Attendance

Welcome to our Attendance Section

Here at Croft Junior School we believe in working closely with families and pupils to encourage regular school attendance. We are confident that if your child achieves good attendance and arrives in school on time every day, they will have the best opportunities to learn.

Achieving Good Attendance

Croft Junior School endeavours to provide a positive learning environment that is safe, happy and supports your child’s growth and development. When a parent or carer enrols their child at our school they have a legal duty to ensure their child attends school regularly. We understand there are good reasons especially illness, which make attendance at school sometimes difficult. At Croft Junior School, we monitor attendance regularly and we send out absence reports to keep you informed on your child’s attendance. If your child’s attendance becomes a concern, we will arrange a meeting to discuss reasons for absence and collaboratively identify strategies to support improvements. On occasions, we may involve local authority external agencies to further support families to ensure that children receive their full entitlement to education.

Rewarding Good Attendance

At Croft Junior School we love to celebrate good attendance with our children. There are many opportunities to celebrate throughout the school year, such as:

Termly 97% + attendance celebration
End of Year 100% attendance certificates with a reward for each pupil
Celebration for most improved attendance each half term
An attendance cup presented weekly to the class with the highest attendance percentage
Celebratory phone calls for increased attendance

Persistent absence

A pupil with attendance below 90% is classed as persistently absent, even if the absence has been authorised. Pupils taking unauthorised leave of absence early in the academic year could be categorised as persistently absent despite having perfect attendance from their return date onwards.

If a pupil is a persistent absentee:

They have been absent from school for 10% or more of school time
In one school year they will have missed 19 whole days or more of school
In five school years they will have missed 95 days or more of school, which is at least half of a school year in total.

Ways that parents/carers can help

Talk with your child. Always do your best listen, empathise and try to understand what has upset them, even if it is appears to be a small problem, to them it may have grown to a big problem. Try to help them identify possible solutions.
If you have established the cause of the problem, consider how you can reduce the pressures. This could be as simple as reviewing/establishing routines before and after school. Being calm and organised at the beginning of the day, will also help reduce the opportunity for your child to experience anxiety and so can be of massive benefit to them and you.
If your child continues to say they are not happy going to school, or shows other signs of unhappiness, then speak with your child’s teacher, a member of the Pastoral Attendance Team or the Headteacher, as soon as possible.
If the problem persists, ask for professional advice, through the school. The school will be able to signpost you to many areas of support. Some examples are below:
- The Family Information Service can provide information, and support in areas such as finance, housing, family relations, childcare, health and wellbeing.
- There is a range of information and/or support for children and young people aged 0 to 25, who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
- If you suspect your child is struggling with anxiety or depression, it is important to consult a medical or mental health professional for support and direction. This is generally through your GP but there is information about the support available at Coventry and Warwickshire RISE.

Pupil Leave of Absence

Term -Time Leave of Absence Government regulations do not allow schools to authorise any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers are no longer permitted to authorise absence for holidays taken during term time. They are permitted to grant leave only in exceptional circumstances.

Taking your child out of school during term time could be detrimental to your child’s educational progress. You have no legal right to take your child out of school in term time. Agreement of any request is at the discretion of the Headteacher, acting on behalf of the Governing Body, in line with leave rules and dependant on circumstances. Leave will only be granted in extreme circumstances and not for a holiday.

If the absence is not granted and the leave is taken anyway, the Educational Welfare Service have the right to issue a fixed penalty of £60 to each parent taking each child out of school. Failure to comply with the Educational Welfare Officer when persistent absence is identified could result in a fine of up to £2500 for each parent per child (or a criminal record).

To apply for leave, complete the Pupil Absence Request form by clicking the link below. You will then be contacted to inform you of the decision.

Pupil Absence Request Form