Attendance

Everyone is welcome at Plantation Primary School and everyone belongs!

Attending school every day and arriving at school on time is very important for each and every child. Parents or Guardians have a legal responsibility for ensuring that this happens for all children aged 5 to 16. We are more than happy to support you if this becomes difficult. Please speak to Mr Jones, Mrs Fallows or Mrs Green who will support you and offer practical help.

If we are concerned about your child's attendance we will arrange a meeting with you to see if we can work with you to improve your child's attendance. Please work with us to make sure that your child receives the best possible education.

Good Attendance means being in school for 97% of the time. There are 190 school days per year, that means that 175 days per year are not spent in school. Please make sure that holidays or appointments are in the 175 days when children are not expected to be in school.

Procedures for reporting an absence

Reminders:

Please be on time.

School starts at 9.00am and the register closes at 9.15 am. Children arriving between 9.00am am and 9.15 am will receive a late mark (L). This will affect their overall punctuality but not their overall attendance.

The school doors open at 8.45am to give each child a relaxed start to the day - they can speak to friends, parents can speak to staff, children can engage in mindfulness activities, reading and practise times tables, spellings or handwriting. Some children also benefit from a soft start in one of our pastoral hubs or the chance to do a sensory circuit.

Pupils begin work at 9.00am our first lessons are maths, English and phonics so arriving even 15 minutes late a day means that children miss over an hour of learning. If a child arrives late every day they could miss all of the lovely settling in activities, plus vital learning time. It is much more beneficial for children to be in school, settled and ready to learn.

Children arriving at school after the register closes at 9.15 am without medical evidence or a medical appointment letter will receive an unauthorised late mark (U code) which will affect their overall attendance. Please be aware that families will be liable for fixed penalty notice fines if their child has accrued 5 or more sessions marked with the U code over a 10 week period. Again, we are always willing to work with you, please speak to Mr Jones if you would like to discuss this.

Family Holidays in Term Time:

Information from Knowsley Council's policy regarding family holidays in term time.

From 1 September 2013, it is no longer a legal right for parents to take their children out of school for family holidays during term time. Headteachers can only grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances.

If you need to take your child out of school for a family holiday, you must make a request in writing via a leave of absence request form which is available from the school. The new regulations also make it clear that headteachers may not authorise leave during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.  Headteachers would not be expected to class any term time holiday as exceptional.

If your request is approved, it does not set a precedent for future requests. The headteacher will consider the frequency and duration of any previous leave when making a decision.

If you take your child out of school without permission, the council may take a range of sanctions, such as issuing a penalty notice or referring you to the School Attendance Service. The council will regularly monitor school absence during term-time and will work with headteachers to ensure parents adhere to the new legislation.

If you have any questions about term-time holidays, please speak to Mrs Fallows.

Education Penalty Notice Code of Conduct September 25 Final.pdf