Absence Procedure and Attendance
On every day of your child's absence, please telephone or email our attendance lead, Mrs Stephanie Chambers -
01832 732512 or
stephanie.chambers@thrapston.net
Please leave a message stating the child's name, class and an explanation of their absence.
When your child returns to school please also send in a written explanation for our files.
Attendance Matters
All schools have a duty to secure the regular attendance of their students through
- regular monitoring of non-attendance
- early identification of causes for concern
- swift communication with pupils, parents or carers about the problem
- finding a resolution to problems and securing return to regular attendance
Attendance
Thrapston Primary School recognise that attending school daily and on time has a positive impact on learning and progress and the best chances for our children to succeed. We must therefore ensure that attendance and punctuality are the highest in order to prepare our children for their future adult life.
It is a parents and carers responsibility to ensure that their child attends school regularly and arrives on time every day. Therefore, we constantly monitor and review the attendance and punctuality of all of our children.
Our school day starts at 8:45am and we encourage parents and carers to arrive from 8:35am.
We strive for all children to attend school on every day possible and on time.
We promote and encourage excellent attendance and punctuality by working collaboratively with parents and carers and by acting early to address patterns of absence. The Wellbeing Team will invite parents and carers to attendance surgeries should they be concerned about a child's attendance. They can offer support and guidance and if required, support through an Early Help Assessment. The Pastoral Care Team are also able to signpost to a range of external support agencies.
Regular school attendance is not merely a requirement but a fundamental pillar of education. It plays a pivital role in shaping academic success, personal growth and prospects. Thrapston Primary School and Brooke Weston Trust are committed to transforming educational achievement and to giving students the best start in life academically and as citizens. We promote the importance of pupils attending school on every day possible and recognise that daily attendance is crucial to success.
It is the responsibility of all stakeholders across our academy community - parents/carers, staff, governors, and pupils - to work together to ensure that every pupil and their family has the support and strategies required to attend school daily. Further information can be found on this webpage of our support offer here at Thrapston Primary, along with all the relevant attendance and punctuality practice and legislation.
Celebrating Attendance
We adopt a range of approaches and strategies to recognise attendance across the academic year. We recognise that for some children, it may not always be possible to attend school on some occasions due to adverse situations and unforseen circumstances. WIth this in mind, we ensure that individualised strategies are taken to recognise and celebrate their efforts in striving to attend school on all occasions where it is physically possible.
Reporting an Absence
Should your child be absent from school, it is a parents or carers responsibility to notify the school office by 9.00am. School needs to be notified on each day of your child's absence by calling 01832 732512.
The Public Health Agency have put together a useful guide on Infection Control in schools. Please click here to view the guide should you be unsure as to whether your child is required to be absent from school or is fit to continue to attend.
Home visits
Parents and carers should be aware that home visits are completed by all Brooke Weston schools as a standard procedure when children are absent from school. Should the Wellbeing team have any safeguarding concerns for a particular child, home visits will be completed to these families in the first instance. All children will be visited on day 3 of a consecutive absence. Home visits allow school staff to see the child and discuss the absence with the parents or carers and offer support if it is required.
Punctuality
Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure that their child is not late for school. Arriving at school late is disruptive to a pupil's daily routine and also means that they miss a considerable amount of valuable learning time.
| Minutes late per day | Equivalent of missing |
| 5 Minutes | 3.4 School days a year |
| 10 Minutes | 6.9 School days a year |
| 15 Minutes | 10.3 School days a year |
| 20 Minutes | 13.8 School days a year |
| 30 Minutes | 20.7 School days a year |
Should your child arrive late, it is important that they enter the school via our Main Reception in order to be signed in. If your child is late due to attending an appointment, we ask medical evidence is provided to support this. All registers close at 0915, after that time the absence is unauthorised, this absence will have a negative impact on a pupil's attendance record.
The Wellbeing Team regularly monitor children's punctuality and if a child is identified as being persistently late, parents and carers will be invited in to a Punctuality Surgery meeting to discuss this and a target will be set to reduce lateness.
Facts for parents and carers
Parents and carers are legally obliged to ensure their child attends school regularly and may be fined or prosecuted if they fail to ensure regular attendance or take their child on holiday during term time. The School is not legally allowed to authorise holidays and absence is only permitted and authorised for genuine illness (medical evidence may be required) or days of religious observance.
Leave during Term Time
Should parents or carers take their children out of school during term time, they are required to complete a Leave during term time form prior to the absence, notifying of the duration of leave and the reason for the absence. These forms can be collected from the Main Reception.
Brooke Weston Academies and the Local Authority are continuing to work together to reduce the amount of leave taken in term time by issuing Penalty Notices under Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996 (amended regulation 2013). Further information about the National Framework for Penalty Notices can be found in the attached documents below.
Periods of leave taken during term time will not be authorised. Referrals will be made to the Education Inclusion Partnership Team (EIPT) for 5 days (10 sessions) of absence, where consideration will be given to issue a Penalty Notice.
For further advice and guidance about school attendance and absences please see the relevant documents at the bottom of this page including a form to request leave of absence during the school term.
FOR GENERAL MATTERS:
To pass a message to a member of staff, please email Lisa Peet, our School Secretary:
For specific matters please email your child's class teacher.
