Attendance and Punctuality

Bidston Village C.E Primary School
Attendance and Punctuality

Children have a right to an education (UNICEF article 28) and need to attend school regularly to benefit. Missing out on lessons leaves children vulnerable to falling behind*. We want all children to experience success, to work hard, to do their best to achieve their learning targets, behave well and reach their full potential.

At Bidston Village, we put great emphasis our legal and moral duty to promote good attendance for our children. Good school attendance is essential for optimum progress and achievement. Children who come to school regularly and on time make good progress in their learning. We want all of our children to achieve to the best of their potential and they cannot do this if they are not in school learning every day.

If you have any concerns about your child's enthusiasm for school, their health, friendships or learning support please contact us.  We often find that a joint approach can be supportive and beneficial for children and parents.  As well as school staff, we can also look for support from our partners in the school nursing service, locality team and other professionals.

We classify good attendance as 95%+.  That is our aim for all children. Children who have good attendance at school flourish socially, emotionally and academically.

Below 95% needs improving.  

Below 90% is a concern. We will contact you about your child's attendance if it is below 90% and request a school-based meeting to look at how we can support your child's attendance at school.

Below 85% is a significant concern.  We will arrange a school-based meeting to look at an action plan for improving your child's attendance.  Your child's attendance will be monitored daily by our attendance officer.

We understand that children get ill and hope that we can support you with this.  Our 'Reporting Absences' section of our website highlights what actions parents should take if their child is unwell and what support the school can offer.

The school can only authorise absences for:

1. Medical appointments

2. Explained illnesses 

3. Appropriate Religious Festivals

4. Authorised educational activity off site (taster day at a secondary school, music exams etc).

5. Absence due to exceptional circumstances (compassionate leave, parent home from armed services leave etc).

The school cannot authorise leave for requested holidays.  This is regardless of the cost of holidays, bookings by other family members (grandparents etc) or extended family celebrations (family weddings etc.).

Those who are persistently late or absent will be referred to the Local Authority Attendance Officer and the parents/carers will be requested to attend an Attendance Panel Meeting.

The national expectation is that children should have 95% attendance across the year.

• One day off per school year means that a pupil has about 99.5% attendance

• Ten days off per school year means that a pupil has about 94.7% attendance

• Twenty days off per school year means that a pupil has about 90% attendance

• 90% attendance means 4 whole weeks off school

Reporting Absences

The school has a responsibility for monitoring and supporting families in relation to attendance and punctuality.

If your child is unwell, please telephone the school office on 0151 652 0673. A message can also be left on our absence message service. You can also report your child’s absence on our app PA Connect- content- absent reporting. You can also email the school office at schooloffice@bidstonvillage.wirral.sch.uk

If you have not contacted school to advise of the reason for your child’s absence, a member of the office team will telephone during the morning to find out.

If we do not receive an explanation for your child's absence, we will make contact requesting a further information.  Unless we receive a reasonable explanation for the absence, we will mark the absence as unauthorised.

It is the responsibility of parents or carer’s to ensure that their child attends school. Failure to do so may involve intervention by the Local Authority and can lead to prosecution.

For more information, please visit DFE information regarding school attendance

Our school motto is 10 to 9 be on time!

Punctuality is a high priority.  We firmly believe it is essential that children attend school on time if they are to achieve their potential. Lateness not only adversely affects a child's attainment but also their personal and social skills and can make it difficult for them to settle for the day.  Lateness can have a significant effect on children’s progress as it equates to lost learning time.

There is a clear link between attendance and attainment; the more time a pupil spends in school the more likely they are to improve their opportunity to fulfill their full potential.

How we manage lateness

• Between 8:40am - 8:50am children may enter school through their own classroom or designated doors.

• At 9:00 am all external doors and gates are closed. Children arriving after this time should report directly to the main office where their parent/responsible adult must sign them in.

• Children arriving up to 9.30am will be given a late

Registers are taken between 8:40am - 8.50am and close at 9.30am. Children arriving from 9:00am onwards must be signed in at reception by an adult recording a reason for lateness.

Children arriving after 9:00 am, but before 9.30am will be recorded as late (L).

Children arriving after 9.30am will be marked as present and given a 'late after registers closed' code (U).  This code is classed as an unauthorised absence which will affect the child's overall attendance level.

In addition to entering the ‘L’ and ‘U’ codes, office staff record the number of minutes late for each pupil, on each occasion.  This facility allows school staff to monitor and manage developing patterns of lateness more effectively and make a clear link between lateness and missed learning time; and share such information with parents.

Bidston Village CE Primary School values all pupils and we are committed to working with families to identify the reasons for poor attendance and try to resolve any difficulties.