Why should your child be at school?

Apart from developing skills, knowledge and friendships in a rich learning environment, there is an expectation from the school that when children become part of our school community, they will attend regularly.
From the term after a child is five years old, there is a statutory requirement for him/her to receive full-time education.

When should your child be at school?

Every day during school term time, except for staff training days, illness or authorised absence.

When should your child be absent from school?

If your child is unwell, if your child has not had a clear 48 hour gap from the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea or if your child has been granted written authorised leave from school.
Parents/carers should contact the school on the first day of illness, to let the office staff know that their child will not be at school. If the school does not receive notification of the child’s absence, a member of the office staff will telephone the parent/carer on the first day of absence for an explanation.

Unauthorised absence during term time

Any absence which is not considered exceptional by the Head will be unauthorised.
We have the right to consider whether to accept the parents/carers position with regard to medical absence as there are occasions when parents report parentally condoned absence to the school as medical absence.
If the school has concerns that the illness may not either be genuine or warrant the amount of absence accruing, the school may ask the parent to substantiate the illness by asking to see additional evidence such as an appointment card or medical certificate.
It is at the discretion of the Headteacher whether to authorise absence and they can refuse to authorise absence if, after considering all the available information, they believe that the pupil’s absence does not appear to be caused by genuine illness. If the school chooses not to authorise the absence it will notify the parent or carer of this in writing.
Please refer to the school’s Absence and Attendance Policy which is available from the main school office or on the school website.

Medical Appointments

Wherever possible, please make medical and dental appointments towards the end of the school day, or preferably after school has finished so that your child does not miss valuable learning time.
Our school policy requires ALL parents to bring in evidence such as an appointment card or letter to authorise the absence, Please be aware that medical appointments will affect your child’s attendance level.

The Importance of Good Punctuality at School

As well as promoting good attendance at Wynndale, we also work hard to encourage good punctuality in school.

Registration

Morning registration is at 8:45am and children need to be in school by this time. Classroom doors open at 8:35am to allow time for registration.
Doors close at 8:45am; after this time, children must enter school via the main entrance, coming through the office.

What happens when your child is late?

Arrival after 8:45am will be marked as late in the register (L code).
Any children arriving after 9:15am will be marked as an unauthorised absence (U code) in line with the DfE (Department for Education) guidance.
It is important for children to be on time each day. The first few minutes of the learning day are used for things like class briefings, reading and changing reading books, undertaking learning activities, interventions and to set the children up for the rest of the day. If children miss this start, their learning for the whole day can be detrimentally affected.
Late arrivals are also disruptive to the whole class and often very embarrassing for the child themselves.
Should we have a concern about your child’s lateness, we will contact you either by telephone or by letter. If your child is persistently late for 10 separate instances over a period of 6 school weeks, a Penalty Notice can be issued by the Local Authority.
If a child arrives 15 minutes late to school each day, they lose an hour and a quarter of learning each week. This means that if they were 15 minutes late every day in a school year, they would miss over 48 hours of learning - approximately 7 school days!

Absence During Term Time

Taking holidays during term time disrupts the continuity of your child’s education and may reduce their chances of success.
There is no entitlement to time off during term time, and leave of absence is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, in line with school policy and at the discretion of the Headteacher.
Children are expected to be educated for 190 days each school year, leaving 175 days available for taking annual holidays.
School policy states that if you do intend to take your child out of school during term time, you MUST inform school via a completed ‘Withdrawal From Learning’ form. This is available from the school office. This must be completed for each intended period of absence.
Staff will not provide learning for children to complete whilst absent due to holidays.

Holidays During Term Time

Holidays within term-time are not permitted due to Amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, applicable from 1st September 2013.
The Headteacher may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Therefore no holidays will be authorised.

Penalty Notices

If the school refuses your application and you still withdraw your child from school, the absences will be treated as unauthorised.
If the school has evidence that a parent/carer has removed a child from school for the purposes of a holiday during term time without authorisation and the level of absence is in excess of 3 days (6 sessions) in total over a 6 week rolling period, then the Local Authority will issue Penalty Notices to each parent/carer for each child to whom unauthorised absence applies or a Summons for irregular school attendance. 

Attendance Procedures

If you know your child is going to be absent from school, you are asked to contact the school office by telephone or in person by 9:00am, giving the reason for the absence.
We ask that you phone school on EACH DAY of your child’s absence, not just the first day.
If no call is received, school will make contact with you to establish the reason for their absence.

Types of Absence

Authorised:

Some absences are allowed by law and are known as authorised absences.
Examples of acceptable authorised absence are:

• Genuine illness
• Medical appointments which cannot be made outside of school hours
• A day set aside for religious observance

• Approved sporting activities

Unauthorised:

Absences where the reasons are not permitted by law are known as unauthorised absences.
Examples of unauthorised absences include:

• Unauthorised holidays
• Going for a family day out
• Sibling or parent illness
• A child or family members birthday
• Going shopping
• Having a haircut
• Overslept or had a late night the night before
• Visiting friends or relatives

We regularly monitor attendance and punctuality in school, and will keep you informed of how your child is doing with regards to their attendance. If we have concerns, we will write to you initially and then monitor for a further period of time. If there continues to be no improvement, you will be invited into school to meet with Mrs Rickersey for a School Attendance Panel. Governors may also be present at these meetings, depending upon the level of poor attendance.

Rewarding Good Attendance

We regularly celebrate good attendance with our children at Wynndale in the following ways:

• Every class shares a briefing on a Monday morning - this shows all children in school attendance for each class, as well as punctuality for the previous week
• The class with the highest attendance each weeks earns extra playtime
• House points are awarded each week for all children with 100% attendance and 0 late marks at the end of the week
• Termly Headteacher Awards certificates for children achieving 100% attendance
• Half termly reward for the class with the best attendance that half term
• Whole school display to promote and celebrate attendance