Attendance

A good education is essential for any child to succeed in the modern world. It is a right for every child to attend school and through education to find, nurture and grow their knowledge and skills so that they can pursue the opportunities and careers they want to in their futures.

In order to achieve this, children must be consistently present at school so that they are able to grow their existing knowledge in a logical progression alongside their peers.

When a child does not attend regularly and on time, there is a risk of them underachieving across the curriculum.

The outcomes of poor attendance and punctuality:

• Finding it harder to make and maintain positive friendships

• Developing low self-esteem

• Increased likelihood of not making expected academic progress

We recognise the important role that parents play in supporting and encouraging good attendance and punctuality. By working in partnership with the school, we can collectively ensure that all our children access the education they deserve.

It is very important for all pupils to attend school every day and to arrive on time. Our school day officially begins at 8.50am and any child arriving in their classroom after this time will be marked as late. In order to help facilitate our pupils being ready to learn at 8.50am, we operate a ‘soft start’ to our school day, meaning pupils are able to go into their classrooms at 8.40am where they will be supervised by their class teacher.

Arrival after 9.20am is considered half a day’s absence. All lateness/attendance is recorded and monitored by the school and the Education Welfare Officer.

Reporting Absence

Our preferred method of contact is via the Weduc App. If this is unavailable for any reason, parents/carers can either call and leave a message on our absence line by 9am (making sure to give the child’s name, class and a brief explanation for their absence) or email admin@alfredsutton.reading.sch.uk with the same information.

If parents are not sure in the morning whether their child is well enough for school, they should attend school. We can always call parents if a pupil becomes too ill to remain at school during the day.

There are very few circumstances under which any other absences will be authorised by the school. We are firmly of the opinion that a child’s education and the opportunities it affords are vastly more important to the future well-being of a child than going on holidays or family visits.

It should also be noted that whatever the reason for a child’s absence, there will be a gap in their learning as a result of it. Therefore, we expect pupils to catch up missed work. This may take the form of work being given to them to bring home and complete or, if it better suits the individual pupil, they may be asked to attend homework club to catch up.

Medical appointments should be made out of school hours where possible.

Leave of Absence

Leave should be requested a month in advance and holiday bookings/reservations should not be made until the outcome of the leave application is received. This will be normally be within five working days of receipt of the application.

Any leave requested retrospectively or with inadequate notice will be unauthorised and a Penalty Notice may be issued.

It should be noted that requesting leave does not equate to authorisation and, as previously stated, authorisation is extremely unlikely except in the most unusual circumstances.

Please ask in the office for a form to officially request leave.

Absences add up

Regular and punctual attendance at school is a legal requirement under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996. Under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996, an offence occurs if a parent/carer fails to secure a child’s regular attendance at the school, at which they are a registered pupil, and the absence is not authorised by the school.

Payment of a penalty notice is £120 within 28 days, with a reduction to £60 if paid within 21 days. If payment is not received within 28 days, the Local Authority will consider prosecution for the unauthorised absence.

Missing two days a month means a child misses 10% of the school year.

If parents take their children away during term time, then they are making a choice to deny them their education. Parents who do so are at risk of a fine or court action which could give you a criminal record. The children concerned could even lose their place at the school.