Information for Parents and Carers
Why is it so important that my child attends school regularly?
Children who attend school regularly will achieve their full potential. Not only does school provide high quality learning experiences to enrich children’s lives, but we also provide numerous opportunities for children to develop social skills and to grow into well-rounded individuals. Good attendance means children will benefit greatly from these aspects of school life.
However, children with poor attendance tend to achieve less in both primary and secondary school. Missing school leaves children vulnerable to underachievement. falling behind. Not only does this affect academic attainment, but children with poor attendance can often feel left out, find it hard to make and keep friends, feel insecure and lack confidence. Their overall attitude to learning can be inhibited; behavioral problems may develop and health and wellbeing may be affected.
Celebrating Good Attendance
We love to celebrate good attendance at Our Lady of Peace and have different incentives and recognition systems in place. An Attendance Trophy or Bear is given to the class with the highest attendance that week! Monthly attendance results can be found on our school website, and our school newsletter. Do have a look to see how your child's class is doing!
Parental Responsibility
Parents have a legal responsibility to provide an education for their child. It is an offence not to ensure that have your child attends school regularly. Your child must attend the whole school day, every day, on time and be ready to learn unless the absence is completely unavoidable. The national average attendance for a child in Britain is 96.5%. Our Lady of Peace expects attendance of at least 96%. Attendance falling below 95% is therefore cause for concern. Absence of under 90% falls into the category of ‘persistent absenteeism’ and is referred to the Local Authority with possible warnings, fines, parental orders and court action applied. The school will do its best to support families to prevent action being taken this far.
The School Day
The school day is split into an A.M. session and a P.M. session and your child will be registered at both, as this is a statutory requirement. To safeguard our children, a phone call will be made to parents if there is no reason provided for the absence, no reason for absence should be received by 9:30am. The school will then conduct home visits if we have not been able to contact families.
Finally, in the event that families have not been contacted the school will communicate with Outside Agencies.
Further intervention will take place i.e. emails, texts, home visits and outside agencies being contacted to ensure all is well if no communication is received. Attendance is separated into authorised or unauthorised absence. Records are kept, and attendance is monitored and tracked by the school. Please note: Parents will be notified of the school’s action if leave of absence requests are going to be unauthorised, by text, email, letter, in person or by a phone call/voice mail message.
Early collection from school and extended leave are both completely discouraged.
Please note - it is your responsibility to inform school of any changes of contact numbers.
What to do if your child cannot attend school:
The following information provides you with clear instructions for what to do if your child is unable to come to school on a given day. Please take time to read this information and keep it in a safe place for easy reference. You must contact the school by 08:30am on the first day of absence. Please leave a message with your child's name, class and the reason why they cannot attend. If they are ill, please give a clear explanation of their condition (‘Unwell’ will not be accepted). Please follow all telephone calls with a letter or email. Alternatively, you can email the school on attendance@olopprimary.co.uk to report an absence.
IMPORTANT: You will be required to adhere to the attendance criteria found below.
Illness
Any illness that requires home rest in general and is not treated by prescribed medication will be authorised on a ‘day by day basis’ to the maximum of three days only. On the third day of illness, it is recommended that you take your child to the doctors, if they are still unwell. Supporting evidence may be requested in order to authorise from this point.
Parents who have a child diagnosed with a contagious disease should alert the school as soon as possible. Parents will be advised on a case by case basis.
Children with an existing medical condition previously recorded by school still have to follow the same attendance criteria.
Medical consent forms can be obtained from the school office to enable staff to administer medication during school hours.
Medical Appointments
Appointments, where possible, MUST be made outside of school hours or in the holiday period. This includes routine dentist appointments. If this is unavoidable, your child should still attend school before/after the appointment where possible. Any session missed that was deemed reasonable to attend will be marked as unauthorised leave. Any sibling should attend school as normal. Emergency doctor/dentist appointments will be authorised with supporting evidence. All referred clinic/hospital appointments must be made in advance and be supported by an appointment letter in order to authorise any missed sessions.
Medical Evidence
Medical evidence, when requested, should be provided in one of the following ways: - text, email or letter. Parents can also present a prescription, medical paper work or an appointment card/letter at the school office upon their return. If evidence is not received during the week of the missed session/s or is deemed insufficient, the leave in question may be recorded as unauthorised.
Medicines
Parents of children who need any medication e.g., asthma inhalers, must complete a medical form, available at the school office.
If your child has been ill and returns to school but has to complete a course of medicine, the school will administer it provided they need to take it more than three times a day; for three times a day it would be expected that you administer once before school, once at end of school day and once before bedtime. Again, a permission form from the office must be completed.
Medicine's must be labelled very clearly with the child’s name and have accompanying instructions concerning the required dosage. A spoon or measuring implement should be provided.
We welcome parents into school to give their child medicine when necessary.
Some of our children suffer from severe allergies or medical conditions. Please contact us as soon as you become aware of any such condition with your child in order that we can support you in ensuring your child’s health and safety at school.
Extended Leave - this is not a parental right.
Parents occasionally request the Head Teacher to authorise absences for family holidays. In line with Local and National Government guidance and due to unacceptably high levels of pupil absence in recent school years, the Governors and Head Teacher at Our Lady of Peace have instructed that no holiday absence is authorised. School is closed for a sufficient amount of time each year for families to plan to take holidays that do not impact upon their children’s education.
If you do take your child out of school during term time, the first time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised term time leave or irregular attendance the amount will be £160 per parent per child paid within 28 days, this will be reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days.
If the second offence is within 3 years of the first offence, the second time a Penalty Notice is issued for unauthorised term time leave or irregular attendance the amount will be £160 per parent per child paid within 28 days. No reduction for early payment.
If a Third offence onwards and within 3 years of the first offence is committed for unauthorised term time leave or irregular attendance a Penalty Notice will not be issued, and the case will be presented straight to the Magistrates’ Court. Fines can be around £2500 per parent, per child. Cases found to be guilty in Magistrates’ Court can show as a criminal record and also on the parent’s future DBS certificates due to ‘failure to safeguard a child’s education.
How to contact us
The school office is open from 8.00am – 4.30pm Monday – Thursday and 8.00am - 4.00pm on Friday. School’s telephone number: Tel : 01628 661886
For all attendance queries, please contact the Attendance Officer, Mrs O'Sullivan, via email attendance@olopprimary.co.uk.
Please be punctual every day
