Attendance

Everyday Counts at High Wych

Working together to give every child the best opportunity to learn, succeed and flourish.

Attendance Matters

Regular attendance helps children learn, build friendships and develop confidence. We encourage all pupils to attend every day whenever possible.

Our Expectation

We aim for all pupils to achieve 96% attendance or above.

Arriving on Time

Gates open at 8:40am. Children should be in class by 8:50am. Children arriving after this time must be accompanied by an adult and sign in at the school office.

If your child arrives between 8:50 am – 9.20 am they will be marked late.

If your child arrives after 9.20 am they will receive an unauthorised absence mark.

When children arrive after 9.20, parents are expected to inform the school to explain the reasons for lateness. Until this has been received and the explanation for lateness is accepted by us your child’s mark will remain on their record as unauthorised.

Remember that persistent lateness (after 9:20 am) can be legally counted as unauthorised absence.

When Can My Child Be Absent From School?

When you register your child at school, you have a legal duty to ensure your child attends that school regularly and could be taken to court and fined for each child who is not attending school regularly or who is persistently late.

If your Child is Absent

If your child is going to be absent from school, please call the school office to let us know why. If they are ill, we ask that you tell us what the illness or symptoms are, rather than simply saying that they are “unwell". This helps us to record the absence appropriately and understand the reason for your child not being in school.

If we haven’t heard from you by 9:20am, we will call and/or email you to check in. Absences due to illness or unavoidable circumstances can usually be authorised. However, where a clear reason has not been provided, or where there are existing attendance concerns, the absence may be recorded as unauthorised.

As part of our safeguarding procedures, if we have not heard from you by 12pm, we may carry out a welfare check at your home and/or contact the police to ensure that your child is safe.

We look at every child’s attendance and if there is a concern, communication will occur between school staff and parents/carers either by a phone call, letter or a meeting. If the attendance level fails to improve this may lead to a referral to our Education Welfare Officer/Attendance Officer for additional support.

Authorised and Unauthorised Absence

The school can only authorise any absences in the following circumstances:

Genuine illness
Dental/medical appointments - These should be arranged outside of school hours wherever possible. If an appointment takes place during school hours, evidence of the appointment must be provided.
Close family bereavement
Recognised religious observance
Examination

To avoid any confusion, the following is not acceptable:

Caring for a parent or sibling

Going shopping
Day trips
Birthdays
Family holidays will not be authorised

This is not a conclusive list.

Term-time holiday

The Department for Education expects children to attend school every day during term time.

Head Teachers are no longer able to grant requests for holidays to be taken by pupils during school time, unless in ‘exceptional circumstances’ then it is only for the shortest amount of time needed.

We are Here to Help

If your child is finding attendance difficult because of anxiety, medical needs or other barriers, please contact us. We will work together to provide support.