Good School Attendance Guide
Attendance is incredibly important for a child’s learning, but it is not always easy to motivate certain young people to attend as regularly as they should. We know it has been especially hard for some students to re-establish a routine after the disruption of the pandemic.
Centre Academy Schools are keen to make sure that every child has at much access to learning as possible, so they meet their potential and we support parents and carers simultaneously.
Good School attendance habits are best started early. Children learn from those around them and you as parents set the standards and expectations for your child. Showing your child, the importance of attending school every day not only helps your child to settle quickly when starting school but helps them to keep and sustain friendships and enjoy the school environment.
We are here to support you; we understand the difficulties some parents can face and will work with you.
We want all children to have a positive experience of school life and be able to reach their full potential. One way in which parents can help their child to do this is by ensuring they attend school every day. Parents can often feel that more time is spent at school than at home.
Did you Know
If your child achieves 80% over their 5 years of education, they will miss an entire school year!
| Approximate Days Absence in a School Year | |
| Attendance Rate | End of School Year |
| 100% | 0 |
| 95% | 10 days |
| 90% | 20 days |
| 85% | 30 days |
| 80% | 40 days |
As the parent you are responsible for ensuring that once your child is registered at a school that they attend regularly and punctually. Starting good habits earlier on is much easier than trying to change poor attendance habits, battling with your child to attend school and struggling to get out of the door on time. Be organised, have a plan, be consistent and involve your child.
School absence falls into one of two categories: Authorised, those which we can give you permission for and Unauthorised, those which we will not.
Examples of absences which we are unlikely to authorise can include:
- Sickness of a parent, or other family member
- Inadequate clothing for school
- Child being used as a carer.
- Problems with transport
- Non urgent medical treatment
- School refusal or truancy
- Days off for birthdays, shopping trips
- Family Holiday
The only person who can authorise an absence from school is the Head of School.
If your child will be absent from school, you must notify the school by 9.00am by telephone or an email. The Head of School will decide whether to authorise the absence, depending upon the reason given.
Most childhood sickness that prevents school attendance will be classed as authorised absence. However, if your child is frequently absent from school due to sickness, we can ask that you provide medical evidence, or we may have to stop authorising the absences. This does not mean that we do not believe you or your child, but we want to do the best for you by ensuring your child can attend school as much as possible and providing extra support such as accessing the school therapy team if needed.
As a parent you can help keep your child’s level of absence down by sending them into school every day and arriving on time. The register will close at 9.00am, half an hour after the beginning of the start of the school day. Arriving after this time will mean your child is marked as having an unauthorised absence and this could lead to a fine being issued.
The Head of School can only grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances. As a rule, a family holiday or travelling abroad is not considered to be an exceptional reason.
If you need to request a Leave of Absence, please contact the school for a form to be completed and returned for the Head of School to consider.
Did you know?
10 MINS LATE EVERY DAY = 33 learning hours lost each year!
Can your child afford to miss out?
- There is a link between good school attendance and high-level attainment.
- Regardless of the reason, if your child is absent from school it will impact on their learning.
- Parents/Carers are legally responsible for ensuring their child attends school on time every day.
PUNCTUALITY
- It is important that your child attends school every day and on time.
- Arriving late to school is unsettling for children.
