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Attendance
Attendance at Kenyngton Manor
Good attendance means being at school everyday, and only being absent when there is a very important or unavoidable reason.
Why is good attendance important?
- Being absent and missing out on being with their friends can impact how a child feels about school. Returning can then be upsetting.
- Your child can achieve greater academic and social success if they have good attendance.
- Your child could miss out on learning opportunities or extra-curricular activities such as clubs or trips.
- Missing school impacts your child’s education.
- Parents have a legal duty to ensure their child receives an education.
What is 'good' attendance?
Good attendance is never missing a day of school without having a very good reason.
At Kenyngton Manor, we celebrate good attendance. We work closely alongside families to ensure good attendance and support those whose attendance falls below 95%.
How can parents/carers ensure good attendance?
- Encourage children to talk positively about their day.
- Attend parents’ evenings or workshops.
- Share concerns or successes with the school.
- Communicate reasons for absences and give daily updates.
- If possible, arrange appointments out of school time.
- Only book holidays during school holidays.
What support is available?
At Kenyngton Manor, class teachers, office staff, home-school link worker, SENCo or the attendance team can offer support.
Our local Inclusion Officer also works with families to improve attendance.
GPs can also support you if your child has known medical conditions that could affect attendance.
What happens if attendance is low?
We have a statutory duty to safeguard children. In order to do this, we need to know where they are each school day.
We will contact you by 9:30am if a reason has not been provided for an absence.
If a concern persists or attendance doesn’t improve, parents will be invited in to a support meeting.
In some cases, our Inclusion Officer may be involved.
Importance of punctuality
8.45 am – be at the gates, dont be late!
Arriving after 8.45 am means children do not have time to catch up with their friends and may not be in their lesson for the start.
Children should be in school on time – the gates open at 8:35am and close at 8:50am.
Good morning routines at home mean that your child can arrive on time, equipped with everything they need for a successful day at school.
Persistent lateness can disrupt a child’s education.
We will help support parents with punctuality and sometimes send letters to inform parents about lateness.
What happens if attendance is a concern?
Stage 1: Attendance falls below 95%
- 1st Letter sent home.
- Attendance is monitored for 2 weeks.
Stage 2: Attendance below 95% and shows no improvement after 2 weeks.
- 2nd Letter sent home.
- Attendance is monitored more closely
Stage 3: Attendance still shows no improvement after a further 2 weeks.
- Meeting with Attendance Lead to discuss support
Stage 4: Attendance below 85% AND 6 sessions unauthorised within 6 weeks.
- Referral to IO (Inclusion Officer)
Stage 5: Home visits from IO
- A fine may be issued by IO
Absence
We have a statutory duty to keep a record of all unauthorised absences and to note these on each child’s annual report. This is part of the national move to monitor and discourage absence.
The Department for Education now requires all schools to publish unauthorised absence. Lateness also comes under this category. Registers will be closed at 8.50am each morning and children arriving after that time will be marked late. It is important that parents notify us of the reason for their child’s absence as soon as possible, and by 9.00am at the latest, for each day that a child is absent from school.
Please see the Absence Forms linked below.
Illness
If your child has vomiting or diarrhoea they should not attend school until 48 hours from the last episode of vomiting/diarrhoea.
The school follows the Health Protection Agency guidance on preventing infection.
Medication Management
• Name of medicine
• Dosage and timing