Attendance and Punctuality

Every day at Long Lee Primary School Counts. 

At Long Lee Primary School we are continually striving to raise the attainment of our pupils.  We firmly believe that this can be achieved by regular school attendance.  Regular attendance is directly linked to raising achievement and develops skills for life. 

Why is good attendance important? 

Children who come to school regularly are most likely to:

• Achieve good standards of work
• Get on well with other children and have good friendships
• Continue to do well when they transfer to Secondary School
• Develop positive attitudes to work which will help them later in life, whatever their choice of career may be in adult life                           

 Children who are frequently absent are more likely to:

• Fall behind in their work
• Find it difficult to form lasting friendships
• Be unhappy in school and have a poor attitude to work
• Get involved in anti-social behaviour

What can you do to help?

• Ensure children attend school every day and arrive on time.
• Take family holidays during school holidays.
• Try to make medical or dental appointments before or after school.
• Inform the school of any absences by telephoning on the first day your child is absent and send a letter on your child’s return

Remember that Long Lee staff are here to support you with any problems that may affect your child’s/children’s regular attendance.

Every Minute Counts

Not only is attending school regularly important, ensuring your child arrives for school on time is also important.

Children should arrive at school in time for registration at 9.00am

If your child arrives after the register has been taken they will be marked ‘late’. 

Children who regularly arrive late miss important parts of the curriculum that may not be covered again.

When making doctor, dentist or hospital appointments please try wherever possible to make these for after the end of the school day

Our Aims at Long Lee Primary

• Continue to improve Attendance
• Reduce PA (persistent absence - any child who's attendance is below 90%)
• Improve existing attendance systems / processes to support continued and sustained improvements
• To create an ethos in which good Attendance is the norm and every child aims for excellent Attendance
• To ensure Attendance and Punctuality is a key priority for school
• To develop a systematic approach to gathering and analysing relevant attendance data – proactively implementing targeted support programmes regarding school attendance

Understanding types of absence

Every ½ day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of absence is always asked for.

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical appointments and emergencies.

An absence is classified as Unauthorised, if the reason was not recognised as acceptable. The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Education Authorities provide information for schools as what is acceptable and what is not.

Children with poor attendance will be expected to provide medical evidence for absence relating to illillness/injury such as a copy of a prescription or a medical appointment card etc.

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

• A birthday
• A shopping trip
• Day trips out to theme parks or to attend concerts/shows
• Care for family members
• Holidays – unless have been agreed as exceptional circumstances
• Care for family members
• Prents’ work commitments or business trips
• Holidays taken in term time (including long weekends taken on Fridays and/or Mondays)
• Parental illness

What should I do if my child is absent from school?

If If your child is unable to attend school you should inform us on the first day of absence before 8.30am via  message or telephone. You will need to state the pupils name your relationship to the student i.e. parent/ carer etc. and the reason for absence. Parents/ carers are required to call each day a child is absent. Long Lee Primary telephone number is 01535 603986.

School will phone on Day 1 of an absence and do a home visit after 2 days.

Punctuality

It is very important that all children arrive on time. If your child arrives late, they will not be able to come into school via usual morning entrance doors but should instead come through the main school entrance. We will then be able to mark registers and ensure your child is marked for a school dinner.

Please note that if your children arrives at school later than 9:20, we are required to mark them as absent for that half day session and this is classed as an unauthorised absence.

If children are regularly late, a parent will be expected to attend a meeting to look at how punctuality can be improved.

Promoting Attendance and Support

At Long Lee Primary School we believe that working together with parents is the best way to result in positive attendance outcomes for our children.

We have lots of high profile rewards and systems in school to promote good attendance and punctuality with the children.

All classes above 96% attendance that week get to roll the dice on our new Attendance Monopoly board where they can win prizes such as Juice and Biscuits; Dodgeball; DVD… and if they roll well; they can win a non-uniform day. 

Certificates and prizes are given termly in recognition of good attendance and improved attendance.

Penalty Notices

Under the new national framework, Fixed Penalty Notices will be considered when a child has missed ten or more sessions (five days) due to unauthorised absence in a period of ten school weeks, this includes a term time holiday.

In September 2024, Penalty Notices (fines) charged to parents will rise to £80 (if paid within 21 days) or £160 (if paid within between 22 and 28 days). Where a penalty notice is unpaid, legal action would be pursued by the local authority.

Under the new framework, only two penalty notices can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. Where a second Penalty Notice is issued to the same parent for the same child, the charge will be £160.

If a third offence is committed within a three-year rolling period, legal action/prosecution would be considered.

Attendance Rewards

We celebrate attendance every Monday in our assembly . Every class which has an average attendance of 96% or more can play Attendance Monopoly.  Attendance Monopoly is our monopoly style board game – you will spot it on the wall in our hall.

Each class has their own monopoly piece which moves round the board,. Every week you have 96% or more your class gets to roll the dice and move around the board. There is one special difference about our board though – instead of houses the squares are all rewards everything from extra playtime and art activities to juice and biscuits or a non uniform day.