The importance of regular school attendance
Regular attendance at school is vital to help children achieve and get the best possible start in life.
We are pleased that children want to attend our school and that they know that good attendance matters. Pupils who have good attendance: get better jobs in the future, achieve better results, make better friendships and have good self-esteem and confidence.
We want to continue to work with you to ensure the school environment is somewhere your child wants to be and support you in ensuring they can attend every day, on time.
Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success, both in school and in their working life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behaviour and have a better chance of securing their ideal career path.
Our intention is always to support our families in the first instance whenever attendance concerns arise. Part of the reason we do this it to ensure parents have access to as much information as possible to understand why attending school is important and what happens where absences occur.
We hope you find the following information useful to assist your understanding and help with decision making in respect of your child’s absences from school, should they occur. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you in anticipation of your support to improve attendance levels and progress.
GPS Attendance Team
Ensuring good attendance is everyone's responsibility - parents, teachers, pupils, support staff, admin team and many more.
However, we do have a number of dedicated staff who focus closely on attendance on a daily basis. These will be the staff members you will speak with if you have any issues surrounding attendance.
Senior Attendance Champion - Ms. Roclawski (Assistant Headteacher)
Attendance Champions - Mrs. Jordan and Mrs. Turton (Admin Team)
Attendance Governor - Freya Statham- Hawthorne
Your responsibilities as a parent
All children aged between 5 and 16 are required by law to receive an education, and it is the duty of parents and carers to ensure that they are supported to do so.
Children sometimes have to miss school because of illness or if they have long term medical issues. If this is the case, parents should contact school to let them know the reason that their child is not in school.
First day of absence
It is important that you let the school know why your child is absent on the first day that they are not in school. You can do this in a number of ways:
- Via the ParentMail app
- Call the school office on 0113 2012450
- Email the school on info@gildersomeprimary.org.uk
If you do not contact the school, one of our Attendance Officers will contact you. If they are unable to get in touch, the absence will be marked as unauthorised
late arrival to school
School begins at 8:45. Pupils are expected to be at the door to their classrooms a few minutes before 8:45 to ensure they are in class on time.
The table below shows the impact that arriving just a few minutes late can have on the amount of learning your child is missing.
Every time a child arrives late to school it disrupts the whole class and they miss vital input for the first lesson of the day.
Persistent absence
Our pupil attendance target is a minimum of 96%. Anything below this could have a detrimental effect on your child’s academic progress and personal development.
Attendance below 90% at any point during the school year is categorised as being Persistently Absent (PA) regardless of reasons. Schools are required to monitor and act to improve the attendance of such pupils.
Parents or Carers are ultimately responsible for their child’s poor attendance. Please be aware that routinely poor attendance could lead to a fixed penalty notice if there are no legitimate medical reasons known to school to condone regular absences.
