Attendance - Important information
Please help us to ensure your child has the best possible all round learning opportunities!
If your child is in school we can teach them.
If they are not in school then we can’t teach them!
Please refer to the booklet from the cluster which was distributed last year ‘Attendance matters’
The national curriculum which the children follow involves children building each day upon previous knowledge and experiences. If a child misses a day then there are likely to be gaps in their learning and understanding. This will then impact on their future learning and understanding. It has been proven nationally that children with poor attendance achieve less well than children who attend well.
Obviously if your child is unwell we need you to keep them at home, and this is unavoidable. There will also be times when you need to request time off on compassionate grounds eg. Family bereavement / religious festival etc. which will be considered on an individual basis. However, holiday during term time/long weekends etc are avoidable and although we are sympathetic to inflated costs during school holidays the school governors are only prepared to authorise holidays during term time in exceptional circumstances. These include parents whose work prohibits taking a holiday at any other time e.g. Farm workers, armed forces etc. This is the guidance set out by the Department for Education and we are obliged to follow this. We are accountable to OSFTED for pupils attendance and our action to promote good attendance.
As we have not previously issued this information to you I have authorised any holiday requests which have come in so far. However, now you have this information we will not be authorising holiday in term time except for exceptional circumstances. When exceptional circumstances exist, proof from employers will be required.
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It is also essential that every child arrives promptly at the start of the school day. The whistle blows at 8.40, children are led in by teachers and lessons start immediately. Your child needs to participate in the start of the lesson in order to know what to do. Also, it is very disruptive to the learning of other children if a child arrives late and interrupts what is going on.
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Thank you very much for ensuring your child has the correct uniform every day – all of the children are looking very smart and it has a positive impact on their behaviour and attitude.
Our aim is to ensure the very best learning opportunities for every child in DCJS.