Attendance at St Gerard's
St. Gerard's Catholic Primary & Nursery School is committed to raising the achievement of our children. Regular attendance is critical if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them. Attendance and punctuality are important to allow children to achieve their full potential during their time at school.
As a school we consider attendance to be extremely important and would like the continued support of our parents in ensuring their child attends regularly and on time.
To support good attendance, and safeguarding, at St. Gerard’s we:
Ensure the school is welcoming and every child feels a sense of belonging and connectedness.
Ensure the school site is open at the stated times.
Ensure the regular, efficient, and accurate recording of attendance is complete by every class teacher each day and followed up by the Attendance Officer. This further supports our approach to safeguarding within the school.
Take safeguarding seriously and we will always contact you on the first day that your child is absent from school, this includes before and after- school clubs. If your child arrives late after the close of registration, we will record their arrival at reception and transition the child to class.
Consider any requests for leave in term time individually. This will be aligned to the Local Authority code of conduct Notify the Local Authority within 5 days if a new child is joining the school roll.
Inform the Local Authority of children whose parents/carers have notified the school in writing and have opted for Elective Home Education.
Work closely with the Education Welfare Service.
Notify the Local Authority of Children Missing in Education – aligned to the DfE 2022 Attendance paper.
Punctuality and Unauthorised Absence
Pupils who are late are disrupting not only their own education but also that of others who have arrived at school on time for registration.
School begins at 8.50am and all children are expected to be in school ready to start their school day. Children arriving after 9.05am will be marked late, any children arriving after 9.20am will be marked late after registration closes – this is regarded as an unauthorised absence.
Daily Procedures
If we do not receive an explanation for a child absence then we will telephone you!
Every morning after 9.20am when the registers are closed, they are checked by the Attendance Officer, who telephones parents/carers if they have not informed school about their child (ren) absence. A detailed record is kept in the school office of any phone calls made. If we do not receive an answer or we have left a message and there is still no response this will be and un-authorised absence.
Medical Evidence
Children’s absence that is below 96% parents will be asked to provide medical evidence in order for the absence to be authorised. Examples of Medical Evidence is a letter from your doctor to say that your child (ren) have attended an appointment, the label off a bottle of medicine that has been given by a doctor but this must clearly state the name of the child (ren) and a valid date.
Our Aims
Our aim is to always to work in partnership with parents/carers and any referral for consideration of a penalty notice is deemed to be a last resort at St. Gerard’s. Attendance figures for each child will be reported to parents/carers as part of the annual report, we will also share a child’s attendance profile if we have concerns regarding a child’s attendance. Throughout the school year the Attendance Team will report on the overall attendance figures for children groups, this will be closely monitored for support and reported to the Governing Body.
