ATTENDANCE

All compulsory school age children have the right to an education protected by law. Parents whose children attend Huntingtower Community Primary Academy have a legal duty to ensure that their child attends regularly. Aside from the legal responsibilities, for your child to be able to reach his or her full potential, it is essential that they have good attendance at school.

If your child is unwell, please contact school, leaving a reason for the absence before the start of the school day. If we have not heard from you by 9.10 am, we will follow our attendance protocol and contact you to establish why your child is not in school. You must contact school every day if your child is absent due to illness. If there is not a valid reason for your child being absent from the Academy, it will be recorded as Unauthorised Absence. If we do not hear from you, and we are also unable to contact home, a home visit will be undertaken in line with our safeguarding procedures.          

The Academy monitors attendance on a regular basis and has a target of children attending at 96%. Weekly attendance figures are reported to the children during celebration assembly and parents via ClassDojo. Attendance below 90% (equivalent to 1 full day or more per fortnight across a school year) is deemed to be persistent absence. If your child's attendance falls below 90%, it will automatically generate a letter notifying you that this has happened. We appreciate that there may be a number of factors involved in the reasons for their absence. However, we have a responsibility to notify you at this point. Your child's attendance will continue to be monitored and support can be offered through the Academy to help alleviate any barriers to attending, if that is appropriate.

Continued poor attendance, without reasonable explanation, will be addressed by Mrs Ward, our Attendance Officer, in conjunction with Miss Harkins. We will invite you to a meeting with Mrs Ward and a member of SLT to discuss your child's attendance and devise a plan to work together to rectify it. If attendance continues to deteriorate, school may refer to external agencies such as an Educational Welfare Officer, or refer the case to the Local Authority to issue a Fixed Penalty Notice.

LATE

The Academy day begins at 8.50 am with KS1 and Early Years children entering school via their classroom doors and KS2 being collected by their teacher. The registers close at 9.00 am and children's attendance will be marked in line with our policy. Huntingtower Attendance Policy

Repeated lateness can have a significant detrimental impact on your child's learning. Therefore, if we start to see a repeated lateness pattern of attendance, we will contact you to work with you regarding the reason and if we can offer any support. 

Leave of Absence

Any request to take your child out of school during term time must be made by completing the Leave of Absence form which can be collected from the Academy office. It will then be forwarded to Miss Harkins who can, in exceptional circumstances, grant a leave of absence for your child, and permit the absence to be authorised. A holiday, however, is not deemed an exceptional circumstance. 

Please be aware that if your child has more than 4.5 days of unauthorised absence within a 6-week period, you may receive a Fixed Penalty Notice. 

APPOINTMENTS

We would strongly urge you whenever possible to make any appointments for your child outside of school hours. However, we are realistic and understand that sometimes this is just not possible. If you have an appointment for your child during school hours, i.e dentist or GP, please try to get them as close to either the start or end of school as possible. Please bring the appointment evidence to the Academy office when you drop off or collect your child for the appointment.