Attendance at St. Luke’s C.E (Aided) Primary School

Our aim is to ensure that all children reach their full potential by attending school on time and each day.

Why is regular school attendance so important?

At St. Luke’s C.E (Aided) Primary School we believe that good attendance habits will give your child the best possible start in life and help to develop the skills needed in adult life. By law, all children of compulsory school age must receive a suitable full-time education. Once your child is registered at school, you are legally responsible for making sure that they attend regularly. If your child fails to do so, you risk getting a penalty notice or being prosecuted. You also need to think about the negative impact upon the following:

• Your child’s learning

• Your child’s friendships

• Your child’s self-esteem and confidence

We monitor the attendance of every child in the school. We will work and support those children and their families who are not attending school without sufficient reason. 90% attendance sounds good, but this is too low and means that your child misses the equivalent of:

• One half day each week
• Nearly four weeks every school year
• Over one school year in a school career

Our school attendance target this year is 97%. Together we can achieve it. Please help us!

Absence because of illness

Please look at the NHS guidance if you are considering if your child is too ill for school. This information provides clear guidelines for when a child should and should not be at school.  

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Timekeeping

Timekeeping is also important in the education of your child. If your child is often late then they are missing out on important learning opportunities at the start of the day and lesson. If your child is persistently late then you may be contacted and offered any support that you might need to ensure that your child is arriving at school on time. School registers are taken at 8.50am and closed at 9.00am, to ensure a prompt start to learning, so arrival after registration will be marked as late.

Persistent Absence (Attendance at 90% or lower)

School-age pupils are persistent absentees if they miss 10% of sessions or more. This is classed as being a serious problem and outside agencies may become involved.

Holidays in Term Time

We do not authorise any holidays during term time.

If your child goes on holiday during term time, they are absent:

• 10 days absence = 95% attendance
• 19 days absence = 90% attendance
• 29 days absence = 85% attendance
• 38 days absence = 80% attendance
• 47 days absence = 75% attendance

Severe Absence (Attendance at 50% or lower)

School-age pupils are classes as being a severe absentee if the miss 50% of sessions or more. The DfE introduced this category in its guidance on  working together to improve school attendance in 2022.

Attendance Reports

Attendance reports will be issued on a regular basis and detail your child’s current attendance. We want to encourage and praise children who attend school regularly. Throughout the year there will be many opportunities for children to be rewarded for good attendance.

Recognising Good Attendance

In our weekly school newsletter, we look at the attendance of each class across the school. 

Attendance for this academic year - 15/09/23

Well done to classes with attendance of 97% or above!

Attendance for this academic year - 22/09/23

Well done to classes with attendance of 97% or above!

Attendance for this academic year - 29/09/23

Well done to classes with attendance of 97% or above!

Attendance for this academic year - 10/11/23

Well done to classes with attendance of 97% or above!

Attendance for this academic year - 17/11/23

Well done to classes with attendance of 97% or above!