We Can’t Teach an Empty Seat!

Here at Shotton Primary School we are passionate about all of our children having the best chance of future success. We want every child to feel happy, safe and enjoy coming to school.  We know that regular Nursery and school attendance is essential for children’s well-being, development, education and future success. High levels of school attendance are directly linked to; healthy development, supportive friendships, positive mental health and well-being, high achievement. 

Regular school attendance is important right from the beginning, starting with Nursery, in order to get children into the habit of attending school. Failure to attend school in the early years of education is shown to continue throughout a child’s school life. When students miss valuable lesson time, it can have a negative effect on their progress in all areas of learning and development.

We will strive to work with all families to ensure each and every child feels calm, happy and able to learn and play in a safe, nurturing environment where they are able to reach their individual potential.

Regular school attendance is promoted across our school and to achieve this we want to work in partnership with parents and carers. We understand there are times when children may find it difficult to attend school and we are here to offer support.

Please contact us as soon as issues arise and we will offer all the support that we can. We value the support of parents and carers and really want you to feel part of our Shotton Primary School family.

Working with Parents and Carers

My name is Miss Harcourt and since September 2023 I have been the full time Safeguarding and Attendance Officer for Shotton Primary School.

My role is to help ensure children are safe and happy inside and outside of school and address any concerns whilst acting in the best interests of the child. I am available to children and families to provide support, advice and help with any issues. I can provide low level support to children within school if they are finding aspects of school difficult, struggling with their feelings or emotional regulation, behaviour issues, self esteem and well being.

I can also work closely with parents and other agencies to help provide the support and help families need, when they need it. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Myself and school are here to help and work in partnership with our families to achieve the best results for all of our students.

Things That You Need to Know

From the start of this academic year 2024/25 we now have a staggered start to the school day.

Lateness

Any children arriving after the school doors close are late for school.

They will need to report to the main office. This is so that we know the registers are correct and so that we can take lunch orders. 

The children will be recorded as late and the reason for lateness will be recorded for monitoring purposes. They will then be met at their designated entrance by a member of staff. Parents are expected to wait with their child until the child enters the school building.

Registers are completed and closed at 9:15am. Any children arriving after 9:15am, will be classed as late (after the register closes). Under the new attendance regulations, this will now be recorded as an unauthorised absence.

Arriving late to school can be disruptive and unsettling to the child and the rest of their class. Children who arrive late don’t settle into the school day and can be uncertain of what is expected of them.

Parents should contact Gemma Harcourt, Safeguarding and Attendance Officer, if there are any issues which are affecting a pupil’s ability to attend school on time.

If a child is late (after registers close) for school on a number of occasions, Gemma Harcourt, Safeguarding and Attendance Officer, will contact parents/carers, to discuss the reasons for this and what support can be offered. Support options will be tailored to the child/family and their needs. Support we can offer can include:

• Breakfast clubs
• Meet and greets
• Anxious about school process
• Support from external services
• Any reasonable adjustments

If concerns about lateness continue, after support has been offered or put in place and there have been 10 late after registration closes instances for a child, a referral can be made to the Local Authority. The Local Authority may then take action, including the issue of a fixed penalty notice.

Leave of Absence in Term Time

Head teachers are expected to restrict leave of absence in term-time.

There is discretion to consider exceptional circumstances based on the individual facts, circumstances and background behind the request. The DfE have stated that generally they do not consider the need or desire for a holiday or other absence for leisure or recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.

Key Points

• A leave of absence form must be obtained from the school office and returned in advance of any holiday being taken in term time.
• Any holidays taken in term time, which are not deemed as exceptional circumstances will be recorded as unauthorised.
• Any unauthorised holiday of 5 days or more within a 10-week period will be referred to the Local Authority for a fixed penalty notice, applied to any parent with parental responsibility.

What happens if my child is absent from school?

If your child is absent, you MUST:

1. Phone school (0191 526 2006) as soon as possible before 9am on the first day of absence to inform us that your child will not be at school and how long they are likely to be absent for.
2. Keep us informed on a regular basis if your child is absent for a long period.

What Will We Do?

