Attendance and Absence
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Why attendance is so important
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Excellent attendance and punctuality at school is important to allow a child to reach their full potential. Through regular attendance and good punctuality your child will be able to:
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* Enjoy learning
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* Experience new things
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* Access all available opportunities
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* Meet their learning targets
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* Develop social skills with peers
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Children who are persistently absent are not able to achieve their full potential due to missed learning opportunities.
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Too ill to attend school?
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Children can attend school with minor ailments (toothache, headache, stomach ache, cold, sore throat etc.) as over the counter medicines can be given before school. We will always contact home if they become too ill to remain in school and please feel free to contact us to see how they are getting on during the day. Children should be off school for 48 hours if they have diarrhoea and/or vomiting. Again, please contact us if you are unsure how long your child should be absent with an illness.
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Medical appointments
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Where possible, all appointments should be booked outside of school hours. If this is not possible, the amount of time absent from school should be kept to a minimum and we may request that you provide medical evidence.
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How we celebrate good attendance
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We really appreciate the commitment that children and parents make to maintain good attendance and we like to celebrate this achievement in various ways:
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Weekly best attending class receive a special treat on a Friday, as children can either have a hot chocolate or ice lolly.
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Monthly Class Attendance Raffle – Every week all pupils with 100% attendance are entered into a raffle where they have the chance to win a book, book mark and a pencil.
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Termly Attendance Champions – At the end of each half term, the class with the highest level of attendance are given £50 to spend on a treat for the class.
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Children with 100% at the end of each term will be awarded an attendance medal (bronze, silver and gold).
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Christmas Box Award - All children with 100% attendance by Christmas will be entered in a Christmas Box Raffle.
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Easter Egg Award – All children with 100% attendance by Easter will be entered in a Easter Egg Raffle.
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The 100% Attendance Club – Children who maintain 100% attendance throughout the academic year receive a treat at the end of the year and a gold medal.
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Getting to school late
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We employ a very flexible arrangement at the start of our school day. Classrooms are open from 8.50am and all children need to be in class no later than 8.55am. At 9.00am the school gate will be locked. If there is an unavoidable reason for your child getting to school late please telephone us to let us know. When you arrive, the school gates will be closed and you will need to take your child to the Main Office. Your child will then be signed into school.
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Holidays
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It is better for your child to take holidays during school holidays so they do not miss out on learning. However, if there are exceptional circumstances and you must take a holiday in school time, please obtain a holiday request form from the school administrator. Under normal circumstances we are now unable to authorise any holiday during term time, except in very exceptional circumstances.
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Our strategy
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Attendance continues to be our biggest challenge at Mount Pleasant so we have reviewed and amended our Attendance Strategy. Please see the flow chart below:
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