Attendance and Punctuality
A big thank you to all our families who take attendance and punctuality seriously. We are really grateful to you for getting your child in on time so that they can learn as much as they possibly can. Breakfast club opens every weekday from 7.30am. School doors open at 8.40am and children start learning in class from 8.40am.
Our target for the whole school attendance is 97%.
Please note our Attendance and Punctuality Policy has been updated for September 2024 with the new DfE guidance which schools will follow from the 19th August 2024.
Every child has the right to attend school every day. Casual attendance and frequent absence really has a detrimental effect on children’s education and emotional development. At The Beacon CE School everyone has their part to play in ensuring that all children attend regularly.
Please click here to see the weekly attendance for each class this half term.
We want our school to have the best attendance and punctuality, so that our children can learn as much as they possibly can.
This is achieved by:
Parent / Carer roles:
- Make sure your child attends every day.
- Provide two emergency contact numbers to the school.
- Notify the school as soon as possible on the first day of absence.
- Try to make all medical appointments (doctors, dentist and hospital) out of school time. Obviously, this is not always possible but, in such cases, try to minimise the disruption to the day by getting an early morning appointment so that your child can attend afterwards or a late afternoon appointment so that they can complete most of their timetable before leaving.
- Encourage your child to take responsibility for being on time for school ensuring they have a realistic bedtime and will not be too tired to get up in the morning for school. Equipment should be prepared the night before.
- Discourage your child from staying overnight with friends during the week. This sometimes leads to them both being late (or not attending at all) the next day.
- Talk positively about going to school.
- Work with the school and local authority to help them understand their/your barriers to attendance.
- Proactively engage with the support offered to prevent the need for more formal support.
- If your child is on an attendance support plan /attendance contract, ensure they undertake the actions that have been agreed.
- Monitor your child’s internet and social media use to ensure they are not experiencing any difficulties that may prevent them from wanting to attend school.
- Leave of absence during term time is not a parental right. If there are special or exceptional circumstances, please contact the Headteacher and complete the correct school documentation and a decision will be made if the absence can be authorised or not.
The School’s Responsibilities:
- Inform parents/carers of their responsibilities for maintaining regular attendance for their child.
- Inform parents/carers every half term of their child’s attendance using the traffic light system.
- 97-100% - Good - Outstanding - GREEN LIGHT
- 94-96.9% - Satisfactory - AMBER LIGHT
- 93.9% and below - Unsatisfactory - RED LIGHT
- We aim to support any family in difficulties or crisis.
- Refer families requiring support to the Attendance Team or the Education Welfare Officer as necessary.
- We will actively seek Court Prosecution when needed, but we do this as a very last resort.
- We value and reward good attendance; weekly, half termly, termly and annually through certificates, praise in assembly, rewards and a class attendance trophy.
We will request an explanation from parents/carers if your child is reguarly late for school. Parents/carers will be invited into school to discuss this concern with the Learning Mentor, Senior Attendance Champion and/or Headteacher / Executive Headteacher, in the hope of resolving the problem.
To raise standards, please be aware, letters will be sent from the Pupil Attendance and Education Welfare Services if there are any concerns.
Research shows that the closer a school and family work together the more likely a child will succeed.
DfE Attendance Hub
We are proud to have been selected by the Department of Education to be an Attendance Hub in recognition of our efforts and focus in ensuring our children are in school on time learning. Please see https://www.ldst.org.uk/attendance-hub/ for more information.
The Beacon CE Primary has also been awarded the GOLD Attendance Quality Mark.