1. If you do not provide a reason for your child’s absence, our Safeguarding and Attendance Officer, Gemma Harcourt, will contact you by telephone and text to find out why your child is not in school and may provide a home visit.
2. If a reason for absence is not provided your child’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
3. If no reason is provided this may cause a safeguarding or welfare concern for the child, in which case emergency contacts maybe contacted and if there is a continuing concern a referral may be made to the Local Authority.

What Might Happen Next?

If your child has 10 unauthorised sessions or more in a 10 week period, this would need to be reported to the Local Authority, who may then take enforcement action, including the following:

• Formal support through an attendance contract made through the courts

• Notice to Improve
• Fixed penalty notice
• Application to the Family Court for a Education Supervision Order
• Prosecution

We Celebrate Good Attendance

At Shotton Primary School we celebrate children’s success and achievements.

Trophies are handed out every Friday in Celebration Assembly for the classes with the best attendance in school.

The class with the BEST attendance for the week will get to look after Miss Harcourt's stick insects for the week.

Any class with at least 95% attendance for the week is awarded a star in Celebration Assembly.

When a class has earned 10 attendance stars they have a class celebration. They might even get to have popcorn or candy floss or even a trip to the park.

We are Working to Promote and Improve Attendance for All Our Children: 

We are Aiming for Excellent Attendance for ALL.

Our attendance data is automatically sent to the Department of Education, in line with the legal expectations placed on all schools.

We will update our Facebook page weekly with the class attendance for the week and will provide a monthly attendance newsletter to keep parents and carers up to date.

We are tracking our attendance weekly to allow us to see where there may be problems for individual students in attending school, then support can be offered at the earliest opportunity.

We will monitor the attendance of individual children for whom we have concerns due to poor levels of attendance or punctuality. We will use the information to inform what we do to support and to aid discussions between staff, pupils and families.

We will identify patterns in school absence and as a school we already work closely with other schools and the Local Authority to address any attendance issues with the sole purpose of children regularly coming to school to ensure their positive well-being and achievement.

We want to work in partnership with children and families to ensure high attendance for all of our children. We always want to offer support when there are problems so please contact us if there are any issues.

We want to help. Everything we do at Shotton Primary is for the well-being and in the best interests of the children.

When Absence Becomes a Concern

Please contact us as soon as you notice or have any concerns about school attendance, or if there is a change in how your child is feeling about school or in their willingness to attend. We can then work together to put things in place and make things better to ensure attendance does not decline even further and that your child's attendance improves as much as possible.

We will always work with children and families to put adjustments and support in place, which can be individual to the child and situation. Examples of strategies we could use:

• Meet and greets
• Anxious about school process
• Sensory adjustments
• Emotional support
• Counselling
• Adjustments to the school day
• Family support
• Support from other agencies.

Persistent Absence

Good attendance is classed as 96% and above and is vital to help children achieve and have the best possible start in life.

All children from the age of 5 to 16 are required by law to receive an education. It is the legal duty of parents and carers to ensure that they are supported to do so.

If your child's attendance falls to below 90%, the Government sees this as being persistently absent.

What Does it Mean?

90% Attendance means that your child misses:

• One half day each week of school
• Nearly four weeks of school every school year
• Over one school year throughout a school career.

Severe absence is when a child’s attendance falls to 50% or below.

To prevent persistent and severe absence for pupils, we have the following processes in place:

• We monitor and analyse our attendance data weekly
• We will contact parents/carers when a child's attendance is between 96% and 92% to discuss whether there are any issues and whether any support is needed.
• When a child’s attendance falls to 90% we will contact parents/carers to invite them into school to discuss problems with attendance and create a support plan to ensure attendance improves.
• When a child’s attendance falls to 90% we may ask for medical evidence for any illnesses or appointments to be able to authorise them.
• If attendance continues to fall and there are continuing concerns, even with support or where there are 10 unauthorised absences in a 10-week period a referral will be made to the Local Authority.

Although our Nursery children are not of compulsory school age, our attendance targets and expectations are the same. We expect regular school attendance irrespective of your child's age. This means that our school attendance processes are the same for Nursery children.

Please see our school attendance policy on the school website, for further information and for information about the new National Framework for Attendance.