Attendance, Punctuality and Reporting an Absence from School
Attendance and Punctuality:
It is so important that your child attends school each day and arrives when school starts. Good attendance helps to support friendships, routines and learning. Research shows that those children with good attendance throughout their school lives go on to achieve better in their GCSE's than those who don't. Therefore we ask for your support with this in making sure your child comes to school each day and on time.
As a school, we should be achieving 96% attendance and most children should have at least 96% attendance.
Those children whose attendance falls under 95% will be contacted to look at ways in which we can support you to ensure your child's attendance improves.
Lateness:
Our school gates close at 8.45am and any child arriving after this is considered late. We know that emergencies happen and that sometimes you may be late. If this is the case, please inform the office as soon as you can so we are aware. If your child is consistently late, you will be asked to meet with our Pastoral Lead and our Headteacher to look at ways we can support you.
Holiday requests:
We do understand that holidays are much cheaper during term time but no holiday requests will be authorised. If you do want to take your child out of school, you will need to complete a 'Withdrawal from learning' form and submit this to the office. Please see the link below.
There are 190 school days per year.
There are 175 non-school days, including weekends, per year.
80% attendance over a child’s school life is the equivalent of missing two whole academic years.
We do request that no Year 6 child takes a holiday during term time during the first two weeks of May as this is when the SAT's take place.
Any holidays taken for 5 days and over will be referred for a Fixed Penalty Notice as per our guidance from the DFE and West Sussex.
For more information on Attendance, please see our Attendance and Punctuality Policy.
Reporting an absence:
If your child is unwell and cannot attend school, please report their absence via www.studybugs.com/about/parents, or leave a message on our absence line on 01444 232336 before 9.20am on the first day of absence.
If our office staff do not hear from you, then they will need to telephone you in order to ensure the safety of your child. Parents/carers are usually best placed to decide whether a child is well enough for school, but we are happy to give advice about what ailments we can deal with and what should be referred on for medical support. Contact a member of the office staff via office@londonmeedprimary.co.uk for more information.
Children should only miss school if they are actually unwell: coughs and colds can be accommodated in school as long as you have provided tissues and your child knows how to dispose of them and can wash their hands to prevent infection. We are happy to ring you to administer Calpol if needed.
Thank you for supporting us to achieve good attendance.