Please see the following link to show the process we will follow at Maren Primary Academy to ensure that every child is supported in achieving 100% attendance.
At Marden Primary Academy we want children to want to come to our school and enjoy learning about the world in which they live. By law, all children of compulsory school age ( five to 16 ) must receive a 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 should also consider the impact of missing school on a child’s:
- Friendships
- Learning
- Self-esteem and confidence.
Marden Primary Academy monitors the attendance of every child in the school in partnership with Kent County Council’s School Liaison Officer. We will work with and support those children and their families who are not attending school regularly without sufficient reason. At Marden Primary Academy we ensure that every child attends school every day. We understand that life can be tricky at times and take you off course. As a school we endeavour to support all our families in any way possible and have a number of strategies that we are happy to use in supporting both the family and child in attending school full time.
Whilst 95% attendance may sound acceptable, here at Marden Primary Academy we expect at least 97% attendance from all of our pupils across the school. Please refer to the table below – it is surprising how a day off here and there throughout the school year can impact on your child’s learning, and there are strong links between attendance and success.
If your child is absent, please call the school office on 01622 831393 by 08.30am. You need to call each and every day that your child is absent, even if the reason is the same.
At Marden Primary Academy we ensure that every child attends school every day. We understand that life can be tricky at times and take you off course. As a school we endeavour to support all our families in any way possible and have a number of strategies that we are happy to use in supporting both the family and child in attending school full time.
At Marden Primary Academy, holidays or extended time away from school will not be authorised. If you feel that you need to request some leave for your child then please see the following link. Do be aware that we will not authorise leave unless it is due to exceptional circumstances.
The attendance process at Marden Primary Academy is as follows:
Pupil’s attendance falls below 96% – send absence letter 1
If attendance does not improve – send absence letter 2
This will then be monitored over the next week and if there is no immediate increase in attendance move to phase 3.
A Path Way 5 notification will be made to highlight child’s attendance to Kent County Council.
Hold a school attendance meeting and record this using the School Attendance Meeting (SAM) Record.
If parents attended SAM – send attendance letter 3A
If parents didn’t attend SAM – send attendance letter 3B
If attendance does not improve – send attendance letter 4A and request a penalty notice or proceed to Statutory Referral below (AS1)
If attendance does not improve (and there are no family issues that require further support/investigation) send Absence letter 4B and make a statutory referral to the local authority. (AS1)
Punctuality can play a huge part in attendance too. Did you know that if your child is just 5 minutes late to school each day, this is the equivalent of 3.4 whole school days in one academic year – that’s 17 lessons! At Marden Primary Academy the school day starts at 08.45am. All pupils should be on site by this time, in class and ready to learn. Children that arrive between 08.45am and 09.00am will be marked late; this does not affect attendance but stays on their attendance record nonetheless. Any child arriving after class registers close at 09.05am are marked with a U code, which significantly affects a child’s attendance as it actually represents an absence for the whole morning’s lessons in school.
Minutes late per day during the school year
Equals days worth of teaching lost in a year
5 minutes
3.4 days
10 minutes
6.9 days
15 minutes
10.3 days
20 minutes
13.8 days
30 minutes
20.7 days
We recognise and reward good attendance at Marden Primary Academy. We do this through certificates being awarded to children with 100% attendance, but also to those pupils who have put recognised effort into significantly improving their attendance from one term to the next.
Please support the school in ensuring that your child receives the very best chance in life through consistently high attendance. To help you understand and keep track of what your child’s attendance is, we will be sending out weekly updates to those parents of children who are shown to be 95% or under. Please remember that if your child’s attendance is under 95% we will be monitoring this closely and if improvements are not seen we will be left with no choice but to contact KCC for further support or advice. This could then lead to home visits, a penalty fine and/or court proceedings.
Please see some top tips that might help ensure your child has consistently good attendance:
Tips for Improving Attendance
- Set a bedtime routine… and stick to it!
- Don’t keep your child off school unless they are too unwell to be comfortable and/or contagious.
- Be on time! Arriving after 9.05am counts as a whole morning of absence!
- Make all appointments for outside of school hours.
- Don’t book holidays in term time, lessons are not repeated.
- Give your child plenty of time to get ready in the morning. Lay out clothes and pack lunches the night before.
- Make sure your child knows that you don’t approve of school absence.
- Explain to your child the benefits of regular attendance.
- Eat a healthy breakfast, as it helps keep you awake and with concentration.
- Set termly goals of 100% attendance, and smaller weekly goals so the task doesn’t seem unachievable.
Below are some ‘Myth Busters’:
Missing a few days of school each year is normal and doesn’t matter that much
WRONG!
Data collected by the Local Authority indicates that missing only 4 days of school in one academic year, meaning a child’s attendance would be 98%, regardless of the cause, impacts a pupil’s academic performance and starts to shape attitudes about school.
Attendance doesn’t matter until secondary school
WRONG!
High attendance, and a positive attitude to attendance, when adopted in primary school forms good habits for secondary school. Without this, a child is less likely to complete secondary education.
Attendance does not affect outcomes
WRONG!
Evidence proves pupils who attend school regularly make much better progress, both academically and socially.
It is up to schools to improve attendance, not parents
WRONG!
Parents play a huge role in encouraging good attitudes to attendance, bringing children to school on time and making sure children are absent only when absolutely necessary! A child being on time to school can be the simplest hurdle to overcome and can make an enormous difference. Don’t forget that arriving after 9.05am results in an absence mark for the entire morning just for being a few extra minutes late!
Date
Attendance & Number of children with 100%
(coming soon)
Autumn 2020
95.5%
Spring 2021
95.6%
Summer 2021
95.1%
Autumn 2021
94%
Spring 2022
93.5%
Summer 2022
92.8%
