance Monopoly Board
Fixed Penalties for Absence and Lateness
Regular and punctual attendance of pupils at school is both a legal requirement and essential for pupils to maximise their potential. Parents are responsible for ensuring that their child of compulsory school age receives efficient education that is suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and to any special educational needs the child may have at school or otherwise.
An offence occurs if a parent or carer fails to secure a child’s regular attendance at a school at which they are a registered pupil and when that absence is not authorised by the school and does not meet one of the statutory defences. Penalty Notices are one of a number of legal sanctions available to deal with these offences.
Circumstances When Fixed Penalty Notices Will Be Issued:
There is now a single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice must be considered by all schools in England,
- 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period.
The 10 sessions of absence do not have to be consecutive and can be made up of a combination of any type of unauthorised absence (G, O and/or U coded within the school’s registers). The 10 school week period can span different terms, school years or education settings.
Sanctions may include issuing each parent (for each child) with a Penalty Notice for £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days (for the first offence).
A second Penalty Notice issued within a three year period will result in a fine of £160 per parent, per child. If a third offence is committed the matter may be referred to the local authority for consideration of prosecution via the Magistrates Court.
If prosecution is instigated for irregular school attendance, each parent may receive a fine of up to £2500 and/or up to 3 months in prison. If a parent is found guilty in court, they will receive a criminal conviction.
To avoid this process, Mrs Lightwing will write to you informing you of your child's attendance and possibly schedule a meeting to discuss the matter in an attempt to resolve any issues.