Attendance, Absence and Illness Reporting
Attendance
Winsford High Street Community Primary School recognises the importance of good attendance and the impact it has on children’s progress, attainment, enjoyment of learning and relationships within school. Good attendance helps a child to realise their potential and ensure they are motivated, confident and enjoy a diverse range of curricular opportunities and experiences. Our school policy and prospectus promote good attendance, which is recognised and rewarded as an achievement. The school monitors attendance and ensures quick and early intervention if a problem is identified. We recognise that whole school preventative and proactive approaches are key to promoting children wellbeing and attendance. A child must attend school every day that they are required to do so unless an exceptional circumstance applies.
Attendance Team
Attendance is monitored by the school Attendance Team. The Attendance Team are available daily in school to give support and guidance. The Attendance Team members are - Mr Joule (Headteacher), Mrs Robbins (Head of School/Designated Safeguarding Lead), Mrs Trigg (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead), Miss Lee (Children and Families Support Worker) and Mrs Davenport (School Attendance Officer).
Punctuality
School begins 8.45am, and all pupils are expected to be in school for registration at that time.
• Register taken at 8.55am
• Registers close at 9.15am
Any child who arrives after the gates are closed must enter the school by the main entrance and report to the school office to sign in. If pupils are not in class when the register is taken,they will be coded as ‘L’. Any late arrivals after 9.15am will be coded as ‘U’ which is an unauthorised absence for that session.In accordance with the ‘Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006’, if your child arrives after the registers close, they will receive a mark, code U, that shows them to be on site, but this will not count as a present mark, and it will mean they have an unauthorised absence. This may mean that you could face the possibility of a Fixed Penalty Notice or other legal action if the problem persists. Children who are consistently late for school are disrupting not only their own education, but also that of other children. Where persistent lateness gives cause for concern, you will be invited to ameeting to resolve the issues. If there is no improvement following this meeting,further action will be taken which may include referral to external agencies.You may approach the school at any time for support and advice if you are having difficultygetting your child to school on time or maintaining regular attendance.
Reporting your child's absence due to illness
The school works with the Education Welfare Service and follows their guidelines for dealing with lateness and school absence. School must be informed of absence each day that your child is not attending. We have a voicemail service where you can leave a message, and we would ask that you let us know before 9am. Any absence not explained is classed as unauthorised.
The telephone number of reporting school absences is 01606 668066, option 2.Please leave a voicemail and ensure you provide details of the reason for your child's absence. Please note that if a child is absent due to sickness or diarrhoea, they will be unable to return to school for 48 hours after their last episode to reduce the risk of illness spreading. Information on exclusion periods for other illnesses is available on the file download below.
NHS guidance on when to keep your child from school can be found on the link below:
Is my child too ill for school? - NHS
Medical appointments
As a school we have a duty of care to ensure that all children registered with us are kept safe. Pupils with hospital, dental or other medical appointments during school time should be brought to school unless their appointment is before 9:30am and must be collected by a Parent/Carer from the School Office. This must be confirmed in writing or on presentation of the appointment card. Children should be brought back to school after their appointment, as soon as possible.
Covid Guidance
If your child has any of the symptoms below, please do not send them to school:
- High temperature - over 37.8
- New, continuous cough - this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours.
- A loss of, or change to, their sense of smell or taste - this means that they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
Any child experiencing these symptoms should be kept off school and a PCR test should be arranged immediately. Please notify the school office through normal channels - either by telephoning on the number above, or by emailing [email protected] . The child should remain isolated until a negative PCR test result is received. Please inform the school of the result (either positive or negative) as soon as possible by emailing the admin addess above.
Typical symptoms of a cold, such as runny nose or sore throat, are not considered symptoms of coronavirus, and, as such, children do not need to be kept off school unless they are too unwell to attend.
The previous advice for remaining away from school for 48 hours for children presenting with sickness or diarrhea still applies.
Holiday or other absence reporting
The government discourages holidays taken when children should be inschool and we would ask that parents avoid booking family holidays during term time. If this is absolutely unavoidable, you should apply in writing on the "Leave of Absence" request form which can be downloaded here or is vailable from the school office. This should be submitted to school at least 2 weeks before the planned absence. Parents should let us know of any extenuating circumstances that have led to the request. Leave will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
We would also request that non-urgent medical and dental appointments are made oustide of school hours.
Following an application for a Leave of Absence, parents will be advised in writing whether the leave has been authorised or not and whether the Local Authority will be notified and a Fixed Penalty Notice issued.
The table below sets out the attendance targets and at what stage parents/carers will be
contacted about their child’s attendance.
