Attendance
It is important that your child gets to school on time and aims for 100% attendance!
Authorised Absence
Authorised absence is absence for a valid reason. This includes circumstances for which leave has been granted such as sickness, medical and dental appointments, educational visits or death in the immediate family. This list is not definitive and there may be other events which fall into this category.
If your child is ill so will not be attending school then you are required to telephone the school office to inform school.
This list is not intended to promote authorised absence as we would expect medical and dental appointments to be arranged outside the school day. A copy of any appointment letter or card should be handed into the school office. A note is required if a child is to leave school during the day for any reason, eg. medical or dental appointments.
Please note, current policies do not allow holidays during the time school is in session.
If you do need to request some time out of school for your child, please write to the Headteacher requesting leave of absence. In the majority of cases, such leave will not be granted.
Unauthorised Absence
Unauthorised absence is unjustified absence. This is absence as a result of premeditated or spontaneous action on the part of the pupil, parent or both.
Schools are required to keep attendance registers which record the nature of absence. All absences, therefore, must be supported by a letter of explanation by a parent or guardian. Such evidence will not necessarily result in the absence being authorised.
Rewards
Each term we reward pupils who have 100% attendance for that term and at the end of the year we have a special trip for anyone who has managed to achieve 100% attendance for the whole school year.
We also give the class with the best attendance for the week £5 – children then choose what they want to purchase with their class attendance money.
Lost Learning due to Poor Attendance
The chart below identifies the possible amount of lost learning due to poor attendance. How does your child compare?
| Attendance during the school year | Equals this number of days absent | Which is approx this many weeks absent | Which means this number of lessons missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90% | 19 days | 4 weeks | 100 lessons |
| 80% | 38 days | 8 weeks | 200 lessons |
| 70% | 57 days | 11.5 weeks | 290 lessons |
Frequent absence can add up to a considerable amount of lost learning and can seriously disadvantage your child in adult life.
St. John Bosco attendance figures for 2017/18:
- Actual Attendance: 97%
- Unauthorised Absences: 2.0%
Be on Time for Ten to Nine!
With the help of our pupils, we are promoting the message – be on time for ten to nine!
Please remember that all registers are closed at 8.51 a.m. and any child arriving afterwards will receive a late mark on the register. We usually have ten late marks each week and as a school we want to reduce this to zero!
Many pupils that arrive late feel very uncomfortable and many miss out on important learning opportunities. We will regularly be having a late gate throughout the year so please just leave home five minutes earlier. Remember the rhyme: ‘Be on time for ten to nine!’
