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Attendance
Attendance
Northdown Primary Academy is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our pupils. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from opportunities presented to them.
One of our basic principles is to celebrate success. Good attendance is fundamental to a successful and fulfilling school experience. We actively promote 100% attendance for all our pupils and we use a variety of weekly, termly, and annual awards to promote good attendance and punctuality.
The Governors, Head Teacher, and staff, in partnership with parents, have a duty to promote full attendance at Northdown Primary School. Our school will give a high priority to conveying to parents and pupils the importance of regular and punctual attendance. We recognise that parents have a vital role to play and there is a need to establish strong home-school links and communication systems that can be utilised whenever there is a concern about attendance. If there are problems that will affect a pupil’s attendance we will investigate, identify and strive, in partnership with parents and pupils, to resolve those problems quickly and as efficiently as possible. We will adapt a clearly focused approach aimed at returning the pupil to full attendance at all times.
If you are experiencing any difficulty with attendance, please contact our school office.
Our School Day Timings
| Gate Open | Gates Close | Registration | End of school day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.40am | 08:50 | By 09:00am | 3.20pm |
Late Arrivals
Late arrivals should enter School via the School Office and are logged each day. The parents of pupils who are late more than occasionally will be invited to discuss the issue with the Head Teacher and Attendance Officer.
Children who are more than 30 minutes late will have a ‘U’ code marked in their register – This equates to an unauthorised mark for the whole morning session.
The local authority does issue fixed penalty notices for persistent lateness (‘U’ codes)
Lateness has a detrimental effect on children's learning:
5 minutes late each day = 3 days of lost learning
15 minutes late each day = 10 days of lost learning
30 minutes late each day = 19 days of lost learning
Absence from school
It is essential that we are informed by 9:00am when children are going to be absent from school with the reason for their absence.
Examples of reasons for absence that may not be authorised:
- Illness when the child’s attendance is below 90% (defined by the DfE as a persistent absentee) without medical evidence.
- Birthdays
- Parent/sibling illness
- Over tiredness
- Sunburn/heat exhaustion (It is parent’s responsibility to keep children safe in the sun)
- Appointments for parents/siblings
- Visiting parents/grandparents/family – there are 175 non school days per year.
For unavoidable medical appointments during the school day, please inform us beforehand and official confirmation will need to be seen. Routine dental and medical appointments should be booked for after school, or during holidays.
Parents wishing to take their child out of school for other reasons must complete a digital Leave of Absence Request for consideration. The Head Teacher will not authorise term-time holidays because of the disruption caused to children’s education. The Local Authority has advised schools that such holidays are unacceptable.
Paper copies of the absence request form can also be collected from the school office.
Useful links to assist with attending school