Attendance

Our school approach to attendance:

Good attendance at school is essential for children’s wellbeing and education. Poor attendance can have a significant impact on pupils’ later success in exams and also their choices in work. At Ash Grove we place a high importance on all pupils attending school. We focus on the attendance of pupils every day. We celebrate good attendance through positive emails to each class each day and through our ‘Perfect Attendance’ drive. Attendance is recognised in assembly and is rewarded with events such as ‘Hot Choc Friday’.

What happens when a child is not in attendance:

If your child is unable to attend school, you must contact school to inform them of the reason for the absence. You must then contact school each day of the absence to inform them of the reason. If you do not contact school with this information, a member of staff will telephone you to make contact before 9:30am. This is because we have a duty to check that each child is safe and well. If we don’t reach you by calling we will then make a visit to your home.

In the case where we are unable to reach a parent or carer to check on the welfare of a child, we will follow the school’s policy and request a ‘Safe and well check’ from the local police.

Term time holidays:

We are not able to authorise any absence in term time other than if a child is ill. Should a family be considering taking a holiday in term time, they need to write to the headteacher in advance. On receipt of a request you may be invited to meet with the Deputy Headteacher to discuss your request. We are not able to give approval after the event. The learning missed in school whilst a child is on holiday and absent from school has a big impact on their ability to make good progress.

Attendance Management when children do not attend regularly:

When attendance falls to a level of concern in school, parents will be contacted to attend a meeting with our pastoral staff and Education Welfare Officer. Poor attendance will lead to medical evidence being required for all absences through the FastTrack process.

Regular poor attendance / unacceptable attendance will result in a penalty notice and / or prosecution. These can be very significant financial penalties.

As a school, we want to help you to ensure that your child attends. Therefore – if you are having issues with attendance, contact school immediately for us to see if we can help.

Door times and Absence procedures

School Doors open: School doors open at 08:45 (parents must supervise children on site before this time)

Late marks: When your class door is closed, please bring your child to the front reception desk to sign in as late and explain why.

Absence for illness: Please ring the school office before 9am on each day of absence to explain the absence. Please give clear detail of the illness in question.