Why attendance is so important

 

Excellent attendance and punctuality at school is important to allow children to reach their full potential. Good regular attendance means being in school at least 95% of the time.  Through regular attendance and good punctuality, your child will be able to:

 

• Become confident and curious learners

• Experience new, exciting things

• Find their passions and develop their own interests

• Access all available opportunities

• Build strong and healthy friendships

• Learn how to grow as part of the school family and the wider community 

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Children who are persistently absent, or have attendance under 95%, have less chance of achieving their full potential due to missed learning opportunities.

 

How can you help your child?

 

• Make sure they know that you think school is really important

• Help your child to organise their uniform/ PE kit and bag the night before school

• Agree a bed time with your child to make sure they get a good night’s sleep

• Have a special routine for getting up, getting ready and for breakfast time

• Organise any medical or dental appointments for after school or in the

• Take family holidays during the school holiday period – we have 175 days of weekends and pupil holidays and just 190 days in school

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Absence

 

We have a first day contact system, which means that we will contact you if a child does not arrive at school and where no message has been received by 9:30am. Our first day contact coordinator (Mrs Jennings) monitors attendance and punctuality very closely. Mrs Jennings will contact the parents/carers of all unexplained absentees via phone call or text and record any reasons for absence on SIMS.

 

Illness

Children can attend school with minor ailments (toothache, headache, stomach ache, cold, sore throat etc.) as over the counter medicines can be given before school. If a child becomes too ill to remain in school, we will contact home.

 

If your child is too unwell to attend school, please let the school know as soon as possible by telephoning the school office between 8:30am and 9:00am on the day of their absence on 01325 720028 or by emailing on HWPGeneral@hurworthprimary.com. The reason for absence will be recorded on SIMS

 

If your child has diarrhoea and/or vomiting, then they should be off school for 48 hours. Please contact us if you are unsure of how long your child should be absent for with an illness. We ask you to contact the school daily if your child will be absent for more than one day. Your child’s safety is at the heart of all decisions made, and this ensures that we know where your child is if they are not at school.

 

Medical Appointments

Where possible, all appointments (including dental or doctor’s appointments) should be arranged outside of school hours.  If you do need to remove your child from class, please keep the amount of time absent from school to as short a period as possible and let us know beforehand by contacting the school office via phone or email. We may request that you provide medical evidence.

 

Punctuality

We have a flexible start to our school day where children can come into school from 8:45. All children need to be in class no later than 8:55, when the school gate will be locked. If there is an unavoidable reason for your child getting to school late, please telephone to let us know. When you arrive, the school gates will be closed and you will need to take your child to the school office. Your child will then be signed into school at the main office and the reason for lateness noted.

 

Did you know?

Being 5 minutes late each day is the same as missing 3 whole days of school! We start our learning promptly at 8.55am, so being 15 minutes late each day is the equivalent to missing two whole solid weeks of learning.

 

Leave of Absence and Holidays

It is better for your child to take holidays during school holidays so they do not miss out on learning. If you must take a holiday in school time, please obtain a leave of absence form from the school office or download a copy below. We are unable to authorise any holiday during term time, except in very exceptional circumstances. Each request will be judged on its own merit.

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