Attendance and Punctuality
We understand that there may be genuine reasons why your child may be absent from nursery, but where there are not you may be putting your child's education at risk. Research shows that children who have attendance below 96% are less likely to achieve as well as their peers.
We seek to ensure that all children maximise opportunities for them to reach their true potential. All Early Years Educators will work with children and their families to ensure that any problems that may impede full attendance are acted upon quickly. You can read more below about how we monitor your child's attendance.
At our school and nurseries the curriculum is planned so children continually build their knowledge and skills in a sequential way. This means when your child misses work this can lead to gaps in their learning. Regular absence can impact on your child's friendships, a child who misses school a lot finds it hard to make relationships.
Did you know...
- 90% attendance means that a child is deemed to be a persistent absentee and is missing half a day’s school a week or 19 days (4 weeks) of school during a year
- 95% attendance means that a child will miss two weeks of school in a year
- there is a clear relationship between poor attendance and poor behaviour.
How you can help your child so they have good attendance.
- Establish good routines at home both in the morning and in the evening so your child is ready for nursery.
- Make sure your child behaves well and bring them to nursery each day.
- Ensure your child arrives at nursery on time (children can feel embarrassed when they go to their group late).
- Arrange medical and dental appointments out of nursery hours wherever possible.
- Always report your child's absence to the admin office on 01952 387910 so we don't have to chase you. It's important we know why your child is not at nursery.
- Take family holidays outside of term time (There are 190 school days in a year leaving 175 in which to take holiday).
- Read our weekly newsletter so you can talk to your child about what is happening in nursery.
- Read with your child at home so they become confident and can access their learning.
- Attend stay and play sessions so you know how well your child is doing.
- Praise and reward your child's achievements at nursery.
- Please speak with a member of the admin team or your child's key person with any questions or concerns regarding attendance.
Please click on the link to access information about childhood illnesses Should I Keep My Child Off School? for advice and guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: My child is unwell, what should I do?
A: Please call the nursery office on 01952 387910 no later than 8.40am, leave a message stating your child’s name, room and a brief explanation of the nature of the illness. A call is requested for every day of absence unless you have spoken directly with the Attendance Officer.
Q: Why do I need to call every day?
A: We cannot assume that a child is unwell just because they were off school the previous day. If you believe an absence due to illness may be prolonged, please contact us so that we can make arrangements to avoid you calling daily.
Q: I have just remembered that I need to collect my child during the school day but I have forgotten to send a note what should I do?
A: Please call us, 01952 387910 to inform the admin team.
Why is punctuality important?
Being on time gives your child a great start to the day. They arrive at nursery in a positive frame of mind to make the most of their day's learning.
Punctuality is linked to good attendance and good attenders have more opportunities, more support and therefore achieve more. Establishing good routines sets your child up for the future, whether this is for when they start school, college, university or work.
Top Tips
- Make sure they have everything ready the night before.
- Make sure your child has a good bedtime routine so they get plenty of rest and don't struggle out of bed in the morning.
- Invest in a good, reliable alarm clock-make setting it part of your child's bedtime routine.
- Try to ensure your child has a good breakfast to set them up for the day-we have a super breakfast club you could use if you need to be at work early.
- Have a back up plan for getting your child to nursery in case something crops up-friends or family perhaps neighbours who are taking they children to school anyway.
- Allow lots of time for your journey to nursery.
- If you are finding it difficult to get your child to nursery on time, talk to your child's key person and ask for help.
How do we monitor attendance and punctuality?
We monitor attendance daily, we check that we have a reason for your child's absence, a member of the admin team will call you to establish the reason for non attendance.
Each week a member of our Senior Leadership Team monitors attendance to see if any child's attendance has fallen below the expected level, we will contact you to see if we can support with getting your child to nursery.
Please see the table below for attendance ratings.
Attendance percentages are reported to the governing board each term so they can ensure high levels of attendance.
Our attendance team
Mrs Gascoigne |
Mrs Thursfield |
Mrs Allison | Mrs Griffiths |
Exec. Headteacher | Day Care Manager | Administrator | School Business Manger |
Contact nursery: 01952 387910
Attendance Nominated Person: Mrs Jenny Gascoigne