Attendance
Brightwell cum Sotwell CofE Primary School places a high priority on regular attendance & punctuality. The impact of poor attendance on the progress, wellbeing and happiness of children cannot be underestimated.
If your child is unable to attend for any reason please call school: 01491 837024
This applies to all children.
You can leave a message or speak to a member of staff during office hours 8:30am - 3:00pm
To ensure children safety we operate a 'first day call' system. If we are unsure why your child in not in school we will call. Please help us by calling us first.
Why is attendance so important?
- Attendance is linked to safeguarding & child protection
Evidence shows that if a child does not attend regularly:
- They cannot keep up with their class work.
- They do not achieve the results.
- They miss out on the social side of school and can have problems maintaining friendships.
We rely heavily on parents to work in partnership with us to support pupils in attending school and hope that the information provided will support you with any issues which may affect your child’s attendance and punctuality.
Good attendance promotes a child’s general well being and improves long term life opportunities.
It is important that we help the children develop their own positive experiences of school to ensure they achieve their full potential.
The Department for Education says:
“Parents and carers have a legal duty to ensure that their children of compulsory school age receive a suitable full-time education. It is also vital that they encourage their child’s regular and punctual attendance at school. If a child is registered at a school then it is vital that they attend on a regular basis”
The DFE expects schools to record percentages of attendance for pupils and to inform parents when there are concerns that attendance is low or there are patterns in absence. Schools have a legal responsibility to follow guidelines to ensure the attendance of children and to report concerns to agencies if attendance continues to be poor.
Term Time Leave
The Department for Education says:
“You can only allow your child to miss school if either:
- they’re too ill to go in
- you’ve got advance permission from the school”
It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they're unwell.
There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn't.
NHS Advice: Is my child too ill for school?
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In line with government policy, we do not authorise leave of absence for family holidays during term time.
If you take your child out of school for a holiday, you risk the local authority issuing a penalty notice or pursuing a prosecution. From September 2024, new guidance was issued to all schools - please see the links below for explanations on how the new penalty notice process for unauthorised absences will work:
Penalty Notice FAQ for parents
Helping parents understand penalty notice fines for school attendance
