Attendance

At Quest Primary, we believe that regular attendance and punctuality are crucial for your child’s educational progress and overall development. Consistent attendance ensures that your child fully participates in the learning process, making the most of the opportunities provided at school. We believe we offer a supportive approach to attendance and encourage our families to contact us should there be any barriers to your child arriving at school on time every day.

Our attendance champion, Mrs Childs, is available to meet with and speak to parents about any problems.

Attendance target

96%. This is a maximum of 7 days off throughout the whole year.

Why is Attendance Important?

Children who attend school regularly are more likely to:

  • Develop strong, consistent relationships with their peers and teachers.
  • Achieve better academic outcomes.
  • Build positive habits that last a lifetime.

Punctuality Matters

Arriving on time is equally important. The start of the school day sets the tone for the rest of the day, and arriving late can disrupt not only your child’s learning but also the learning of others. We encourage all parents and carers to ensure that children are on time and ready to learn. Classroom doors are open at 8.30am and children should arrive by 8.45am. After this time children will need to be accompanied to the office and the lateness explained. Children who arrive after 9.15am, will receive an absence mark for the morning session.

Reporting Absences

If your child is unable to attend school due to illness or any other reason, please inform the school as soon as possible on the first day of the absence and any subsequent days. This allows us to accurately record attendance and ensure the safety of all pupils.

Parents and carers should use Studybugs to report absence due to illness (available as an app or online). Any other absence reasons should be reported directly to Mrs Childs.

Promoting Good Attendance

To support good attendance and punctuality, we:

  • Work closely with families to overcome barriers to regular attendance.
  • Celebrate and reward good and improved attendance.
  • Monitor attendance regularly and provide support where needed.

Incentives and rewards

We love to reward good attendance and also work actively to encourage children to come to school, on time. Children take part in attendance competitions, both whole school and class focused whereby they can earn rewards, just by coming to school! Our rewards include; mufti-days, extra play time, hot chocolate with the head, extra computer time and fun activities.

Legal Responsibility

Parents and carers have a legal duty to ensure their child attends school regularly. Poor attendance can lead to consequences, including involvement from local authorities. We are here to work with you to ensure your child’s attendance is strong and consistent.

For more information on our attendance policy and how you can support your child’s attendance, click here.

Guidance and rules for attendance were updated and came into force in August 2024.

New Attendance Rules Parents Need to Know for September 2024

You will know that if a child misses just one day of school, that is one day’s worth of education lost. If it’s more than one day, those losses will be cumulative and the effect on long-term prospects could not be more damaging. Prior to Covid, absenteeism had been on the decline, but since the lockdowns, it appears attitudes towards attendance have changed and we are now seeing a steep increase in absenteeism once again – around 380,000 fewer pupils were persistently off school last year than the year before. This does not take into account the number of children not attending school due to SEND/SEMH.

Ministers have now published guidance on managing school attendance that will become mandatory from September 2024. Here’s what you need to know.

£80 fines and Improvement Notices

Absence fines charged to parents will rise from £60 to £80, or £160 if not paid within 21 days.  From Autumn term 2024, only two fines can be issued to the same parent for the same child within a three-year rolling period. Any notice thereafter will automatically be charged at £160.  Parents will also receive “improvement notices”, where they are informed that this is their last opportunity to engage with education and improve their child’s attendance before a fine is issued.

National fine thresholds

From September, schools will have to consider a fine if a pupil misses 10 sessions (half days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks. They should “not have a blanket position of issuing or not issuing penalty notices”. The threshold can be met with “any combination of unauthorised absence”. For example, four sessions in term time plus six instances of arriving late.

Long-Term Sickness to be Flagged with Local Authorities

Schools will have to give councils the name and address of sick pupils who they believe will miss 15 consecutive or cumulative days. Schools will also be “expected to inform a pupil’s social worker and/or youth offending team worker if there are unexplained absences from school”.

Mental Health Awareness

All schools should now be particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or their special educational needs and/or disabilities and provide them with additional support.

The guidance acknowledges “many children will experience normal but difficult emotions that make them nervous about attending school, such as worries about friendships, schoolwork, examinations or variable moods”. But it is “important to note that these pupils are still expected to attend school regularly”.

Working together to improve school attendance

Fines for parents for taking children out of school: What you need to know – The Education Hub