Attendance and Punctuality

The Department for Education has issued clear advice:

‘Departmental advice for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities October 2014.’  It expects schools and local authorities to:

· Promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence;

· Ensure every pupil has access to full-time education to which they are entitled; and,

· Act early to address patterns of absence.

It is very important for all children to attend school every day and to arrive on time.  The gates will open at 8:35am every morning and KS1 and KS2 class teachers are on the playground at 8:40 to greet their pupils and lead them into their classrooms at 8:50. Outside doors and gates will then close at 8.55 am to allow registration to take place. If your child arrives after the outside doors and gates are closed please be aware they will need to be bought to the office, signed in and a reason must be given for the lateness. Children arriving late after 9.20am (after register closes) will receive an unauthorised absence for the morning. Parent/carer MUST telephone school before 9.30am on the first day their child is not attending school due to illness and each subsequent day thereafter (unless a time of absence can be given on first day of illness eg: chickenpox).

Attendance here at Oasis Academy Byron is co-ordinated by our Attendance Officer, who works closely with the Designated Safeguarding Leads and the Principal on a daily basis to monitor the schools attendance.

How you can help your child attend regularly:

• making sure they understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality
• taking an interest in their education - ask about school work and encourage them to get involved in school activities
• discussing any problems they may have at school - inform their teacher or whoever is in charge of attendance at the school about anything serious
• not letting them take time off school for minor ailments - particularly those which would not prevent you from going to work
• arranging appointments and outings after school hours, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to your child's education and to the school.

What if my child is absent from the Academy?

It is very important that all children attend the Academy regularly, but if your child is unwell they should not attend.  If you are unsure as to whether your child is ill, it's always best to send them to the Academy and let us know to keep an eye on them.  We will contact you if they need to go home. 

You should inform the Academy on the first day of the child's absence, so that an authorised absence can be recorded.  Authorised absences are acceptable reasons for absence and cover: illness; hospital/dental appointments; religious holidays; attendance at court; funerals etc.  However, all appointments should, where possible, be arranged after the Academy day or during holidays.

Unauthorised absences are absences where no acceptable reason is given and include : shopping; going to the airport; a relative visiting; going for a haircut; parent/carer unwell; holidays etc.

Parents/carers who collect children during the day to go to the doctor, dentist etc must first report to the office and the child will be collected from their classroom by office staff.

The Academy and the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) monitor the attendance of children.  The EWO visits regularly and contacts families where the attendance of a child starts to cause concern and the Academy has not been given a reason or where there is a pattern of absence from the Academy.  If a child’s attendance continues to be poor, there are no justifiable reasons why your child is not attending regularly, and/or you do not talk to the school about your child’s absence, then you may be breaking the law and the Academy will notify the Council so that they can either issue a Penalty Notice or start an investigation into why your child is not attending school. 

What if my child is late for Academy learning?
It is very important that all children are in the Academy on time.  A child will be recorded as late if they arrive in the classroom five minutes after the start of the day. 

What happens if I am late picking up my child
It is important that children should be picked up from the Academy promptly.  If, for any reason, you are going to be late, please contact the Academy office as soon as you can so that we know what is happening.  It can be very distressing for a child if we cannot tell them anything.  If your child is not collected on time, and you have not contacted the office we will try to make contact with all contacts on your child’s account. It is very important that you ensure we have the up-to-date information, so we can make contact quickly. 

What happens if we have to go away in term time?
The law requires that, once a child is on the Academy's register, they should be sent to the Academy every day that it is open.  There is no right to time off for holidays and these will not be authorised, except in exceptional circumstances. If parents/carers are considering a holiday during term time, for whatever reason, this must be discussed with the Principal well before any bookings are made.  A leave of absence form must be filled in and signed by the Principal.  Term-time holidays will be reported as an unauthorised absence.

Unauthorised absence of more than two weeks may result in the child being taken off-roll and the place being given to the next child on our waiting list.  If a child is missing from education, we will inform Croydon Local Authority