Attendance

 

Ide Hill Church of England Primary School is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all of our pupils. The Governors, Head Teacher and staff recognise that there is a direct link between regular attendance and good academic performance. It is our aim that all pupils will reach their full potential both academically and socially. Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. Our school actively promotes 100% attendance for all of our pupils and we use a variety of rewards to promote good attendance and punctuality.  

 

We recognise that parents/carers have a vital role to play in giving your child a good start in life, and a legal responsibility to ensure good attendance. We promise to identify, investigate and work in partnership with parents/carers, pupils and other agencies to resolve attendance problems.

 

Ide Hill CE School is a Rights Respecting School. We recognise the following Rights on the Convention of the child:

 

Article 28 : Every child has the right to an education.

 

Article 29 : Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

 

Article 31 : Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities

 

Article 19 : Every child has the right to be safe and cared for. 

 

Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and arrive on time.  Regular attendance is essential to the all-round development of the child and they should be allowed to take full advantage of educational opportunities available to them in order to make good progress in their learning.  Poor attendance undermines their educational attainment and progress and, sometimes, puts pupils at risk by encouraging anti-social behaviour.

 

It is the parents’ responsibility to contact the school on the first day their child is absent. This is a safeguarding issue requirement so that all parties know that your child is safe and their whereabouts is known.  Parents should regularly update the school and inform the school when their child is returning.

 

Pupils are expected to arrive by 8:50 am.  All pupils that arrive late must report, with their parent to the school office where the reason for lateness is recorded. 

 

At Ide Hill School there is a whole school responsibility and approach for improving school attendance, with specific staff taking individual responsibility. The Head teacher has overall responsibility for monitoring attendance issues and contacting parents to notify them of poor attendance.

 

Class teachers complete a register at the beginning of each morning and once during the afternoon session.  Marking the attendance registers twice daily is a legal requirement. (The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006).  Teachers mark pupils as present or no reason given and the school office is responsible for contacting parents by 9:30am using the ‘first call system’ to find out why the child is not in school. The office will then enter the correct coding on the school system.

 

 

The class teacher will notify the Head teacher of children whose attendance is causing concern. This will also be monitored through weekly attendance meetings with the attendance team.

 

Where the level of absence has not improved and there are unauthorised absences, the school will make a referral to the KCC Inclusion and Attendance Service using the Digital Front Door. If it is not clear a referral to the Service is appropriate, the school will consult with the Local Authority School Liaison Officer for advice. For the cases that require intensive family support, the school may make an Early Help Notification.

 

At Ide Hill School the register is taken at 8:50am and 1:00pm.  Pupils arriving after these times must enter school by the main entrance and report to Reception where their name and the reason for lateness will be recorded.  The pupil will be marked as late before registration has closed (Code ‘L’). 

 

The register will close at 9:15 am and 1:30 pm.   Pupils arriving after the register has closed will be marked as late after registration (Code ‘U’) and this will count as an unauthorised absence.

 

Frequent lateness after the register has closed (U) will be discussed with parents and could provide grounds for prosecution or a Penalty Notice.