Attendance
At Pluckley Church of England Primary School we firmly believe that it is crucially important that – if children are fit and healthy – that they are in school.
Research has clearly shown that good, regular attendance has a positive impact on children’s achievement and allows them to fulfil their potential.
Being at school regularly helps your child:
- learn
- have fun
- achieve
- build friendships with others
- experience new things in life
- build confidence and self esteem
- have the best possible start in life
At Pluckley we celebrate good attendance in many ways but also support and encourage everyone to aim for over 97% every academic year.
Persistent Absence
Any child with attendance of 90% or below (regardless of the reason for any absences) is considered to be a persistent absentee by the government. This equates to missing ½ a day of school every week. If your child becomes persistently absent, we will - in the first instance - organise a meeting with you in order to try to support you (and your child) to improve their attendance. Following this, if your child's attendance does not improve, we will ask KCC for support and discuss with them (and you) options moving foward.
Illness
We completely understand that children can be genuinely unwell and, in that case, they should remain at home; rest and get better – we never want a genuinely unwell child to ‘force’ themselves into school. Advice from Kent County Council is as follows: "Children can attend school with minor ailments (toothache, headache, stomach ache, cold, sore throat). If you are unsure how long your child should be absent with an illness, ask your child’s school, GP or pharmacist for advice."
Medical Appointments
All routine appointments should be booked outside school hours. If your child is absent for medical reasons, you must ensure that you provide ‘medical evidence’ (e.g. copy of a prescription, medicine packaging with a label or appointment card). If you are unable to provide this, we are unable to authorise the absence.
Absence During Term Time
Your child must not be absent from school:
- For day trips / birthdays / holidays
- If weather is bad or you are running late
- To care for other family members
- Due to the illness of a parent or sibling.
Incidences of absence during term time will only be authorised in very exceptional circumstances, such as in the event of a family emergency.
Unfortunately, reasons such as these are becoming increasingly prevalent and we are doing everything we can to encourage children to be in school and not to be absent for such reasons. Please can all parents support us with this, instilling a positive attitude to attendance.
Reporting Absences
It is a parent / carer’s legal responsibility to notify school with the reason if their child will be absent.
Please note that, in the instance of illness, it is crucially important that parents get in touch with the school on each day of your child’s absence. This should be done by either calling the school office on 01233 840422 and leaving a message or by emailing office@pluckley-tkat.org.
In the instance of holidays or other periods of planned absence, you must ensure that the school has – in writing – the duration of the period your child will be absent from school.
It is our legal responsibility to ensure we know the whereabouts of your child during each day they should be in school and there are legal steps which we have to take if we are unable to verify their location and safety.
Punctuality
Alongisde general attendance, punctuality is of equal importance to us at Pluckley. Arriving late to school is unsettling for your child and can be disruptive for their teacher and other children in the class. It is important your child arrives on time.
If your child arrives late, this will be marked in the register. If your child arrives very late, this may be recorded as unauthorised absence for the whole morning.
School Attendance - Kent.Gov.UK