Attendance
It is of vital importance that we return to our high expectations of attendance. All pupils are expected to attend every day, unless they are too unwell to do so. Absence is not authorised for holidays, days out or sibling/family illness. We expect pupil attendance to be above 95%, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
As you know, we constantly monitor our pupil’s attendance and work with parents to ensure that pupils receive the education and life choices they deserve. Good attendance at school for pupils means better attainment, wellbeing and wider life chances. If a child is absent from school they miss out on key aspects of a sequence of lessons, alongside essential building blocks within a curriculum subject and other important aspects of learning.
The attendance team at PRPS is comprised of the Headteacher, Pupil Premium Champion, Family Liaison Officer and School Administrator. The team meets every 3 weeks to monitor and track attendance and discuss any concerns and follow-up actions. The team will always offer support in the first instance to those children and families that are identified as requiring help with good attendance.
Why should we worry about attendance?
- A 90% attendance rate means a pupil is missing one half day of lessons every week. If that pupil has a 90% attendance rate through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 they will have missed one half of a school year in that time!
- A pupil with an 80% attendance rate over 5 years misses one complete year of school. In attendance terms that would mean the pupil has missed 40 days of education in a school year, just over 1 day per week. Therefore if a pupil’s attendance remains at 80% from Year 1 to Year 11 they will miss more than 2 full years of education!
Parents should perform their legal duty by ensuring their children attend school regularly and are punctual to their lessons. Time away from school also has a huge impact on young children socially as they may find it difficult to form strong relationships with their peers if they are often absent. It is also very difficult for them to catch up on work that they have missed while absent.
Obviously if your child has an illness they need to be kept home but we please ask that you adhere to the following guidelines:
- Please notify us by 8.45am of your child’s absence on the first day and tell us what the specific illness is i.e. sore throat, sickness bug – not just unwell.
- Continue to contact the school on each day of absence. Work will not be set for children, as if they are well enough to work at home, they are likely to be well enough to attend school. However, in extenuating circumstances, pupils are encouraged to access the online learning platforms such as Times Table Rock Stars.
- Only keep your child home for as long as the illness lasts – even if this means returning to school on a Friday – this is still a school day and is a whole day of learning that your child will miss.
- Please do not keep children at home for any other reason, e.g. sibling/parent illness, birthday, day out.
We strive to work with parents to improve attendance and we will contact you to make you aware of any concerns we have if a child's attendance falls below 95%. Monitoring will then continue until attendance/punctuality improves to a satisfactory standard.
Thank you for your support in ensuring your child attends school regularly and please do not hesitate to contact the school if you would like any further guidance or help regarding good attendance.
The government has published two key documents regarding attendance. Links to these can be found below.
This week's whole school attendance report (15/04/24 - 19/04/24) is 93.5%
The class with the best attendance this week is ARP 2 with 96.7% - Congratulations!!!!
Whole school attendance to date (01/09/23 - 19/04/2024) is 94%
Report a Student Absence
Please click on the below link to complete the form for your child's absence.
Leave of Absence Form
We understand that children have minor illnesses e.g. viruses and infections.
When your child is absent, please e-mail the school office absence@prpglt.co.uk on the first day of absence before 8.45am. You should include the reason for your child's absence the length of time you are expecting them to be absent.
If no telephone call or email is received, parents will automatically receive a text message asking them to reply stating the reason for absence. Parents can reply to the text message free of charge. If a message or letter is not received when your child returns to school, the absence will be recorded as “unauthorised”.
In the event that your child has had symptoms of vomiting and/or diarrhoea, they should not be sent school until at least 48 hours has passed, since the last bout. The same procedure will be expected to be followed should your child be sent home from school for vomiting and/or diarrhoea.
If you are struggling, for any reason, with Attendance or Punctuality issues, please speak to Mrs Priestnall, our Family Liaison Officer, or Mrs Brightman, our School Administrator, about what support we may be able to offer you.
School begins at 8.45am. Please can you ensure that your child arrives at school on time. Any child arriving later than 8.45am should enter school via the main entrance reporting to the school office.
Arriving at school on time every day is an important job for parents and children.
Being punctual and ready to work are important life skills that we try to develop in school to equip children for working life.
When your child is late they are rushing and get off to a bad start.
If a child is late 15 minutes every day, that is the equivalent of 95% attendance.
A reminder to please collect your child promptly at the end of the school day.