Coming to school regularly is important for your child’s future. Parents/ Carers are responsible for making sure their children receive full-time education.

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We have adapted our attendance pathway based on the 5 Foundations of Effective Attendance Practice. Modelled on the work of Professor Katherine Weare – What works in promoting social and emotional well-being and responding to mental health problems in schools. An emphasis on developing a culture and climate which builds a sense of connectedness and belonging to allow all children to thrive, with a staged approach allowing us to identify early triggers.

 

Regular school attendance

Good attendance shows secondary schools and future potential employers that your child is reliable.

At Loxdale Primary School, we record details of all children’s attendance and absences within school. We must do so at the beginning of morning and afternoon sessions. If your child is absent, you must notify the school of the reason why by 8:45am. The school will record the absence; the Local Authority will receive this information for each child. The Department for Education also receives annual attendance data for the school.

 

Your responsibilities as a parent/carer

By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents and carers, this means registering their child at a school – though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Once your child is registered at Loxdale Primary School, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend on a regular basis.  If your child does not attend school on a regular basis, you could be fined or be prosecuted in a court of law.

 

How to prevent your child from missing school

You can help prevent your child missing school by:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality

• taking an interest in their education – ask about schoolwork and encourage them to get involved in school activities

• discussing any problems your child may have at school, informing their teacher about anything you feel is relevant

• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments – particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work

• Please click the following link for NHS Guidance to check if your child is able to attend school: www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/
   

 

To avoid disrupting your child’s education, you should arrange appointments and outings:

• after school hours

• at weekends

• during school holidays

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You should not expect Loxdale Primary School to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.

Support on school attendance

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A child’s school attendance can be affected if there are problems with:

• issues in school- such as between peers.

• housing or care arrangements

• transport to and from school

• work and money

 

If your child’s attendance is affected by any of these issues or you have any other concerns, then please approach their teacher or the school attendance team to discuss any support needed.

 

IEWS Attendance Service- Independent Education Welfare Services

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IEWS are Loxdale Primary School’s service provider commissioned to improve attendance and punctuality.  

IEWS are a service whose Educational Welfare Officers (EWO’s) have a role to play in ensuring that children are adequately supported in improving their attendance where required.  IEWS work in partnership with the school’s Pastoral Manager and Attendance & Pastoral Officer to support attendance of children within the school by working closely with families. The EWO representative will:

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• Support in monitoring absence and day to day procedures through defining clear roles and responsibilities.

• Attend weekly meetings with pastoral staff in school.

• Support a tiered approach to escalation to improve attendance and deliver legal intervention

• Provide capacity in monitoring children identified as requiring early intervention (95% attendance)

• Support data analysis

• Provide Nursery and pre- compulsory school age attendance support

• Undertake home visits

• Chair SARM Meetings (school attendance review meetings) with parents/ carers

• Conduct ‘late gate’ duties to challenge and support with punctuality

• Undertake Early Help Assessment work

• Initiate statutory action- Formal Warning Notices, Legal Referrals & Prosecutions

• Evidence and review documentation to support any legal processes.

 

Along with the school’s Education Welfare Officer (EWO) we aim to work closely with parents and carers to respectfully notify families when their child’s attendance emerges at the early stages of the pathway so that we can work collaboratively to reduce further absences from occurring and support the family, as best we can, with any issues that may be impacting on attendance and/or punctuality.

We recognise that the majority of our pupils are of an age where they cannot bring themselves to school independently, and therefore understand that low attendance or poor punctuality is out of their control. As a result, we acknowledge that it is the efforts of our parents/ carers that will have a significant impact on improving both punctuality and attendance for our pupils and consequently include them within the recognition and rewards we share - achieving together, celebrating together.