Attendance
Whitehouse Primary School seeks to ensure that all its pupils receive a full-time education which maximises opportunities for each pupil to realise their true potential. The school will strive to provide a welcoming, caring environment, whereby each member of the school community feels wanted and secure. All school staff will work with pupils and their families to ensure each pupil attends school regularly and punctually.
Punctuality
Pupils can come into school from 8.40am and the school day starts promptly at 8.50am. If a child arrives at school after 8.50 a.m. without agreed prior arrangements they will be deemed late. Registers close at 9.00 a.m. and arrival at school after this time, without prior approval or exceptional circumstances, will be recorded as an unauthorised absence
Pupils arriving at school after 8.50 a.m. must enter through the main gates and 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. Registers are also taken when the children return to classes after lunch. Unexplained absences will be investigated by the Attendance officer.
What is expected of parents?
- To keep requests for their child to be absent to a minimum
- To offer a reason, or medical proof, for any period of absence, preferably before the absence or on the first day of absence
- To ensure that their child arrives at school on time, a reason should be offered for any lateness
- To work closely with the Attendance officer (Victoria Gibson) to resolve any problems that may impede a child’s attendance
- To take family holidays during school holiday periods and be aware that requests for holidays during term time will be refused except in special/exceptional circumstances
- To be aware of curriculum requirements and be especially vigilant with regards to attendance during important academic times such as SATS
- To support their child and recognise their successes and achievements
Whitehouse Primary works closely with the Local authority attendance team to ensure that all children are attending school regularly.
Please see below useful guidance if your child is absent from school
Absence due to illness
If your child is absent due to illness, school must be notified via Arbor or by telephone call. We ask that you contact school, early each morning to notify school of the reason for the absence. If this information is not received the absence will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Please produce medical evidence where ever possible.
Unauthorised absences
If your child is absent from school and there is no reason given, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
It is important that medical evidence is produced where ever possible as this can avoid absences being recorded as unauthorised. School need to be made aware of the location of your child in order to follow safeguarding procedures.
Absence due to medical/dental appointment
If your child has a medical/dental appointment during school hours a copy of the appointment card/letter needs to be submitted to school. This can be done via email to whitehouse@whitehouseprimaryschool.org.uk alternatively a copy can be taken at the school office.
Without this information the absence would not be able to be recorded as a medical absence and would be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Request for leave of absence for exceptional circumstances
If a leave of absence is required due to exceptional circumstances a request for a ‘leave of absence’ should be completed. Forms can be found on the school website under the tab
Parents – Forms – Leave of absence.
On receipt of the request, the Head Teacher must be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances based on the individual facts and circumstances. Please submit as much supporting evidence as possible.
It is at the discretion of the Head Teacher whether the request is granted.
Request for holidays during term time
As you will be aware the government removed the right for a child to be absent from school for holidays therefore, if your child has a planned absence, a ‘leave of absence’ request must be completed via the school app. We ask that the request is submitted at least two weeks before the leave of absence is taken. Please be aware if you choose to take your child out of school for a holiday during term time, school may issue a penalty notice.
In accordance with the New National Framework for Penalty Notices which is now in effect, a Penalty Notice may be issued to you by the Local Authority. For your first offence, the Penalty Notice would be £80 per parent, per child if paid within 21 days and £160 per parent, per child if paid after this date and within 28 days.
Subsequent offences will be escalated which may result in prosecution. Please refer to the Local Authority’s Penalty Notice Code of Conduct for further information.
Attendance procedures/ Penalty notices
The Attendance Officer completes regular visits to our school and reviews the attendance and punctuality of all children. If a child’s attendance falls below 90% this can be classified as a Persistent Absentee and may trigger a warning letter or lead to attendance procedures/penalty notice.
If you have any questions regarding your child’s attendance or the school’s attendance procedures, please contact Victoria Gibson on 01642 678212.
School Attendance Scheme
At Whitehouse Primary we want to promote good attendance and give recognition to those children who attend school on a regular basis. In order for us to reward pupils for their dedication, we run an attendance rewards scheme.
Attendance
Each class that achieves 98-100% weekly attendance will receive a monitory token which can be used to spend at the end of each term on a class treat. The treat is decided between class teacher and pupils.
The tokens can either be converted to money at the end of each term or carried over for a bigger treat at the end of the academic year.
Each class are given an attendance chart so that the value of their rewards can be tracked within class.
Individual Attendance
Pupil attendance will be monitored on a termly basis, for all those children who achieve 98%-100% they will be rewarded at the end of each term with a certificate.
All children who achieve 100% attendance for the whole academic year will be added to a draw to receive a voucher.
New Statutory Attendance Framework
If you require any further advice, guidance or would like to discuss your child’s attendance, please contact Victoria Gibson on 01642 678212 or email vgibson@whitehouseprimaryschool.org.uk
