Attendance

The staff and Governors at Conifers Primary School are committed to providing the best quality education to enable every child to THRIVE, in a fun and safe learning environment. Attendance is at the heart of our school policy and we strive to ensure that all children are in school and on time, every single day.

At Conifers Primary School, we know the impact regular attendance has on your child’s learning and well-being; and that having good attendance is directly linked to raising achievement and develops skills for life and work. We have many initiatives to celebrate and support attendance in school and ask that parents/careers support the school in this by ensuring that your child attends school every day and arrives ready to learn and on time at 8.50 am.

It is very important that all children arrive to school at 8.50am every day. If your child arrives after 9am they are late and you will need to register your child at the school office.

If your child is regularly late, you will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss how punctuality can be improved.

Did you know…?

Minutes late per day

Number of days of learning lost over a year

5 minutes

3.4 days

10 minutes

6.9 days

15 minutes

10.3 days

20 minutes

13.8 days

30 minutes

20.7 days

Promoting and Celebrating Good Attendance and Punctuality

At Conifers Primary School we understand the impact good attendance and punctuality has on our children’s learning and we believe in rewarding good attendance and punctuality to engage and motivate our children. We have many initiatives to support and celebrate attendance and punctuality so that it remains a high profile in school and with our families.

Some of the ways in which we promote and celebrate good attendance and punctuality:

Monthly class attendance challenge. The winning class receives a certificate, trophy and a shared prize to enjoy as a class.
Monthly attendance is celebrated on the school website.
At the end of each term, children with 100% attendance for the term will be awarded a bronze, silver and gold badge for 100% attendance.
Termly attendance tombola for children to win a prize for having attendance of 97% or more for the term.
For those children who require support on an individual basis, a bespoke reward system is in place.

Monitoring Attendance

Attendance and punctuality is monitored daily as your child’s learning and well-being is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that working together with parents/carers is the best way to result in positive attendance outcomes for our children and ask that you support us with ensuring your child regularly attends and is on time. We cannot be complacent where there are instances of persistently low attendance or if children are regularly late to school. Attendance and punctuality is a high priority in school. The school will follow the school attendance policy in conjunction with Dorset Council Attendance Policy and Procedures for any child’s attendance causing concern.

Please contact the School Office if you wish to make an appointment to speak to the appropriate member of staff about Attendance.

Understanding types of absence

Authorised absences are mornings or afternoons away from school for a good reason such as illness, medical appointments and emergencies.

An absence is classified as Unauthorised, if the reason is not recognised as acceptable. The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Education Authorities provide information for schools as what is acceptable and what is not. Families with regular unauthorised absence will be monitored by a Dorset Council Attendance Officer.

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

A birthday.
A shopping trip/Day trips.
Brother or sister is ill so all children in the family stay off school.
Not having uniform ready to wear or can’t find shoes/coat etc
Holidays – unless have been agreed as exceptional circumstances (see Attendance Information - Exceptional Leave below for further information).

Let school know if your child is going to be absent.

If your child has a medical appointment or is considered too ill to attend school due to a minor illness you must:

Contact the School Office (01305 771289) no later than 9:00am, informing them of the reason for your child’s absence and how long you expect them to be absent.

Every ½ day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of absence is always asked for. We will also ask for proof of medical appointments i.e. medical appointment card, medical note from the doctor or proof of prescription.

If you are unsure whether to keep your child off school, please talk to the School Office or you can visit the NHS Website links below.

Infectious illnesses in children

NHS Guide to Childhood Illnesses

Self-Care Guide to Childhood Illnesses