Late/Absence Procedures

Attendance at Christ Church School

The responsibility for good attendance is shared between parents, pupils and the school.  Pupils need to attend school regularly to maintain consistent progress and achievement in both curriculum knowledge and understanding, and personal and social skills.

Headteachers will only authorise leave of absence in exceptional circumstances.  If a headteacher grants a leave request, it will be for the headteacher to determine the length of time that the child can be away from school.  Even in cases where exceptional leave of absence is sought, the school will consider a child's progress, attainment and attendance pattern and may refuse to authorise absence.  Leave will not be granted for the purpose of a family holiday as there are 190 statutory school days in one year, thus leaving 175 days available to use for holidays.  Therefore Governors believe that sufficient time is available for holidays during school holiday time. 

Why is Good Attendance so Important?

We believe that a child's attendance and punctuality is of great importance to maintain consistent progress and achievement in both curriculum knowledge and understanding, and personal and social skills.

We want all the children to achieve the very best they can and for this they need to be in school regularly. Irregular attendance makes it harder to keep up with work, school life and events. Late arrival disrupts the education not only for the student who is late, but also of others in the class. Erratic appearances at after school clubs and social events can affect their feeling of belonging and, for some children, their ability to sustain friendships. They may miss explanations of homework, letters home or information in need of a response.

Pupils who have good attendance will become successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve. They will find school routines and school work easier to cope with and are more likely to have an easier transfer to secondary school and go on to become confident individuals who make a positive contribution to society.

Each school sets its own annual target for attendance, in collaboration with the School Governors and the Education Welfare Service.

We always aim for our overall school attendance to be judged good at 96%. It is expected that the whole school community will work together to achieve this target.

Are you aware of the effect poor attendance has in lost learning hours?

If your child is away for one week they miss 5 hours of maths and 5 hours of literacy lessons.

EVERY DAY COUNTS!

School Hours

Doors open at 8.45am.

Morning registration takes place at 8.55am. A child arriving after 8.55am but before 9.10am will be given a L-Late (before registration closed) mark.

If a child arrives after 9.10am they will be given a U-Late (after registers closed / unauthorised) mark for the session.

Afternoon registration takes place at 1.10pm. A child arriving in class after 1.10pm but before 1.30pm will be given a L-Late mark and after 1.30pm a U-Late mark.

The school day ends at 3.15pm

How can you help your child's attendance?

By law all children of compulsory school age must receive a proper full-time education. Under the 1996 Education Act, parents and carers are responsible for ensuring their children attend school regularly and punctually. Parents and carers fulfil their role and responsibilities by:

• Ensuring their child attends school every day unless they are too ill to attend or there is an acceptable reason for absence.
• Ensuring their child arrives on time, prepared and equipped for the day.
• Contacting the school by phone, by email admin@christchurch.herts.sch.uk or in person by 9.00am on the morning of absence.  This is particularly important if your child is registered with us as a 'Lone Walker'.
• Arranging dental and doctor's appointments out of school hours or during school breaks.
• Informing the school in advance when it is not possible to arrange a medical appointment out of school hours and returning their child to school following a medical appointment.
• Parents do not have the right to take children out of school during term time. A parent taking a child out of school will need to put this in writing to the Head Teacher. Parents will receive a response within a few days to advise if the absence will be authorised / unauthorised. Absences are only granted under very special circumstances.
• Supplying a packed lunch for children arriving after 10am, unless a school dinner has been previously arranged with the school office when advising of you child's late entry to school.
• Sending in a note to explain the reason for absence on your child's return after an illness.
• Keeping the school updated by telephone or letter if you child has an extended period of absence due to illness.
• Accepting the professional judgement of the Head Teacher when they consider if the absence is authorised or unauthorised.
• Communicating with school about their child's progress or concerns and attending meetings with the Class Teacher, SENco or Head Teacher.
• Working with the school or Local Authority Education Welfare Officer to help improve the situation if a child's attendance is below the expected level.

Children who are absent in term time miss vital schooling and it takes time for them to settle back upon their return, often as long as they have been away.

Please visit our 'Policies and Plans' page where a copy of our latest Attendance Policy can be viewed.