ATTENDANCE and REPORTING ABSENCE
Research shows that children who attend school regularly are likely to be successful. A child who misses a day of school each week misses an equivalent of two whole years in their school life. Missing school leads to gaps in education that become difficult to fill.
School Attendance is regarded as a very important issue at Brook Street School. If your child is going to be absent, please contact the school on:Tel (01228) 558724 before 9.30am
If you have not contacted school by 9.30am, we will understandably be concerned as to why your child is not in school and we will therefore carry out the following steps:
First-Day Calling Procedure (School’s Safeguarding Response to Children Missing Education)
Where all children in the same family are absent on the same day without good reason, a home visit will take place. Where no contact can be made at home, a police check will be requested.
As school meals are now cooked to order, we must ensure that meals are ordered by 9.30am so that the cook can begin to prepare the appropriate meals. If you normally order meals online for your child and they are going to be absent, please go online and cancel their meal (we will do this for you if we notice that this has not been done). If you are to come in late for whatever reason, please make sure that we know this so that meals are not cancelled unnecessarily.
School will be very concerned if any child’s attendance falls below 90%. We understand that children are ill from time to time, but if attendance falls to this level, we will contact you to ensure that you and your child are not in need of any additional support. We will speak to parents/carers about low attendance as it occurs. Our Attendance Officer may call at your house to offer support or we may ask you to call in to school to discuss this. Our priority is to ensure that you and your child are safe and your child receives the best possible education that they can and we can only do this if they have good school attendance. We are here to support you if you or your child is finding coming to school difficult, so please speak to us if you need help and we will do everything we can to support you.
Please also help your child by ensuring that they are in school on time. The beginning of the day is very important as it the time when instructions for the day ahead are given to your child. Your child may also be part of a group that takes place at the beginning of the day where they receive additional support to boost their learning and missing this means that they are missing out. Normally the school yard is manned from 8.50am and the bell rings at 8.55am but we have staggered entrance times during the pandemic as follows:
The School Day – During Covid-19
School Hours Years 1, 2
Morning lessons 9.00am to 12.20pm. Morning break 10:45am to 11:00am
Afternoon lessons 1:20pm to 3:10pm
School Hours Years 3, 4 , 5 + 6
Morning lessons 9:00am to 12:30pm. Morning break 10.45am to 11.00am
Afternoon lessons 1:20pm to 3:10pm for Year 3,
1:20pm to 3.15pm for Years 4, 5 & 6
Nursery + Reception
The unit’s doors open at 8:45am and 15 hours nursery sessions finish for the day at 11.50am.
30 hours nursery sessions and reception class sessions finish for lunch at 11.50am and the afternoon session begins at 12.45pm on 3 days and 1.00pm on 2 days each week.
The day ends for 30 hours nursery/reception sessions at 3pm
Breakfast Clubs
During the pandemic period, school will operate 3 separate Breakfast Clubs
FSU children in the FSU kitchen
Years 1, 2 & 3 in the Main Hall
Years 4, 5 & 6 in the Breakfast Club Room
They all begin at 8.20am.
Our free Breakfast Club continues throughout the pandemic and starts at 8.20am each day. There is no need to book and all children are welcome. The clubs are located in 3 bubbles as follows:
-Nursery and Reception children should go to the Foundation Stage Unit kitchen
-Years 1, 2 & 3 should go to the Main Hall
-Years 4, 5 & 6 should go to the Breakfast Club room
Toast with jam or butter will be on offer every day as well as a drink of milk/water. Other foods ie cereal, crumpets, porridge & other foods will be offered at different times.
All children enter school by Edward Street on a morning and all classes except for Year 1 leave by this gate also.
Year 1 leave by the Howe Street gate.
Holidays in Term Time
Government legislation now dictates that holidays are not permitted in term time. Absence in term time will only be permitted in ‘exceptional circumstances’. If you feel that your reason for taking your child out of school is an exceptional circumstance, please speak to the Headteacher, who will ask you to put your request in writing. Unfortunately school cannot authorise absences for weddings or other family celebrations.
In short please ensure good attendance for your child as we can only help your child if they are here and on time every day. Here are some simple suggestions to encourage attendance:
Why is regular attendance important?
Having a good education will help to give your child the best possible start in life. If your child does not attend school regularly he or she will not be able to keep up with the work and may miss out on other aspects of school life. They may find it difficult to form friendship groups or to sustain friendships and may miss out on social events. Every lesson in school matters and if children are often absent it will result in gaps in their learning. This may interrupt the continuity of their education and impede their progress. Setting good attendance patterns from an early age will help your child later on in life. Employers want to recruit people who are reliable; therefore children who have poor attendance may have less chance of getting a good job. Research has shown that children who are not in school are most vulnerable and are easily drawn into crime or anti-social behaviour. Instilling good attendance during primary school, usually leads to good attendance throughout their school life.
Why is it important my child arrives at school on time?
At Brook Street, we want every child to achieve their best in life, so let’s work together to ensure this happens. If your child is in school every day and on time we can then play our part in ensuring that your child has the best possible education.