Our School Day & Attendance
The table below shows the impact of whole days absent and lost learning hours in one school year:
Should you have any questions regarding attendance or you would like to discuss how we may support you in ensuring your child attends school regularly, please contact the school office for an appointment with the Head of School.
School Day
8:30am Main gate opens, playground open and staffed
8:40am Whistle is blown and children enter school
8:45am Registration (all children should be in their seats)
12:15am Lunchtime begins
1:15pm Lunchtime ends, children return to class
3:15pm School day finishes
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Total school hours per week = 32.5
Our main gate is open from 8:30am, to allow parents to drop their children off (it takes a while to get 300+ children through the gate!) From this time, the bottom playgrounds are staffed to allow the children to meet their friends and have a brief playtime before school.
Children should be dropped off at the main gate and walk to the playground themselves. On particularly wet days, children should go straight to their classrooms, where class staff will greet them.
At the end of the day, the main gates will open at 3:12pm, allowing parents to enter the site to meet their children. Parents of infant children should wait on the car park/middle playground and staff will send children when their parents can be seen. Junior parents should wait on the playground or outside their children's classroom if they are collecting.
Children in Year 5 & 6 are able to walk home without parents if families wish for them to do so. Children will only be able to do this if a completed form is signed and handed in to the school office by a parent/guardian. ​
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We encourage all families to ensure that their children attend school consistently and on time. If a child is late to school, they should enter via the school office and collect a 'safety sticker' to ensure that school staff have recorded them being on site. They will then be escorted to class, either by a member of staff or by one of our Year 6 monitors.
If there is an unavoidable reason for your child being absent from school and you wish to apply for a term-time absence (this is not necessary for medical appointments etc.), please complete the form below. Paper copies can be collected from the school office.
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​​The Department for Education say there is clear evidence of a link between poor attendance at school and low levels of achievement. Regular and punctual attendance at school is both a legal requirement and essential for children and young people to maximise their educational opportunities. The expectation is that every child should be in school, every day, unless they are unwell. We are committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for all our pupils. Children whose attendance falls below 95% at any time will receive a letter explaining that their attendance is becoming a concern. Should their attendance not improve, we may invite parents/carers in to school for a meeting about this issue. We also now monitor lateness closely and may invite parents/carers to a meeting if this is having a negative impact on learning.
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​Lateness
Being late to school can have a considerable impact over the whole school year. The table below shows you just how much time can be missed over a year just by being 5 minutes late to school every day:
5 minutes late every day = 3 days of school lost a year
10 minutes late every day = 6.5 days of school lost a year
15 minutes late every day = 10 days of school lost a year
20 minutes late every day = 13 days of school lost a year
30 minutes late every day = 19 days of school lost a year
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We understand that the school mornings can be hectic, but when your child is late for school they are missing out on vital parts of their education.
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For the DfE statutory guidance on school attendance please click on the following link: