At Walton Primary School we work hard to promote good attendance in order for our children to gain the best education possible. Pupils who have good attendance will become successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve.

Each week we celebrate attendance in an assembly where we give Tasty Tuck tokens (or similar) to the class which had the highest attendance the week before. These tokens enable the winning class to have a free item from the Tuck Shop at break, that day.

Class 3 won the attendance prize in July 2023 - a class trip to Walton Pier for bowling and an ice-cream - with a yearly attendance of 92.03% - who will win this year??

Below is the year to date table (3.5.24)

Taking your child out of school during term time - Leave of Absence

Taking your child out of school during term time could be detrimental to your child’s academic progress. There is no entitlement to parents to take their child out of school during term time; however, you may apply to the school for Leave of Absence if you believe there are exceptional circumstances. Please ask at the office for a form (one for each child). You MUST return the form with a covering letter explaining why you want to take your child out of school, preferably at least a month before the absence.

If the absence is not authorised and the holiday is taken, the case will be referred to the Missing Education and Child Employment Service who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.

When should you keep your child off school?

When your child is unwell, it can be hard deciding whether to keep them at home. This guidance can help you make that judgment:

• Children do not need to be kept off school for a headache, earache, stomach ache, coughs, colds and sore throats.
• Children should be kept off for 48 hours after the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea.
• Children must get treatment from the doctor for Conjunctivitis, Impetigo, Threadworm and Scabies.
• Chicken Pox - children are able to return to school once all of the rash has scabbed over.
• Head Lice - children do not need to be kept off school BUT they must be administered with the appropriate treatment from the chemist, to prevent spreading.

If you are unsure, please send your child to school and let the office or the teachers on the gate know that your child is not feeling 100%. We can always ring you to come and collect them if they deteriorate during the day. Likewise, if you make the decision to keep your child at home, but by mid-morning they are feeling a lot better, please bring them in to school, (we will need you to provide a packed lunch for them).

If your child’s attendance falls below 95% we will write to you and may invite you to a meeting to discuss this with you. You may also be asked to supply medical evidence for any future absences.

Ofsted expects us to justify why we are authorising absences without having the evidence to validate such authorisation.

If you child’s attendance still does not improve, we will ask to attend a further meeting with the Headteacher. Failure to attend this meeting, or if no improvement is seen in your child’s attendance, will lead to a warning letter being sent to you from the Missing Education and Child Employment Service - MECES (formally known as the Education Welfare Service). If there is still no improvement a Penalty Notice of £60 fine per parent, which increases to £120 if it is not paid after 21 days, will be issued.

If you are struggling to get your child in to school, we can arrange a meeting for you with Mrs Haley, our Pastoral/Learning Mentor, who can offer you advice and support to help you and your child to be in school, on time, every day.

Why is good attendance so important?

We believe that a child’s attendance and punctuality is of great importance to maintain consistent progress and achievement in both curriculum knowledge and understanding, and personal and social skills.

We want all the children to achieve the very best they can and for this they need to be in school regularly. Irregular attendance makes it harder to keep up with work, school life and events. Late arrival disrupts the education not only of the student who is late, but also of others in the class. Erratic appearances at after school clubs and social events can affect their feeling of belonging and, for some children, their ability to sustain friendships. They may miss explanations of homework, letters home or information in need of a response.

Pupils who have good attendance will become successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve. They will find school routines and school work easier to cope with and are more likely to have an easier transfer to secondary school and go on to become confident individuals who make a positive contribution to society.

Each school sets its own annual target for attendance, in collaboration with the School Governors and the Missing Education & Child Employment Service.

The attendance target this year is 96.5%. It is expected that the whole school community will work together to achieve this target.

When your child arrives late for school, he/she misses the teacher’s instructions and the beginning of the lesson. Your child may also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late.

Punctuality is important for children to start the day off well. It is also an important lesson which they will carry on throughout their adult life.

The school hours are:

• Classrooms open for early morning work at 8.30 a.m.
• Morning Registration takes place at 8:40am for Years 1 to 6, and 8.45am for EYFS.   A child arriving after Registration, but before 9.00am will be given a L-Late (before registration closed) mark.       If a child arrives after 9.00am they will be given a U-Late (after registers closed) mark.
• Afternoon registration opens at 12.45 p.m. for Reception and 1.00pm for Years 1-6. Children arriving after 12.50pm and 1.05pm respectively, will be given a L-late mark and after 1.00pm/1.15pm a U-Late mark.

L-Late is recorded as a present mark and U-Late is recorded as absent for the session.

The school day ends at 3.05pm for Reception and 3.10pm for Years 1-6..

Tips for good punctuality:

• Prepare packed lunches, school bags, uniform and breakfast items the night before.
• Make sure the alarm is set at a reasonable time for getting everyone up and ready.
• Ensure your child arrives in time. Gates open at 8.30am.

Did you know how much learning children miss out on by being late?