Attendance and Punctuality

Our School Day

The register for the first session will be taken at 8.30am, ready for an 8.45am start to the first session. The school register will be kept open until 9.00am.

Due to our staggered lunch time sessions, the register for the second session will be taken at 12.35pm and will be kept open until 12.50pm for Reception and KS1 and the register for the second session will be taken at 1.30pm and will be kept open until 1.45pm for KS2.

The school day ends at 3.05pm for Reception and KS1 and 3.10pm for KS2. 

Attendance Matters!

Every day missed is a day not learning!

Good attendance means that children usually make good, consistent progress in their school work. At Disraeli we rely on our partnership with parents to ensure that the children come into school on time and everyday

Children are required to be at school for 190 days a year, leaving 175 days for leisure/holidays and appointments. 

Attendance is monitored by us here at Disraeli and by the County Attendance Team at Bucks County Council.  At Disraeli we operate a traffic light system for attendance.  The Red, Amber and Green colours give you an idea of how your child’s attendance is in line with expectations from the County Council, the Department of Education and OFSTED.

Each half term and full term we email home individual attendance card so you can see where your child’s current attendance is against the traffic light system.

Throughout the year we reward children whose attendance is 'GREEN'. 

 

 

 How can you help your child with their attendance and punctuality?

 We would like to remind you that our school Attendance Policy conforms to government legislation in regards to pupil attendance and that we cannot grant any leave of absence during term time for a holiday.   All absences will be unauthorised and sent to the County Attendance Team and a fixed penalty notice can be issued due to taking holiday in term time. 

If you intend to take your child out of school during term time you must complete a leave of absence form as soon as you have knowledge of the absence. 

We do realise children do become ill, and it is always a difficult decision in the morning whether to bring them in or not, but please do work with us in bringing them to school,  we have fabulous medical staff who can check any child who doesn’t feel quite right. We usually find the children perk up once they are at school and are around their friends.

Very often children do not need to be absent for viral infections like colds or sore throats, unless the doctor has given this advice. Absence periods are only for chickenpox (5 days), vomiting and diarrhoea (48 hours) and Impetigo (48 hours after starting antibiotics). There are very few infections where an exclusion period from school is necessary.

All absences will be treated as unauthorised unless a satisfactory explanation for the pupil’s absence has been received by a phone call to the office on the child’s first day of absence, and thereafter on every other day of absence.  If we notice a pattern of illness we would need to meet with you to discuss the need for evidence in the form of doctor’s appointment cards or prescriptions so we can continue to authorise the absences.

We monitor all unauthorised absences and continued unauthorised marks will result in an attendance meeting and intervention from the County Attendance Team.

 Please arrive on time to school.  Registration is at 8.40am, school doors open at 8.30am.   Any child absent for registration will receive a late mark on the register.  Continued lateness can result in after school detentions to make up lost lesson time.

Registers close at 9.00am, children arriving after 9:00am receive an automatic unauthorised absent mark for the morning session, unless there are exceptional circumstances for the lateness.  Waking up late/oversleeping or waiting for uniform to dry are not exceptional circumstances.  We monitor all unauthorised absences and continued unauthorised marks will result in an attendance meeting and intervention from the County Attendance Team.

We ask that you do not arrange for medical and dental appointments in school time wherever possible. When this is unavoidable we ask that appointments are not made during morning and afternoon registration.  All appointments made during registration times will require evidence of the appointment to authorise the absence from school.  If your child has gone for an appointment in the morning we do expect them back straight after, unless the dentist or doctor has advised otherwise. For all appointments made during the school day we expect children to attend school and be collected shortly before their appointment time. 

By law, parents are responsible for their child’s regular attendance at school.  Irregular attendance can result in a penalty notice from Bucks County Council and parents may be subject to a fine if their child is absent from school without a valid reason.

 Please don't forget you must notify the school of the reason for the absence on the first day of an unplanned absence by 9.00am or as soon as practically possible by calling the school office.

Parents/carers are expected to then call or email on each subsequent day of absence, and advise when their child/ren are expected to return.

The only occasion when communication on each subsequent day of absence is not necessary is when an illness has a specific exclusion period, i.e. 48 hours for sickness and diarrhoea.  However should the absence continue past the specified exclusion days, subsequent daily class will then need to be made.

•  Send the primary parent an attendance text communication on the first day of unexplained absence,  notify them that their child has not attended morning registration and advising them to call the school office immediately regarding the absence.
• Follow up any continued unexplained absence with a call to the pupil’s parent/carer on the morning of the first day of unexplained absence to ascertain the reason. If the school cannot reach any or either parent/carer then the school will call any and all of the pupil’s emergency contacts. 
• Call the parent/carer on each day that the absence continues without explanation to ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary.
• Make a home visit, this will be undertake by the school attendance officer and another appropriate staff member i.e. Co-Headteacher, DSL/Pastoral Lead to ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary. 
• If absence continues, the school will consider involving the County Attendance Team and the Children Missing Education Team (CME).

Children missing from education, particularly persistently, can act as a vital warning sign to a range of safeguarding issues and we will act accordingly to safeguard our children!

 

We really believe that the children deserve the best and attending every day will given them every chance to succeed in the future. Coming to school daily provides them with a regular routine and sets them up for life. 

Policy and Form

Please explore our Attendance and Punctuality Policy.

If needed, here is our Leave of Absence Form.