Attendance
Attleborough Primary School is committed to the continuous raising of achievement of all our pupils. Regular attendance is critical, if our pupils are to be successful and benefit from the opportunities presented to them.
Parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school regularly and arrive on time. Regular attendance is essential to the all-round development of the child, and they should be allowed to take full advantage of educational opportunities available to them in order to make good progress in their learning. Poor attendance undermines their educational attainment and progress and, sometimes, puts pupils at risk by encouraging anti-social behaviour. In all cases of absence, we need parents to contact us by 9.20am with a reason for the absence. The register is a legal document, and we have to code each absence accurately. Please do not tell us your child is ill if you are actually on holiday. If we do not hear from parents by 9.20am, we will initiate our First Day Calling procedures. If we still don’t hear from parents, we will visit the home for a welfare check.
At Attleborough Primary School, we monitor and record attendance and punctuality, and want to work with our families to support them in achieving at least 95% each week.
Did you know…?
There is a direct link between attendance and attainment. A DfE report (March 2025) found that:
At Key Stage 2, pupils who attended nearly every day in Year 6 (with an attendance rate of 95-100% were more likely to achieve the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to pupils who only attended 90-95% of the time. This means missing just 10 days of school in Year 6 reduced the likelihood of reaching the expected standard by 25%.
Lateness
The school gates open at 8:40am. The gates will shut at 08.50am, and all pupils are expected to be in class by then.
If your child is late for school and enters through the school office, you will be asked to explain the reason why they are late. Lateness will mean they will be coded ‘L’ on the register, and if they arrive after 9.20am they will be coded as unauthorised, which will show as a ‘U’ on the register.
The school regularly monitors children who have ‘L’ or ‘U’ codes and will work closely with families, offering support to ensure your child arrives at school on time. If there is no improvement, the local authority will be notified.
Unauthorised Absence
If you have not called the school office by 9.20am on the morning of your child’s absence, your child will be marked as unauthorised which will be an ‘O’ code on the register.
If an answerphone message is left informing us of your child’s absence, we may call you to discuss it further and ask for more information on the illness.
Please note your child’s absence can still be marked as ‘O’ (unauthorised), if the school deem the reason to be unacceptable. For example, if the reason is not related to your child being unwell, if the school feels your child could be in school with Calpol and monitored, or in some circumstances, there is no medical evidence to support the absence. If you have contacted the school with a reason for your child’s absence, but the reason is not related to your child being unwell, the school may still mark this as an unauthorised absence. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
If your child has 10 ‘U’ or ‘O’ codes in 50 school days, we will continue to work with you to support your child’s attendance. Alongside this, we will also refer to outside agencies to work with you. A fixed penalty notice may also be applied at this stage, should attendance not improve.
Absence Due to Illness
If a child is absent and a message has not been received, you will receive a phone call to find out the reason for the absence. If we are unable to contact you via phone, a text message will be sent asking you to contact the school to inform us of the reason. If the school receives no contact regarding the absence, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence.
Holiday Requests During Term Time
We will not authorise any holidays in term time. Any holidays of 5 days or more will be referred to the enforcement team and may result in a fixed penalty notice. If you do decide to go in holiday in term time, please avoid the following important statutory testing windows: Yr 1 phonics check and Year 2 phonics retakes (8th -19th June 2026), Yr 4 Multiplication Check (1st – 12th June 2026) and Key Stage 2 SATS week (11th – 14th May 2026).
Religious Festivals
If your child is absent from school due to observing a religious festival, please contact the school to let us know, and this will be recorded accordingly on the register.
Absence Due to an Appointment
As a school, we understand that it may be necessary to take a child out of school for an appointment e.g. GP, dentist, physiotherapist etc. during the school day. Where possible, we would ask parents to try to minimise the number of appointments made during school hours, and to provide an appointment card/letter to support the absence. Where possible, children will be expected to return to school if their appointment is in the morning. Likewise, we expect children to be at school in the morning, if their appointment is in the afternoon. We thank you in advance for your co-operation with this matter.
