Attendance

Good attendance is essential for continuity in each child’s education.  Our target for the year is 96% or above. We hope by working closely with our children and their families we will ensure that our children attend school every day and on time. We have created an attendance guide which gives parents all the information they need to know.

The following link will give you some interesting information regarding school attendance. When you open the document, please right click and select rotate clockwise to see the document in full.

Download our Ever Day Matters document.

Good Attendance

Attending school and receiving an education will help your child have the best possible start for their life journey. Children who do not attend school may:

  • Fall behind in their work;
  • Find it difficult to make and keep friends;
  • Be unhappy at school.

A good education is key to success and opportunities later in life. As a parent you can help by:

  • Getting your child in to school on time every day;
  • Contacting the school as early as possible, but no later than 9.30am, to let us know if they are too ill to attend;
  • Making non-emergency medical appointments out of school hours.

At Old Park we are keen to promote and reward children who have good attendance and we run various campaigns through the year to promote this with incentives for the children. At the end of the year a special ‘VIP’ party is held for all children who manage to achieve 100% attendance, we also hold annual ‘NOT OFF IN NOVEMBER’ and ‘MARCH IN FOR GOOD PUNCTUALITY’ focus months with prizes for all children. We also have termly prize draws and rewards for 100% attendance over a term.

Each week the class with the best attendance gets a special mention on the attendance board and receives a certificate, there is a special prize for the class who have the best attendance each month with an overall prize at the end of the year.

Illness

Where a child is unable to attend school due to illness, it is important that the school is informed by via school gateway, text message, telephone, or emailing school.office@oldparkprimary.com by 9.15am.

If the school is not informed the absence is recorded as unauthorised on the child’s attendance record in accordance with the Department of Education’s guidelines. Absence for reasons other than illness may also be recorded in this way.  The school has a first day calling procedure where notification has not been received. This is to ensure safety and security of children and should not replace a parent’s duty to inform school of absence.

Please note that if we are concerned about the whereabouts of a child or family and we cannot contact you by telephone we may conduct a home visit to ensure the safety of our families.

If your child is absent for 5 school days or more or has had frequent periods of illness, medical evidence may be required.

If a pupil needs to leave school for an urgent medical or dental appointment, parents are asked to notify the school in advance and, if possible, let the office take a copy of the appointment card so we can give your child the correct coding on the register.

The following leaflet has been produced to help parents and carers decide whether their child is well enough to attend school

Download our Parents Guide for Illness document.

Lateness

Pupils should arrive at school promptly.  Any pupil not in class during the 5 minute registration period will be considered late and their parent/guardian should bring their child to register at the school office. Lateness is recorded on a pupil’s attendance record in accordance with the Department of Education guidelines.  The late arrival of children disrupts the start of lessons, not only for the child who is late, but also for others in the same class.  It is therefore essential that parents cooperate in ensuring good time keeping.  If you have any issues in getting your child to school on time then please make an appointment to see our Family Liaison Officer who can support with this.  Please note persistent lateness to school may result in you being sent an appointment to discuss how we can support further.

Holidays in Term Time

As you may be aware we are no longer able to authorise family holidays in term time. Any holidays taken will be recorded as unauthorised and a referral will be made to the Attendance and Prosecution Service.

The Attendance and Prosecution Service may then issue a fixed penalty fine. The current levels are £60 per parent, per child. If this is not paid within 21 days, it rises to £120 per parent, per child.

We ask that you please keep family holidays to the same dates as the school holidays which are published on this website for this current academic year and the next.

If you still decide to take holiday in term time, we request that you make an appointment to see our Family Liaison Officer who will be able to talk to you more about the process and your individual circumstances.

Fixed Penalty Notice January 2017

From January 2017 the use of fixed penalties for holidays in term time has been changed to accommodate ‘irregular school attendance’.

This means that parents/carers of child(ren) who have ‘irregular’ school attendance may now be sent a fixed penalty notice of £60 (rising to £120 if not paid within 21 days).  Penalties will be still be issued for unauthorised leave in term time.  If a penalty notice goes unpaid the responsible parent will be prosecuted for the offence under S444 Education Act.

Both parents to the child(ren) will receive this penalty regardless of if they live together.

A penalty notice will only be issued if the absence is ‘unauthorised’ by school.

Parents can only receive a maximum of 2 fixed notices within a 12 month period, repeat offences will be dealt with via Section 444 of the education act 1966, under this section magistrates can impose fines up to a) £1000 under S444(1) or b) £2500 or up to 3 months imprisonment, or both, under S4441(A).

If school are concerned about your child’s attendance and feel that you may be at risk of receiving a fixed penalty notice school will write to you inviting you in for a meeting to discuss further.  We ask parents if their child(ren) are ill on a regular basis to produce medical evidence so we can authorise the absence.  Medical evidence can be:  appointment card from the hospital/GP, copy of prescription with child’s details and date.  Medicine bottle with pharmacy dispense information on or some GP’s will write a letter for an ongoing medical condition.  If you are concerned about getting any of these documents or have other personal circumstances to discuss then please make an appointment to see Ms E Taylor.

May we remind all parents that the regular and punctual attendance of pupils at the school where they are registered is both a legal requirement and essential for students to maximise the opportunities available to them.