At Barwic Parade Community Primary School we aim to honour and fulfil the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, this policy refers directly to the following article:

Article 28 - Every Child has a Right to an Education

Children should be at school, on time, every day the school is open, unless the reason for the absence is unavoidable. Permitting absence from school without a good reason is an offence by the parent/carer.

All children are sometimes reluctant to attend school. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out between the school, the parents and the child. If a child is reluctant to attend, it is never better to cover up their absence or give in to pressure to excuse them from attending. This gives the impression that attendance does not matter and may make things worse.

National Changes From 19th August 2024

It is important that all families are aware of new national changes relating to school attendance management, which comes into force from 19th August 2024. To help parents and carers understand the implications of this new please take 5 minutes to read the below FAQ document.

Absence Procedure 

Please contact the School Office as early as you can if your child will not be attending school. The School Office is always open after 8.00am. Staff will ask you a few simple questions and may ask for a contact telephone number in case a member of staff needs to talk to you. Work with the staff in resolving any problems together - this is nearly always successful.

Lateness 

All children, are expected to be ready to line up on the playground at 8.50am. When the last child enters school the playground gates will be locked. If children arrive after this time they must go to the School Office, they will be marked as arriving late and the lost minutes of learning recorded. Repeated occasions of late arrival at school will be addressed and support offered to resolve the issue.

Children who do not arrive by 9.30am

The registers formally close at 9.30am. If you have not made contact with us by 9.30am and your child is not in class, we will start to follow a further set of procedures to ensure that this child is safe, which can include visiting your home. If we cannot establish contact with the parent/carer your child's absence will be marked as unauthorised.

External Support

The school can request support from the Attendance Officer at the Local Education Authority. We will always try to resolve the situation by agreement but, if other ways of trying to improve the child's attendance have failed, these officers will use court proceedings to prosecute parents or to seek an Education Supervision Order regarding the child.