Attendance
At Shamblehurst Primary School our aim is to provide an environment where our children want to learn and attend each day. We want to be proactive in helping any families who need support and would ask you to contact our Attendance Assistant, Mrs Jess Comper (jessica.comper@shamblehurst.co.uk) if you would like to discuss any attendance issues.
If your child is going to be absent from school, parents must contact the office by either phone (leaving an absence message) or by email, by 9:00am on the first day of absence. You must contact us on each day your child is absent from school.
We kindly ask that all non-emergency medical and dental appointments are made outside of school hours. If you do need to take your child out of school for a medical appointment, please provide medical evidence to the office eg. appointment letter, email etc. If possible, please ensure children attend school either side of their appointment.
Holiday during school term time is not permitted, however, there may be exceptional circumstances in which holiday may be authorised. To make a request for term time holiday please complete the form below and return to school for Mrs Jones to review. Any unauthorised holiday of more than 10 school sessions (5 school days) will result in a Penalty Charge Notice being raised.
Below is a useful link from Hampshire County Council that is worth reading, and covers guidance for parents on attendance.
https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/behaviour-attendance-parents
Why is attendance and punctuality important?
Because every second counts!
90% attendance may sound good, however, this is the equivalent of missing half a day of schooling EACH WEEK. If this continues, over 5 years a child with 90% attendance will miss HALF A YEAR’s schooling.
A child with 80% attendance will lose a FULL YEAR of schooling over the same period.
Arriving 5 minutes late every day adds up to over 3 days of school lost each year.
Arriving 30 minutes late every day is the same as being absent for 19 days a year.
How do we monitor attendance at Shamblehurst Primary School?
Each month Mrs Winfield will run reports to review the attendance of all children in the school.
– All children with attendance below 95% will be contacted to advise of their child’s attendance and be offered support to help improve this.
– If attendance does not improve then we will invite you to a meeting at school to discuss the issues around your child/ children’s attendance and what we may be able to do to help support your family in improving this.
– If attendance continues to not improve we will require for medical evidence of illness to be provided to school to authorise absence.
– As a final resort, we may have no other option but to raise a penalty notice, seek a Voluntary Parental Contract or seek support through Attendance Legal Panel.
Below we have provided links to Public Health and NHS with guidance, if your child is unwell.
Public Health Agency Guidance
NHS Guidance – Worried if your child is unwell
Please click here to view our Good School Attendance Guide
Please click here to view our Persistent Absentee Guide
Our aim is to work with our families to try and find a way to overcome any barriers to attendance.
Please click here to view the Hampshire Attendance Guide for Parents/ Carers
Attendance Newsletter
Shamblehurst Absent/ Missing in Education Procedure
Poor attendance can be a safeguarding matter. It is important for parents to always contact the school when their child is absent to explain the reason. Please find below the processes we will take to contact parents on the first and subsequent days of absence if we have not heard from you.
Day 1:
School will phone contact 1 and 2 if the parent has not contacted the school by 9.30am. Phone again in the afternoon.
Day 2
If child still not accounted for phone and email ALL contacts
(All children in our school have at least 2 contacts – sometimes this is a place of work so ensure sensitivity)
Day 3
If child still not accounted for phone and email ALL contacts again.
If no adequate response, then a Designated Safeguarding Lead, accompanied by another member of staff, will visit the home by lunch time. They will deliver a letter stating that the school has concerns and have endeavoured to contact parents or adults with parental responsibility. This letter will also be emailed to all contacts.
The letter will state if school do not hear from parents by 4pm the school will inform the police asking for a welfare check and fill in the interagency form for Children’s Services.
Day 4:
Phone all contacts and continue to liaise with external services – eg police and children’s services
