Attendance at Holy Souls
Attendance is one of our main priorities at Holy Souls and we aim to keep all absences to a minimum. There is a strong link between attendance and academic progress. The impact on regular attendance affects on your child’s learning and well-being; and is linked to raising achievement and develops skills for life and work.
If your child is not in school, it becomes difficult for them to build on their skills and progress. In addition to this, there are also heightened safeguarding concerns as to why the child is missing from their education.
It is the Department of Education/Ofsted that dictate attendance below 95% is poor and that below 90% is 'persistent absenteeism'. Good attendance is vital for the success of pupils and their wellbeing. Our own data, as well as that issued nationally, makes clear that poor attendance results in poorer outcomes for children.
It is a parents’ duty to ensure that their child arrives on time and attends school every day.
Attendance Monitoring
Holy Souls are proud of the positive relationships we have with our parents and carers and know that strong partnerships are the most effective ways to help ensure good attendance. We monitor attendance on a weekly basis, and communicate to parents/carers promptly if there are any concerns.
School has has a 'soft start' and opens the doors at 8.40am, morning registration is taken at 8.45am. The main gate into school closes at 8.45am. Any child arriving after registration is taken is marked late and must come through the main entrance to school, with a parent/carer signing their child/ren in on the Inventry signing in system. The afternoon register is taken at 1pm. School finishes at 3.15pm.
When a pupil’s attendance becomes a concern, parents/carers are informed via letter. We do strive for every pupil to have an attendance of 95%. All pupils that fall below 90% are looked at individually, and letters sent out according to the reason why the pupil has been absent. This could be for a number of reasons, always late to school after registration has closed, a number of illnesses over a short period of time etc.
School will monitor attendance and where necessary refer to and work with parents/carers to tackle persistent absence.
If contact cannot be made to ascertain why the pupil is not in school, then a home visit will be considered, especially if there are already safeguarding concerns.
Moments Matter, Attendance Counts
The government has launched a new national campaign to remind parents and carers of the importance of school attendance: Moments Matter, Attendance Counts
For further advice on attendance, the Moments Matter campaign and the use of penalty notice fines, please go to: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2024/01/03/improving-school-attendance
Class rewards
We have a dedicated attendance board outside the main entrance to school, which will show every half-term the percentage of attendance in each class.
There will be class rewards to the class with the highest percentage that half-term.
Persistent Absenteeism
If a child's absence is 10% or higher (19 days absence, 38 sessions) this is classed as by the Government as a Persistent Absenteeism. Children who do not attend school regularly and have many days absence, generally do not do as well as their peers.
Holy Souls ‘Bee’ Rules
Bee on time each day for school
Bee in school every day
Bee smart in your school uniform
Bee kind to one another
Bee ready to learn
Bee HAPPY!