Swillington Primary School

Good attendance is a significant factor in the progress a child makes at school. Research supports our own experience that, if a child’s attendance falls below 95% this is likely to have a negative impact on the child’s attainment.

Good attendance requires the active support and cooperation of parents and carers with the school. It is the result of working in partnership between the school, home and the Local Authority’s Attendance Improvement Unit.

School attendance registers are kept as required by law. The register is completed at the beginning of each morning and afternoon session and must show whether each pupil is present or absent at the time of registration.

If you wish your child to be excused from school, you should request permission from the Headteacher, giving a reason for the request. The Headteacher will reply, telling you whether or not the absence will be authorised.

All absences are coded according to the reason given for them.

What is an authorised absence?

Please note, although these are authorised absences, they still show on the child’s records as an absence.

The child’s illness
A religious festival
Medical / Dental appointments
Music examination off-site
Family bereavement

What is an unauthorised absence?

Minding the house or children
Going shopping in school hours
Holidays
A day off for a birthday
Sleeping in
Inability to provide transport to school
Any absence for which we have not received an explanation, either by telephone or in writing

Any unexplained absence is recorded as a parentally-condoned truancy. Therefore, you must inform the school as soon as possible of the reason for your child’s absence. If we have not been previously notified nor received a telephone message from you, the school will contact you. This is part of our monitoring process in the interests of the health and safety of the children. Subject to government policy, Headteachers will no longer have the right to authorise holidays during term time. Parents who insist on taking holidays will be fined. The Brigshaw Learning Partnership have an agreed policy for absences.

We particularly request that children in Key Stage 2 are not taken out of school during SATs week (usually around 2nd week in May). The SATs are statutory tests which cannot be repeated at any other time. Attendance is monitored by the DfE, Education Leeds and the Attendance Improvement Adviser. attendance.

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Lateness

Please make sure your child arrives at school on time. Children who arrive after 9.10am will be given a late mark. Lateness may be recorded as an unauthorised absence. It is important that children develop the habit of punctuality as this affects their attitude towards school. It can cause difficulties if a child misses the introduction to a lesson, and it disrupts the rest of the class when children come in late.

Medical Appointments

Please try to arrange medical appointments outside school time where possible. If you have to make a medical/dental appointment for your child during school hours, please try to give us at least a day’s notice. Please come into school to collect your child. Children arriving at/ leaving school outside of normal registration times, should be brought to the school office to sign in / out. Medical appointments register as an absence on your child’s attendance record.

Emergency Closure

A decision about any school closure (and re-opening) will be made before 8.30am and will be announced on our School Website, Twitter, Class Dojo and via text message. Should an emergency occur in school, an announcement will be made in the same way.

If the weather is very bad, staff will make every effort to get to school. It may not be possible to make the decision to close earlier than 8.30am so please understand that if you call the school before 8.30am, the decision to close may not yet have been taken.

The school uses a text messaging service which enables us to get messages to you promptly, for instance, about school closures or the cancelling of after-school clubs. It is, therefore, important that you keep us up to date with any change in your mobile phone number.