Below are just some of the key reasons why it is important children attend school:

• To learn.
• To have fun.
• To make new friends.
• To experience new things in life.
• To achieve.
• To develop new skills, build confidence and self-esteem.

Absence and lateness, in term time, can damage a child’s education and future life prospects, particularly for those pupils with existing attendance problems, those struggling with education or being absent at critical times in the school year.

At Woodchurch CE Primary School we are committed to working in partnership with families and services to manage and reduce school absence due to leave during term time. We aim to ensure that every child receives the maximum benefit from the education opportunities provided.

We will support you in any way we can to help you ensure your child attends school regularly.

At Woodchurch CE Primary School, we understand that sometimes it can be difficult to get your children to school. We offer the following support network to help families:

• Contact from the school office on the first day of absence.
• Support from our Family Support Worker, including home visits if appropriate.
• Phone call/meetings with our Attendance Officer and/or Family Support Worker if your child’s absence falls below 96% or you need support with your child’s attendance and or punctuality.
• Attendance Panels if attendance falls below 90%

If all these steps don’t help to improve your child’s attendance, the school may look to request a penalty notice from the local authority.

• Establish a good routine in the mornings and evenings so your child is prepared for the school day ahead.
• Make sure your child goes to school regularly and follows the school rules.
• Ensure your child arrives at school on time at 8:50 am – not late.
• Arrange dental and medical appointments outside school hours when possible.
• Always inform the school if your child is absent due to illness.
• Take family holidays outside term time.
• Talk to your child about school and take an interest in their schoolwork (including homework).

We have a range of rewards in place to celebrate good attendance across school, including:

• Weekly celebration of class attendance percentage – Woody the Bear
• Celebration in Head Teacher Newsletter
• Marvellous Me
• Attendance Loyalty Cards
• Punctuality cards and prizes
• Attendance Trophy
• Phone calls home

Regular and punctual attendance of pupils at school is a legal requirement and is essential to ensure that children remain safe, achieve their full potential, and improve their life chances. Every pupil at this school is expected to maintain regular attendance.

As a parent/carer, you commit an offence if you fail to ensure your child attends school regularly and punctually. Failure to do so may result in a referral to our Family Support Worker to help support you to get your child into school.

Absences

When your child is absent, it is important that you contact us with a reason. Failure to provide an acceptable reason for absence will result in the absence being recorded as unauthorised.

Of course, we understand that there are times when children become ill and such absences will be authorised unless the school has a genuine concern about the authenticity of the illness. If your child is suffering with a minor illness, please let us know on the school gate the know and we pass a message onto their class teacher.

Lateness

Lateness has a significant impact on your child’s learning. Good attendance and punctuality are essential for learning and for the development of self-discipline and positive work habits. If your child repeatedly arrives late for school, we will write to you, asking you to meet with us to discuss the reason for this; your attendance at these meetings is vital.

School starts at 8:50am and our morning registers close at 9:30. F2 and KS1 afternoon register closes at 1:15pm and KS2 afternoon register closes at 1:45pm. If your child arrives late you will need to personally sign them in as late in reception. Please note that this may take longer during busy periods of the day – don’t worry though, your child will not be required to wait with you, they can go to their class straight away. 

If your child arrives at school after 9.00am but before 9:30am they will receive a late mark. Should they arrive after 9:30 am they will receive an absent mark for the morning session.   This is in line with Government guidelines. Arriving late after registers are closed on 10 separate occasions may result in a Fixed Penalty Notice being issued.

Please note you may not bring your child into school to receive their mark and then remove them immediately for an appointment. We encourage and ask that any non-urgent appointments are made outside of the school day, as these will not be authorised. We ask that you provide proof of any appointments, via the school office, in advance of the appointment.

Holidays

Leave of Absence/Holiday requests must be made using the appropriate Leave of Absence Request form., which is available on request from the school office.  However, please note that leave of absence during term time will not be authorised, except where exceptional circumstances apply.

Persistent Absence/Penalty Notices

Any child whose attendance falls below 90% is deemed to be a Persistent Absentee. If the child’s attendance does not improve you may be liable to prosecution. The Headteacher is responsible for determining whether leave of absence is authorised or not and whether a Penalty Notice should be issued.

Penalty Notices will be issued by the Local Authority in the following circumstances:

1. 1. Your child has had 10 or more sessions (e.g. 5 days) of absence in a period of no more than one term or two half terms and meets the terms of prosecution.
   2. Your child has 10 sessions (equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised leave of absence in term time and you have been advised that the leave of absence does not constitute the Headteacher/School’s view of an exceptional circumstance.
   3. Your child has taken leave of absence in term time without parents/carers requesting authorisation from the school.
   4. Your child arrives late after the registers are closed on 10 or more separate occasions in any one term.
   5. An exclusion has taken place and the parent/carer has allowed the child to be present in a public place during school hours, without reasonable justification, during the first five days of a fixed or permanent exclusion.

Penalty Notices will be issued to each parent for each child. Wirral Council will issue Penalty Notices on behalf of the school. Payment of a Penalty Notice is £60 if paid within 21 days and £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days. Payment is not retained by the school.

We wish to work in partnership to avoid this. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you are concerned about your child’s attendance – we are committed to doing all we can to help you.