Attendance at Front Lawn

Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly. If your child fails to do so, you risk a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution. You also need to think about the negative impact this will have upon your child’s learning, friendships, self-esteem and self-confidence.

As you know, attendance and attainment are very closely linked.  At Front Lawn Primary, we are very grateful for all the support we receive from parents and carers who ensure that their children attend school regularly and punctually. This allows teachers the best possible opportunity to support our pupils to reach their full potential.

The Ofsted expected minimum attendance rate for primary school children is 96%. If pupils have more than 7days absence from school during the academic year they will not be able to achieve this. We have a strong expectation at Front Lawn Primary Academy that our pupils aim for 100% attendance so that they have access to all learning opportunities and most of our pupils have excellent attendance and punctuality.

Attendance is monitored closely at school. At the end of each term we will contact you if we notice any areas of concern. The minimum attendance level expected by us in school is 96%.

90% to 95% attendance. NEED FOR SOME IMPROVEMENT. Attendance will be monitored weekly.

89% and below. Poor with serious concern. DANGER ZONE PERSISTENT ABSENTEE. Panel meetings will be called to address issues and provide support to improve.

Although these letters will be issued termly, we will be closely monitoring every child’s attendance on a weekly basis. If your child’s attendance has dipped we may invite you for a meeting.

If your child is too unwell to attend school, ring the absence line as soon as possible to let us know. Let the school know in advance if there is a planned absence such as a medical appointment and provide evidence such as an appointment

card. Where possible make medical / dental appointments outside of school hours or in the holidays.

Medical evidence is required for every absence; if this is not provided by the parent/carer, the absence may be treated as unauthorised. For data protection reasons school staff are not able to contact doctor’s surgeries directly. Letters are sent home whenever no reason has been provided for an absence. If there is no response to this, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 were amended in September 2013 to state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time, except in very exceptional circumstances.  Any holidays that are taken without this agreement will be recorded as unauthorised.