Attendance
St Thomas' expects that each child will record attendance of at least 96%.
Absence from School - a Reminder (taken from KCC Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices)
All parents of (or someone who is responsible for) a child aged 5 to 16, are legally responsible for making sure your child attends school regularly. Regular and punctual attendance is also essential in order for children to maximise the opportunities available to them. The percentage of attendance should be 96% or above. The Attendance Officer has regular meetings with the school regarding absences, and persistent lateness. Where there are concerns he/she will visit those parents.
Why Is School Attendance So Important?
Excellent attendance at school is important to allow your child to fulfil their potential and for them to have the best possible start in life.
Below are just some of the key reasons why it is so important children attend school:
To learn
To have fun and make new friends
To understand responsibility
To experience new things in life
To develop awareness of other cultures, religions, ethnicity and gender difference.
To achieve
To gain qualifications
To develop new skills
To build confidence and self-esteem
To grow as individuals.
Every School Day Counts
Attendance percentages can be misleading.
Consider the following:
100% | 0 days missed | Excellent | Gives your child the best chance of success and gets them off to a flying start. |
96% | 7.5 days missed | Good | |
95% | 9 days of absence (1 week and 4 days missed) | Satisfactory |
|
90% | 19 days of absence (3 weeks and 4 days missed) | Poor | Less chance of success. Makes it harder to progress. |
85% | 27 days of absence (5 weeks and 3 days missed) | Very poor | Serious implications on learning and progress |
80% | 36 days of absence (7 weeks and 3 days missed) | Unacceptable |
If your child has 90% attendance they will have the equivalent of:
½ day off per week
19 days off per year
247 days off their school career of 13 academic years, equivalent to over 1 year of lost education.
CONSIDER WHAT THIS MEANS FOR 80% OR LESS ATTENDANCE.
In Year One children learn new phonics every week – these are the building blocks for all future learning.
Young people who regularly miss school without good reason are more likely to become isolated from friends, underachieve in examinations and/or become involved in anti-social behaviour.
Make Every Day Count: What can you do to help?
Be aware of the impact of regular absences – missing school is missing out.
Take family holidays outside of term time.
Try to arrange non-urgent dental and medical appointments outside of school hours, try to ensure your child is back at school as soon as possible.
Establish good routine in the mornings and evenings so your child is prepared for the school day ahead; build-up good habits of punctuality and attendance.
If your child’s attendance falls to 90% a child is likely to be missing 1 out of every 10 words they read or that are spoken by a teacher.
The Effects of Lateness
It is also important to arrive at school on time. If a child arrives late to school every day, their learning begins to suffer. Below is a graph showing how being late to school every day over a school year adds up to lost learning time over one academic year.
