Attendance

School has a statutory duty to keep your child safe which includes knowing where they are if they are not in school. We appreciate that children are sometimes genuinely ill. If your child is going to be absent due to illness, please inform the office by 9am on every day of absence. If you do not contact the office, school will ring you followed by every contact we hold for your child until we speak to somebody. If your child is absent for two consecutive days and we are unable to contact anybody, we will visit the family home in order to ensure that your child/children are safe and well. If we are still unable to contact a named contact, then we may call 101 in order to seek the police’s assistance in locating the family.

What can we do to support your child’s good attendance?

  • Ensure your child’s school is a happy and safe place.
  • Keep you up-to-date about your child’s attendance.
  • Helping you and your child with any attendance problems. 

What can you do to support your child’s good attendance?

  • Do not take holidays in term time.
  • Arrange medical and dental appointments outside of school hours where possible. 
  • Let us know straight away, if you need support with your child’s attendance. 

Rewards for Good Attendance and Punctuality

At Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School, we recognise the importance of good attendance and punctuality and as a result, we reward the children in the following ways:

  • Weekly cake for classes with 100% attendance.
  • Weekly mention to the classes with the top three attendances for that week in celebration assembly
  • Attendance train- termly prizes for students with 100% attendance
  • HATFIELD WOODHOUSE attendance letter competition- 100% daily attendance for each class results in gaining a letter for their class door. Once Hatfield Woodhouse is spelt, classes can redeem a movie afternoon/ extra sports/ enrichment activities/ baking

Hatfield Woodhouse Primary School Attendance Procedures

If your child’s attendance drops below 96% without good reason, you will receive letter 1 informing you that we are concerned.

If there are further absences, letter 2 will be sent.

Following letters 1 and 2, if there is no improvement in your child’s attendance, then the following actions may be taken:

  • Home visit from the Education Welfare Officer, or Mrs Acton, Mrs Chesney
  • Education Penalty Notice warning letter,
  • Invite to Attendance Support Plan meeting,
  • Voice of the Child,
  • Education Penalty Notice,
  • Court Proceedings

Punctuality – Arriving at school on time

School opens its doors at 8:50am. Registration begins at 8:55am and ends at 9:00am.

If your child arrives after 9:00am, they will be marked as in the register, which means they are late.

If they arrive after 9:20am, they will be recorded as and this results in an unauthorised absence for the morning, which affects your child’s attendance. You will receive a letter, a home visit and be invited to a support meeting if we are concerned about the number of late marks your child has.

Hatfield Woodhouse has a Breakfast Club, and all pupils are welcome. The Breakfast Club opens at 8am and provides your child with a healthy breakfast and the opportunity to develop their social skills. You may find that regular attendance at Breakfast Club may help to improve your child’s punctuality. Please speak to member of the office staff if your child would like to book a place.

Unavoidable Medical Appointments

We appreciate that some children have unavoidable medical appointments during term time such as speech and language or hospital appointments. All we ask is that you provide a copy of the appointment letter. Although we cannot mark a child present who is attending an unavoidable medical appointment, if these are their only absences, 100% rewards will not be affected.

Holidays during Term Time

Holidays during term time will not be authorised, unless there are exceptional circumstances, and an Education Penalty Notice will be requested from the Local Authority. If you are planning to remove your child from school to take them on holiday, please complete a Leave of Absence form, available from the office or below. Please be aware that if you do not complete a Leave of Absence form or inform school that you are taking your child on holiday, but school has good reason to believe they are absent due to a holiday, then an Education Penalty Notice will still be requested.

The Penalty is £60 per parent per pupil and if not paid within 21 days this will increase to £120. Failure to pay the full amount within 28 days will result in a summons to appear in the Magistrates Court.

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