Hollinswood Primary School and Nursery

Hollinswood Primary School and Nursery is dedicated to working in partnership with parents and the Local Authority to improve school attendance.

Ensuring that your child(ren) are in school each day, will give them the best possible chance to achieve their academic potential and have real opportunity in further education and the world of work.

Attendance = Achievement!

The importance of being in school every day.

Being in school every day will enable your child to:

• Access the lessons needed to achieve in line with their peers.
• Maintain friendships and develop new ones.
• Have access to social and sporting events offered by the school.
• Explore potential careers.
• Develop work habits such as good punctuality which are essential to thrive in the world of employment.

A child is classed as persistently absent if their attendance is 90% and below. If your child(ren) are at risk of becoming persistently absent, our Attendance Team will liaise with our Education Welfare Officer to ensure we are offering support and advice to ensure attendance improves.

Punctuality

Pupils must arrive in school by 8:40am (Foundation Stage and Key Stage One) and 8:45am (Key Stage Two) on each school day. The register for the first session will be taken at 8:50am. The register for the second session will be taken at 1:00pm.

The importance of being in school on time each day.

Poor punctuality can lead to your child…

• Feeling embarrassed in front of their friends
• Missing the beginning of vital lessons
• Missing important instructions for the rest of the school day
• Learning habits which could affect their employability in the future

Policies and Procedures

Attendance Policy (pending approval from Governors)

Leave in Term Time Guidance Note and Form for Parents 

Leave in Term Time update for parents August 2024

Working together to improve school attendance 

A guide for parents

You can get further advice and support about school attendance from Resources for families | Children's Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)

Reporting Pupil Absence 

It is the parents/carers responsibility to inform the school of their child’s unexpected absence as soon as possible.

Please either telephone the school offices on 01952 386920/01952 386930, or contact Mrs Hitchin on Class Dojo with any absence details on the first day of absence by 8.45am.

Attendance Team

How can I get help with my child’s attendance?

If you are worried about your child/children’s attendance the first port of call is to discuss your concerns with a member of our attendance team who may be able to offer support, help and advice.

Mrs Emma Morris - Deputy Headteacher  Attendance Role -  Leading attendance across the school Offering a clear vision for attendance improvement Evaluating and monitoring expectations and processes Having an oversight of data analysis Devising specific strategies to address areas of poor attendance identified through data Arranging calls and meetings with parents to discuss attendance issues Delivering targeted intervention and support to pupils and families Liaising with the school EWO	Mrs Donna O'Reilly - School Business Manager Attendance Role - Oversee Administration Assistants attendance role/generating attendance reports for school, governors, Local Authority and other government agencies/policy updates.	Mrs Anne Hitchin - Administrative Assistant  Attendance Role -  Check the registers and make first day contact calls. Enter ‘U’ code into register for children who arrive after 9:30 and ‘L’ code for children who arrive between 9 – 9:30. Enter reason for lates onto Bromcom Update MIS system on first day of attendance for new arrivals. Attend EWO attendance meeting to Monitor children’s punctuality and children with attendance of 90% and below. Print attendance certificates to be distributed in parents' meetings. Complete Child Missing in Education forms.	Miss Scott - Inclusion Leader  Meet and greet parents and children on the playground. Attend Attendance Meetings (ACM) as and when required. Support the actions from Action Plans put into place from ACM (eg support children in class, arrange drop ins, provide interventions etc). Work with children and families who are identified as at risk of becoming PA. Facilitate Early Help where appropriate. For pupils who have a social worker: inform the child’s social worker if there are any unexplained absences.