Attendance

Attendance

Attendance and requests for leave of absence

The school day starts at 8.50am. School finishes at 3.20pm for Reception and Year 1 – 4, and 3.15pm for Nursery.

We expect pupils to arrive and to be collected punctually at the start and end of each day.

Every Day Counts!

It is vital that pupils attend school, on time, every day in order to gain the greatest benefit from their education.

95% - 100% (less than 10 days absence in a year) is good attendance. 95% is the national average attendance rate for a child at primary school.

There is no automatic entitlement in law to time off in school time. The law governing such leave of absences was changed in September 2013. Under current regulations, head teachers may not grant leave of absence during term-time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

North Tyneside Council states that you must have the school’s permission to take your child out of school in exceptional circumstances, and that taking your child on holiday is not an exceptional circumstance.

All requests for a leave of absence must be made 2 weeks in advance by completion of the Leave of Absence form available in the school office, or at the bottom of this page. Absence requests are only authorised in exceptional circumstances. The decision to authorise a pupil’s absence is wholly at the head teacher’s discretion based on their assessment and merits of each request.

As stated in our Attendance Policy, examples of exceptional circumstances include occasions such as a parent wedding; family funeral; or music/dance examination.

Frequently Asked Questions

 Q. What is a good attendance percentage? A. 95 - 100% (less than 10 days absence in a year) is good attendance. 95% is the national average attendance rate for a child at primary school.

Q. What is poor attendance? A. Anything below 95% attendance is worrying as your child has less chance of success. It makes it harder for the child to progress if they are missing key learning opportunities.

Q. What will happen if my child's attendance falls below 95%? A. Schools monitor pupil attendance every term. You may be sent a letter or you may be invited to a School Attendance Meeting at the school.

Q. Isn't my child entitled to 10 days holiday or odd days off for long weekends? A. No. The School may only authorise an absence in exceptional circumstances. If pupils take unauthorised leave of absence in term time parents can be served a penalty notice by the Local Authority.

Q. What is meant by genuine medical reasons to be absent? A. Diarrhoea, sickness, childhood ailments e.g. measles, chicken pox, extremely high temperatures are genuine illness. Children should not stay home if they have minor coughs, colds, tummy aches and headaches. If your child is too poorly to remain at the school, the school will contact you. Please remember that even absence due to genuine medical reasons still affects a child's attendance figure.

Q. What should I do if my child is absent? A. Contact the school on the first day and subsequent days of absence to explain their absence.

School attendance | North Tyneside Council

REMEMBER EVERY SCHOOL DAY COUNTS TOWARDS YOUR CHILD'S SUCCESS

Attendance Cup:

Every Friday in our Celebration Assembly we award the Attendance Cup to the class with the highest attendance.

Attendance Stars:

Every Friday we also reward the year group with the highest attendance with an extra turn on the adventure climbing frame equipment.

We monitor attendance carefully so, 

REMEMBER:

                                                            Every day counts!

                                    You have to give 100% to get 100%