Attendance

'Every Day Counts!'

Our strategy is communicated with parents and pupils right from our first meetings at the start of children's Reception year. We over communicate this to pupils in school and to parents in letters, termly newsletters and in other communication. Our policies and procedures are embedded in our vision and in our motto of 'aspiring for excellence.' Children cannot achieve academically, personally or socially if they do not attend school regularly. They miss out on the incredible experiences we offer both inside and outside of the classroom and the extensive support we give for pupil mental health and well-being.

Excellent attendance at school is an expectation at Newcroft to support pupils in achieving their best. We aim to achieve 96% average whole school attendance, or above. Our whole school attendance is significantly above the national average every year due to our rigorous approaches and our supportive parents. 

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What Guidance does the school follow? 

Our attendance strategy and policy meets the requirements of the Department for Education’s (DfE) Working Together to Improve School Attendance statutory guidance for schools, which applies from August 2024. It also refers to the new National Framework for issuing penalty notices and reflects changes to the law introduced through the Education Penalty Notices England Amendment Regulations 2024, on school attendance parental responsibility measures.  Newcroft Primary Academy adheres to the Leicestershire County Council’s Local Code of Conduct for Issuing Penalty Notices 2024.) The detail of this information can be found in our Attendance Policy. 

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Why is excellent attendance so Important? 

Excellent attendance at school allows a child to have the best possible start in life:

• To learn and make excellent progress
• To build confidence and self-esteem
• To understand responsibility
• To develop new skills
• To grow as individuals
• To gain qualifications
• To make new friends, have fun and develop life skills
• To develop awareness of other cultures
• To ensure they have good mental and physical health
• To ensure they are safeguarded 

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Rigorous monitoring and Support for Families 

Mrs Aukland, our Head teacher, is our Senior attendance Champion. She is supported in the rigorous daily, weekly and monthly monitoring of attendance by Mrs Stafford, our Office Manager, as well as Mrs Liz Flynn, our school's Education Welfare Officer (EWO). 

We follow our Attendance Policy to positively support families whose children are not attending school regularly enough or are late frequently. We are successful in helping families to reverse poor attendance due to our partnership approach with parents, their wider family, the pupils themselves and many multi agencies such as health, social care and benefits organisations. 

Parents are informed regularly by letter, of their child's attendance, if there is a cause for concern. Meetings and bespoke support is offered to all families who need help with their child's attendance. 

All parents can view their child's attendance at any time on their WEDUC app, should they wish to do so. Attendance is reported formally on pupil's mid year and end of year reports. Parents can request a paper copy of their child's attendance at any time from the school's office. 

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Responsibilities

Everyone, including all staff, parents, pupils and governors have roles and responsibilities in relation to promoting and securing good school attendance for every child. Please see our Attendance Policy for more information.

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Informing us of your child's absence 

Parents/ carers are expected to telephone, email or send a WEDUC to the school office by 8:40 am on the first day of absence, indicating the reasons for absence and likely length of time of the absence.

If this information is not received, the school has in place a system of first-day contact.  This means that parents will be telephoned, or a WEDUC/ email message sent on the first day a pupil is absent without explanation to establish a reason for the absence.

Where it is not possible to make contact with parents on the first day of absence, the school will continue to try to make contact by text. 

Parents/ carers should continue to call the school on each day of absence, unless agreed otherwise.

The above procedures may change if a pupil is considered as vulnerable, at the discretion of the Senior Attendance Champion/ Head teacher, where a home visit may be made.

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Lateness

Registration closes at 9.20 am and 1.25 pm.  Any pupil who arrives after registration closes will count as absent (authorised), before this, we will use a ‘late’ code to show the pupil was late to registration. Being late to school has serious impact on pupils' ability to settle and to feel part of their class and school community. 

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Illness- I am not sure if my child is well enough for school

It can be tricky deciding whether to keep your child off school when they are unwell. Most illnesses are very mild, like a minor headache or a slight cold. If your child is mildly unwell with a cold for example, with no high temperature, it is fine to send them to school. If you decide to keep your child at home, it’s important to phone the school before 8:40am to let them know why they will be absent. Parents need to call school every day, it is not acceptable to say that your child will be absent all week, unless agreed with the school office/ Head teacher. 

If you are unsure if your child’s illness allows them to attend school, please see the following NHS advice and read our Administration of Medicines Policy. You will find information about conditions that are infectious or contagious and what to do in terms of absence. 

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Routine medical and dental appointments

Parents/ carers should, where possible, not book non urgent medical and dental appointments in school time. When appointments are urgent or unavoidable, we ask that parents return their child to school immediately afterwards – or send them to school beforehand. We do not routinely expect to see evidence of appointments. We may on occasion, ask parents for their GP appointment text or hospital letter at the discretion of the Senior Attendance Champion/ Head teacher.

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Term Time Holidays

Any requests for time off for a holiday will not be authorised, unless in the most exceptional of circumstances. Newcroft Primary Academy follows the statutory guidance for schools which states that Head teachers should not authorise term time holidays.

If parents/ carers decide to take their child out of school for a term time holiday, it is their statutory duty to inform the school using the Leave of Absence form found in our Attendance Policy (appendix 1) or by using the electronic form on WEDUC.

Parents/ carers should send the form to the school in a reasonable amount of time before the holiday. It is not acceptable to place the request the day before the holiday commences or on the morning the holiday commences and expect an immediate response. Parents/ carers will be informed if the absence is authorised or unauthorised and any further action, in a letter from the Head teacher.

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Penalty Notices for Term Time Holidays

The school will only seek to use penalty notices through the Leicestershire Local Authority, who are the receivers of any funds raised from the notices, in the most exceptional of circumstances. The Leicestershire Local Authority issues the penalty notices to each parent, for each child who is absent from school. For more information, please read our Attendance Policy.

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Support for Parents 

What can I do to encourage punctuality and good attendance?

Make sure your child gets enough sleep and gets up in plenty of time each morning. Ensure that they leave home in the correct clothes and properly equipped, having had breakfast. Show your child, by your interest and the way that you talk about school, that you value their education.

My child is trying to avoid coming to the school. What should I do?

Pupils are sometimes reluctant to attend school. Any problems with regular attendance are best tackled through partnership with the school, parents/carers, and, in discussion with the child. If a child is reluctant to attend school, excusing their absence or giving in to pressure from them to be excused from school, is rarely a long-term solution. On the contrary, this gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make school avoidance more of a problem.

Contact the school immediately and be open about your worries. Your child could be avoiding school for a number of reasons – difficulties with schoolwork, friendship issues, family difficulties or worries about what is happening at home while they are at school. It is important that we identify the reason for your child’s reluctance to attend school and work together to tackle the problem. In some cases, you may find it helpful to discuss the circumstances of your child’s difficulties with another professional such as a doctor, Family, or our Education Welfare Officer.

The school has a trained counselor and Senior Mental Health Leader who may be able to support pupils struggling with their wellbeing. The school also has a trained ELSA who also may be able to help. The pastoral team at Newcroft Primary Academy are skilled in working with multi agencies and can sign post families to the right service if families are open and honest about the worries and concerns they have. Parents/ carers can also self-refer to the Family Help team at Leicestershire Local Authority or Family Lives, who offer free support and parent mentoring on any aspect of parenting for those living in Leicestershire.

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Please support us in delivering the best for your children during their time at Newcroft. 

Additional Guidance for Parents

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/back-into-school/resources-for-families/