Attendance & Absence

What does the law say?

All parents have a legal duty to ensure that their child receives an education. Failure to ensure a child’s regular attendance is a criminal offence. The Department for Education sets clear expectations for what is expected in terms of attendance. 96% and above is considered good attendance, and if a child’s attendance falls below 90%, they are considered to be persistently absent.

What does the school do?

We set a target of 96% attendance for all pupils, which allows for children to have occasional days off if they are too unwell to attend school. An Educational Welfare officer from the London Borough of Havering works with the school to support families to ensure that children attend school every day.

Benefits of regular attendance:

Your child has access to a full curriculum
Your child has access to daily high-quality teaching
Your child builds strong relationships with their peers
Higher potential for learning gaps to be bridged
Opportunities for your child to be pushed to exceed expectations
Helps your child learn the importance of coming to school and learning

Impacts of low attendance:

Missed learning creates learning gaps that increase when further days are missed
Children can develop low-self esteem due to learning gaps/lack of strong relationships with peers
Do not access the complete curriculum

Holidays during term time

Our school governors have agreed a zero-tolerance policy to holidays taken in term time. Any term-time leave must be for an exceptional circumstance. Please see our Attendance Policy for detailed information.

Lateness

It is important that children are punctual for school, and need to arrive ready for learning before registers close. After this they will be marked as late and need to sign in at the main office. Lateness can prove detrimental to children’s learning and wellbeing; even short delays can swiftly add up to much lost learning time.

Absence

In the case of your child being unwell and unable to attend school, please telephone the school office and select the appropriate option; if we do not hear from you, the office will telephone to enquire about your child’s whereabouts. A period of absence of 5 days or more will require medical certification. Any incident of sickness or diarrhoea will necessitate your child remaining off school for 24 hours from the last bout.