Attendance

Procedure for Reporting Absences from School

Danetree Primary School requires a daily message to be received by 9am (or as early as possible) from Parents or Carers by telephone call (020 8393 6406). Select option 1 for the absence line.

Why it is important to attend school regularly?

– To give your child the best possible start in life.

– They will be able to keep up with their work.

– They will achieve better results.

– They will develop friendships and social skills.

School attendance is central to raising standards in education and ensuring all pupils can fulfil their potential. Danetree Primary school has a target of 97% attendance for all pupils. This rate allows for periods of illness or particular circumstances when absence from schools is unavoidable. We want your child to attend school regularly as this supports their learning. If your child is not well or if you have a planned reason why your child cannot attend school, please inform the school at the earliest opportunity.

Children of compulsory school age must, by law, receive a full time education.

Each person with day to day parental responsibility could be taken to court and fined for each child who is not attending school regularly or who is persistently late.

The Education Act 1996 states that all pupils should attend school regularly and punctually. ‘If a child of compulsory school age, who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at the school, his parent is guilty of an offence.’

Some key attendance facts:

• Attending 90% of the time or less will have a serious effect on learning.
• One day’s absence every two weeks will give 90% attendance.
• Up to the age of 16, 90% attendance will mean losing over a year of school.

Arrival at School

The start of the school day is as follows:

Reception

The school gates will open at 8:30am.

08:45 - 08:55 - Children enter class for early morning work

08:55 - Registration

Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

The school gates will open at 8:30am.

08:30 - 08:45 - Children enter class for early morning work

08:45 - All children expected in class

08:50 - Registration

The school gates will close at 8:45am for Key Stage 1 and 2 and 8:55am for Reception. If a pupil arrives after this then they must enter the school via the school office.

If your child arrives after registration they will be marked late (from 8:55am to 9:20am).

If your child arrives after 9:20am they will receive an unauthorised absence mark.

Remember that persistent lateness can be legally counted as unauthorised absence.

Lateness

Persistent lateness can:

• Cause embarrassment to your child.
• Make it harder for your child to settle.
• Cause disruption to the rest of the class.

Attendance Policy