Attendance
Why is regular attendance so important?
Bourne Primary School works closely with children and parents in connection with attendance so that each child can achieve their full potential. By law, all children of compulsory school age (five to sixteen) must receive a suitable full-time education. Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly and on time. If your child fails to do so, you risk getting a penalty notice or being prosecuted. You also need to think about the negative impact upon the following:
- their learning
- their friendships
- their self-esteem and confidence
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At Bourne we monitor the attendance of every child in the school. We work with and support those children and their families who are not attending school without sufficient reason. 95% attendance may sound good, but in reality it means that your child misses:
- one half day each fortnight
- two weeks every school year
- over three-quarters of a school year in a school career
We aim for all children to have 96% attendance.
Holiday in Term Time
As a school we cannot authorise holidays in term time, unless there are exceptional circumstances. If you are planning a holiday in term time please write to the Headteacher to ask for permission. They will then write to you with their decision. Please remember unless there are exceptional circumstances it is very unlikely that we can authorise the absence from school during term time.
If the request for absence during term time has been declined and you still decide to take your child out of school then you will receive a fixed penalty notice from East Sussex County Council.
Fixed penalty notices
The fixed penalty for going on holiday in term time is £60 per child per parent, e.g. Mum & Dad take their two children on unauthorised holiday in term time = £240 fine. If this fine is not paid within 21 days it then increases to £120 per child per parent. If the fine still is not paid then the local authority will seek prosecution for non-payment under caution.
In the event of parents who have separated. The parent/carer with whom the child lives will be fined.
Please note that money from fines is not paid to the school.
Timekeeping
Timekeeping is also important in the education of your child. If your child is persistently late then they are missing out on important learning opportunities at the start of the lesson.
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Celebrating Good Attendance
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At Bourne we like to encourage and praise children who attend school regularly. Throughout the year our Family Liaison Officer and our Learning Mentors work closely with families providing support to help overcome barriers in improving attendance. In school we celebrate good attendance in weekly Attendance Assemblies, where the classes with the highest attendance for the previous week are awarded the Attendance Cups and extra time on our climbing frame and outside gym. In addition we give out Attendance Certificates at the end of each term celebrating attendance successes. |