Attendance
At Cherry Orchard Primary School we value the importance of regular attendance at school and we strive to have the highest attendance possible. High attendance (97% +) is essential to ensure uninterrupted progress and to enable children to fully develop their learning potential.
The attendance patterns for all children is monitored on a weekly basis, with the school seeking to work actively with parents to ensure a regular pattern is maintained. When a child’s attendance drops below an acceptable level parents will receive a letter and be invited into school for a meeting.
Research has shown that poor attendance can seriously affect each child's:-
➢ attainment in school
➢ progress in school
➢ attitude towards learning
➢ relationships with other children and their ability to form lasting friendships
➢ confidence to attempt new work and work alongside others
➢ long-term life chances
Each child’s attendance can be summarised as:
> 100% = Perfection!
➢ 97%+ = Excellent – Well done! This will help all aspects of their progress and life in school. This will give them a good start in life and supports a positive work ethic.
➢ 96% = Nearly there – Doing well. Strive to build on this.
> 95% = Needs to improve.
➢ 93% = Poor – Absence is now affecting attainment and progress at school. Please work with the school urgently to improve the situation.
➢ 90% = Unacceptable – Absence is causing SERIOUS CONCERN. It IS affecting attainment and progress and is disrupting your child’s learning. The school will work with you to ensure your child’s attendance improves.
Punctuality
It is very important that children are on time, every day for school. Our gates open at 8:30am. At 8:45am, children should be in class as lessons start straight away. If children are not coming into school until 9:00am, they will have already missed 15 minutes of learning time. Over a week, this will equate to missing 1 1/4 hours of learning which is 5 hours per month.
Please ensure your children, for their benefit, are in school and on time every day.
Absence
Illness and Medical Appointments
If your child is unwell and can’t attend school, then please contact the School Office by 9:00am to inform us. As part of our Safeguarding Procedures, the school office will endeavour to contact the parent or carer and other emergency contacts if no message has been received regarding the reason for the absence, to check on the safety of the child. If there has been no contact, we will carry out a home visit.
a) Every effort should be made to arrange medical appointments outside school hours.
b) An appointment card or verification by the doctors/ dentist/hospital is required.
c) If it is necessary for a child to be out of school for this reason, the child should be returned to school directly after the appointment.
d) If your child is absent due to vomiting and diarrhea then they should not return to school for the next 48 hours. The 48 hour period starts from the last time that the child is ill. This is to reduce the risk of spreading the infection to other children and adults at the school.
e) Medical certificates are required for absence greater than five days.
Planned Absence - Family Holidays
The school recognises that pupil absence during term time can seriously disrupt a pupil’s continuity of learning. Parents are requested not to take their children out of school during term time. Pupils will only be given permission to take leave in term time if there are exceptional circumstances.
As a school we are asked to inform you that, in line with Worcestershire County Council Policy, unauthorised absence may be subject to a penalty notice fine of £60 payable per parent, per child, increasing to £120 each if not paid within 21 days. If no payment is received within 28 days this may lead to court proceedings.
A 'Leave of Absence' form can be requested by visiting the school office in person, please complete this form to request leave for an exceptional reason.
Our key priority is to ensure that our pupils are as successful as possible and achieve their full potential. Please support the Local Authority and Government policy stating that holidays should be only be taken in the 13 weeks of school holidays, except in exceptional circumstances.