Attendance

Our attendance target for this year is 96.5%

At Kingsfield First School we are committed to working together to ensure all pupils receive the best education possible and to enable them to make progress and do as well as they can. For this to happen, pupils need to be in school to access the valuable teaching and learning opportunities.

Promoting excellent attendance is the responsibility of the whole school community. The school will promote the importance of good attendance through the curriculum and personal/social opportunities.

Good attendance by pupils will be recognised appropriately. All pupils should be at school, on time, every day the school is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable.

We will ensure that parents are aware of attendance matters and work with them to ensure good attendance and punctuality. To support the school in our commitment to improve school attendance and punctuality, we have employed an independent Education Welfare Service – VIP Education who will provide advice and guidance to the school, parents, and pupils.

Pupils are sometimes reluctant to attend school. Any problems that arise with attendance are best resolved between the school, the parents, and the pupil. If a pupil is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or to give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance and education does not matter and may make things worse. Permitting absence from school without a good reason is an offence by the parent.

Rewarding good school attendance

Our school celebrates and rewards good and improving attendance by:

  • Sharing attendance on our school newsletter
  • Awarding the best class attendance awards
  • Phone calls home
  • Post cards home

Late procedures

Parents are requested to contact the main office if their child is going to be late and provide a reason for lateness.

If lateness is a cause for concern, the following procedures will be followed.

  1. Parents will receive a letter informing of the concern.
  2. If no improvement, the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) from VIP Education will contact parents to further discuss and offer support and advice to improve punctuality.
  3. If still no improvement, parents and pupils will be invited to a meeting with the EWO to discuss the reasons for lateness and to offer support. Referrals to wider support services may be offered if needed. The discussion held will be documented by the EWO and an action plan to improve school attendance will be devised with parents and the pupil during the meeting and a review date set if needed.
  4. If no improvement is seen after the meeting has taken place, the school may follow the Staffordshire Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices for persistent lateness.

 

Changes to Penalty Notices for Leave in Term Time

Letter to schools regarding the Penalty Notice changes

Requesting Leave for a Holiday

If you wish to apply for term time leave for your child please complete the form below (paper copies available on request) and return it to the School Office. You will then receive a letter notifying you of the decision.

Absence Request Form

Information From Biddulph Schools

Holidays in Term Time

More Information To support Attendance


We are proud to be part of the Little Heroes campaign from Staffordshire Council, please find below lots of information, ideas and advice to support our families with attendance and emotional health.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letter to parents absence policy

CFLP Attendance leaflet

Kingsfield Attendance Policy 2024

CFLP attendance-flowchart

working-together-to-improve-school-attendance-summary-of-responsibiltiies-may-22 working-together-to-improve-school-attendance-may-22

Tips for Good Attendance – Primary Assembly

Our Independent Education Welfare Officer from VIP Education, The Headteacher and Clerical Assistant regularly monitor every pupil’s attendance. Where there appears to be a particular problem with attendance, the following procedures are applied.

  • A letter is sent to parents informing them of a decline in school attendance and the need for this to improve due to the impact on their child’s education.
  • If school attendance continues to decline, a further concern letter is sent to parents.
  • If no improvement seen, parents and pupils where appropriate will be invited into a meeting with the Education Welfare Officer to discuss the concerns and to offer support around any possible barriers or problems at home or at school which may be contributing to low attendance. Referrals to wider support services may be offered where appropriate. The discussion held will be documented by the EWO and an action plan to improve school attendance will be devised during the meeting and a review date set if needed.
  • If school attendance does not improve, the school may follow the Staffordshire Code of Conduct for issuing penalty notices for pupils with persistent absence.

Is my child too ill for school?

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

should-i-keep-my-child-off-school

Bad Weather and School Closures Information

In the event of the school being closed due to bad weather or for any other reason, parents and carers will receive a text message to inform them of the closure, the School’s Twitter feed will also be updated to reflect the closure.