The school gates are opened at 08.30am and doors open at 08.40 There is no reason why children should be late and 5 minutes late every day, would equate to 3 days of absence across a year! 

 

Why is it important to be punctual?

 

• So we can start the day settled with everyone else

• So that our teacher can meet us and greet us

• So that we meet everyone else entering school

• So we don’t miss messages

• So we get into good lifetime habits

• So we get to do our reading, writing, phonics and maths.

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Lateness

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Morning registration will take place at the start of the school day. Afternoon registration after lunchtime. 

 

Any child arriving after 08.50 will be marked as little late and any child arriving after 09.00 will be marked as an unauthorised late

 

The afternoon registration will be at: 13.00

The registers will close at: 13.10

 

Any pupil arriving after these times will be marked as having an unauthorised absence unless an explanation given is accepted as grounds for authorising the late arrival.

 

If your child is frequently late, you will receive a supportive phone call to discuss the reasons this may be happening, but continued lateness will result in formal proceedings.

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Absence

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St. Clements will set out to proactively encourage and promote good attendance by:

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• Providing learning opportunities that challenge, stimulate and engage pupils.

• Maintaining a positive ethos and culture within which all people feel safe

• Maintaining a high degree and quality of parental contact

• Making full use of reward systems to recognise good attendance as well as significant improvements in attendance:

• Improved attendance should be recognised and staff should be flexible and creative in responding to this.  It could involve a celebration certificate or a privilege.

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Missing school days can…

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• Disrupt friendships

• Make us feel ‘out of the loop’ - not know what is going on

• Cause us to have gaps in our knowledge - some of which can impact other areas of learning

• Stop us practising skills

• Mean we miss information

• Create time to engage in anti-social behaviour.

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Days 1-3

 

Parents will be encouraged to contact the school, before the start of the school day if possible, to confirm their child’s absence. 

 

If notification and reason for absence is not received from home on the first day of absence then a First Day Contact (FDC) phone call will be made to the primary pupil contact by the administration staff.

 

If there is no response to this then this will be followed up by a telephone call to the secondary pupil contact or other pupil contact until the  reason for absence is established.

 

If there are welfare/safeguarding concerns regarding the absence then a home visit may be conducted by a member of the school's Leadership Team.

 

Day 4 Onwards

 

If there has been no response to contact from the school after 3 days then an attendance letter will be sent, and another unannounced home visit may be considered.

 

Initial contact will be made to Norfolk County attendance team to alert them to potential concerns.

 

Frequent Absence

In cases where a pupil begins to develop a pattern of absences, the school will try to resolve the problem with the parent/carers, through letters and interviews.  If this is unsuccessful the school will refer to the Local Health Adviser if the problem appears to be a medical one. In other cases the school will discuss the problem with the County’s Attendance Improvement Officer.

 

Safeguarding and Attendance

Where a lack of attendance, or patterns of attendance, are raising safeguarding concerns, St. Clements Hill will follow our safeguarding procedures 

 

Holidays in Term Time

On entry to the school, absences are not authorised for annual family holidays following changes in DFE legal requirements. Choosing to do so could result in fines.

 

Requesting Absences

The authorisation of planned absences is at the discretion of the headteacher. The request should be completed on a form from the office at least 20 days prior to the event if possible. Holidays in term time will not be authorised unless they are exceptional circumstances. 

 

Please see the Attendance Practice document for further details.