Attendance

At Sea View Primary School we work in partnership with all our parents to ensure that everything is done to make sure that all our pupils can achieve an outstanding level of attendance.  We firmly believe that outstanding attendance is a key factor to the success of your child realising their true learning potential. 

 

Those who do not attend regularly may fall behind in their learning leading to feelings of frustration and unhappiness.

 

We promote positive behaviour and good attendance through our use of an appropriate curriculum which is geared to the child's age and ability.  We aim to create a learning community, which benefits from the positive behaviour, regular attendance and well-being of its pupils and staff.   Good attendance and behaviour are recognised and praised. 

 

All children should be at school, on time, every day, if the reason for absence is unavoidable then please inform the school as soon as possible.

 

It is acknowledged that all children are sometimes reluctant to attend school.  Any problems are best resolved between the school, the parents and the child.  If a child is reluctant to attend it is important that you speak to the school so the reasons can be investigated and resolved so your child is happy attending [school].  It is important that the child gets the right messages that attendance at school is important and fun.

 

Non-attendance is an important issue that is treated seriously. However, every case is different and we will always try to support families with any issues that arise. By working in partnership, it is our hope that every pupil achieves at least over 95% whilst our aspiration is that our pupils will aim to be in school 100% of the time.

 

Sea View Community Primary School follow the Local Authority guidelines in relation to attendance and punctuality at school.

 

What this means for you:

 

• If your child is absent from school for any reason it is the responsibility of the parents to inform the school. The parent may be requested to provide a reason for the absence and where appropriate provide evidence (appointment cards, prescriptions, medication, hospital letters etc) to support this reason.  If you do not contact the school you will be rung by a member of staff on the first day of absence to obtain a reason.  A message will be left if possible where parents cannot be contacted and it is then the parents responsibility to provide a reason for absence otherwise your child will be coded with an unauthorised mark.

 

• A follow up call on the third day of absence will be made if you have not contacted the school. The school will also make courtesy calls to families if your child is off longer than a week to keep communication open and work towards transition back into school.

 

• Requests for absences during term time are processed on a case by case basis taking into account the reason for the request and the child’s overall attendance pattern during the current and previous school years.  In general absences can be approved up to 10 days if the child’s attendance is over 95%. If the attendance drops to below 90% then keeping your child off school may result in a penalty notice.  

 

• Children who have ten days absence or more within a school year will be monitored very carefully and the local authority attendance process will be implemented. This means parents will receive newsletters, telephone calls and letters. If the attendance does not improve then you may be invited into school for a meeting to discuss attendance and the impact it is having on your child’s attainment

 

• The Welsh Government, City and County of Swansea and ESTYN all place attendance as a high priority and expect schools to ensure all their children are in school as much as possible.