Yeading Junior School
Attendance
Attendance Strategy
At Yeading Junior School, we recognise that for a child to reach their full educational potential and lay the foundations of their life, a high level of school attendance is essential. Term times are for education. This is the priority. Our target for whole school attendance for the academic year 2025-26 is 95%.
We believe passionately that a great education is one of the most precious gifts a child can receive. We want our children to enjoy their learning and we achieve this in an environment which fosters the character virtues we hold dear: Resilience, Integrity, Teamwork, Curiosity and Reflection.
Underpinning all we do is a belief that every moment a child is in school must be used effectively. If time is wasted, it is lost forever and cannot be given back. Therefore, our structures and policies are designed to maximise learning and unlock potential.
We believe that regular attendance at school is crucial in ensuring that every pupil can reach their full potential. Good attendance helps to build good habits of reliability and timekeeping needed for future study and employment. We want all pupils to make the most of school by attending regularly, enjoying and achieving.
From recent research at the end of KS2 we know that pupils who attend 95-100% of the time are 1.3x more likely to achieve the expected standard in Reading, Writing and Maths than pupils who attend 90-95% of the time. Pupils who attend 90-95% of the possible sessions are also 1.3x more likely to achieve the outcome than pupils who attend 85-90% of the time. We therefore need to have a clear strategy to support pupils to have high attendance and therefore increase life chances.
Absence Procedures
If a child is absent from school the parent/carer must follow the following procedures:
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Contact the school on the first day of absence before 8.35am. The school has an answer phone available to leave a message if nobody is available to take your call, or call into school personally and speak to the office staff
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Contact the school on every further day of absence, again before 8.35am. It is vital parents keep in touch by telephone, letter or email, if a child is away from school.
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Ensure that your child returns to school as soon as possible and you provide any medical evidence if requested to support the absence.
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tell us about any planned absences in advance. Only request leave of absence if it is for an exceptional circumstance. Complete the leave of absence form which can be found on the attendance page of the school website.
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Every half-day absence must be labelled by the school as either ‘authorised’ or ‘unauthorised’:
If your child is absent we will:
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Telephone or text you on the first day of absence if we have not heard from you however it is your responsibility to contact us
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Write to you if your child’s attendance is below 96%
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Invite you in to school to discuss the situation
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Refer the matter to the Local Authority Attendance Support Team for relevant sanctions if attendance deteriorates following the above actions
Punctuality
Lateness is monitored in the same way that daily attendance is by the attendance team. Where patterns emerge we will intervene to address this by working together with our families.
