Attendance

Primary school pupils in Flint

We want every child who comes to Venerable Edward Morgan to be happy and feel like they belong to our school family. In order to achieve this pupil’s need to attend school as often as they can.

Poor attendance can have a negative impact on your child’s self-esteem and friendship groups. Poor attendance will also have an impact on your child’s progress through the curriculum. They can’t make achievements against this curriculum if they are not here.

So …Why does every day attendance matter?

Well… here is some data to highlight the impact poor attendance can have.

However, we do understand that there are times when attendance is not possible. We put these into 2 categories. Authorised and Unauthorised.

Girl painting at school club

Authorised Absence

If your child is unwell we would expect you to make the judgement as to whether they would be well enough to attend school. Please let school know on the first morning of any absence so school can record the correct attendance mark promptly. If they are unable to attend school then they will have an “I” recorded to signify they are off ill.

We can also give a recording of “M” for a medical appointment. However, we kindly ask, where possible, that all medical and dental appointment are made after school hours or during school holidays. We would expect, again where possible, pupils to be able to come to school before and after their appointments.

We do like to help where ever possible; so if your child has more than 10 days (20 sessions) absence the school may contact you to see if there is anything we can do as a school to help you.

Unauthorised Absence

If a child does not attend school and we do not receive notification as to why from either a phone call or letter, then it shall be recorded as unauthorised. Late after registration is also counted as an unauthorised absence, if no reason is provided. Any incident of 10 sessions missed through unauthorised absence will be investigated by the school and may result in a referral to the education inclusion team.

Primary school girl playing violin

Request for Leave of Absence

It is possible to request leave for your child for a special occasion or holiday.

The decision as to whether the absence can be authorised lies solely with the head teacher. Parents do not have an automatic right to withdraw pupils from school during the school term for a holiday. The head teacher will make the decision and may include the following contributory factors:

You are able to request up to 10 days absence which must be done where possible at least 28 days before the period of leave. The Head Teacher will then assess each case on its own merits and report back to you detailing as to the reasons why the request has been approved, or indeed, unapproved.

There are other circumstances where absence may be approved, some of which will not affect attendance, such as Educational and/or residential visits, educated off site etc…

Primary school pupils playing in forest

Punctuality

Being on time for school is another way you can support your child being ‘School Ready’. For some children arriving late when the class routine has started can be very unsettling and can have an impact on the rest of the day. Children really hate being late for school. It can make them anxious and upset about attending school. If you have problems in getting your child to school on time you must let the Head Teacher know as soon as possible.

Our school gates open at 8:45am and the bell rings to signal the start of the school day at 8:55am. It is advisable to have your child in school for 8:45am. If you need to drop your child off earlier we have a breakfast club which they are able to attend. Lateness can add up to a lot of lost learning.

I hope this helps you understand why attendance and punctuality is so important to us at Venerable Edward Morgan – but more importantly why it is important for your children.