Attendance
Leigh Primary School is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our pupils. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them.
One of our basic principles is to celebrate success. Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. We actively promote 100% attendance for all our pupils.
Aims:
We are committed to meeting our obligations with regards to school attendance by:
- Promoting good attendance and reducing absence, including persistent absence
- Ensuring every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled
- Acting early to address patterns of absence
We will also support parents to perform their legal duty to ensure their children of compulsory school age attend regularly and will promote and support punctuality in attending lessons.
Parental Responsibility
Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and arrive on time. Regular attendance is essential to the all-round development of the child and they should be allowed to take full advantage of educational opportunities available to them in order to make good progress in their learning. Poor attendance undermines their educational attainment and progress and, sometimes, puts pupils at risk by encouraging anti-social behaviour.
It is the parents’ responsibility to contact the school on the first day their child is absent. This is a safeguarding issue requirement so that all parties know that your child is safe and their whereabouts is known. Parents should update the school daily and inform the school when their child is returning.
If a child is absent, the pupil’s parent/carer must notify the school on the first day of an unplanned absence by 9 am or as soon as practically possible. The school will mark the absence due to illness as authorised unless the school has a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness or the family is receipt of a letter which requires evidence for all absence due to a percentage of less than 90% attendance. If the authenticity of the illness is in doubt, the school may ask the pupil’s parent/carer to provide medical evidence, such as a doctor’s note, prescription appointment card or other appropriate form of evidence. We will not ask for medical evidence unnecessarily. If the school is not satisfied about the authenticity of the illness, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and parents/carers will be notified of this.
Pupils are expected to arrive by 8.45am but we encourage children to arrive by 8:30. All pupils that arrive late must report, with their parent to the school office where the reason for lateness is recorded.
Good Attendance = Good Achievement and attainment
Please find below links to our attendance policy and parent attendance information leaflet.
