​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)

1. Registers saved.
2. Details of late children reported to office as soon as they arrive
3. Absence calls listened to/attendance emails checked and all messages taken recorded appropriately.
4. Start calling first name on contact list within 30 minutes of school start time.
5. If no response, we ring down the contact list until a reply is received, ensuring where possible that someone from outside of the family home has been contacted.
6. If we still have no response, we send a text asking the parents to contact school immediately and the Pastoral Team is informed
7. If we cannot make contact by telephone with anyone on the contact list and a text has not been responded to, we inform the Pastoral Team/DSL that this child is absent and no contact has been made within an hour of school start time.
8. If no reply, we send a second text and email to the first and second contacts on the list.
9. A Home Visit is made, if possible/appropriate, either by school or other any agency involved.
10. We contact Police if all other stages have been completed and there is still no contact regarding the absent child.  This is done by ringing 101 number.

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:

• Be ready - Make sure that your child is ready and prepared for school with their uniform, PE Kit, homework & home/school book
• Ensure that your child has breakfast and be careful about what they eat - Children of all ages need a nutritious breakfast. Snacks, sweets and drinks that are high in salt, sugar and additives are not a good start to the day.
• Be interested - Make sure you have time to talk to your child about school each day, find out what homework needs to be done, read with them and sign their home/school book. Your child is more likely to want to attend school if they feel supported and their anxieties listened to.
• Be positive - Problems in school may occur with other children or with their work. Reassure your child that you and the school will work together to provide help and support.
• Be firm - Unless your child is too ill to attend then he or she should be in school. Make sure your child understands that you do not approve of them missing school.
• Be clear with the school - If your child is too ill to attend school then contact the school on the first day of absence and keep the school informed.
• Be aware - You should not take your child out of school for a holiday during school term time.
• Be available - Let the school know how you can be contacted and provide emergency telephone numbers.
• Be supportive of the school - Make sure your child follows the school rules and you are clear about the school’s expectations, policies and procedures. For example behaviour, uniform and attendance
• Be involved – speak to your child’s teacher or the head teacher if you need to and attend parents' evenings.

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?

•  Arriving late at school may be embarrassing for your child.
•  It may disrupt the class if your child arrives late.
• Your child may miss something important e.g. lesson plan, instructions on how to complete a piece of work., phonics or other interventions.
• Social interaction with peers before school is important if your child is to form friendship groups.
• To instil good habits. Punctuality shows reliability. This is a valuable attribute for future working life.
• So your child gets their registration mark.

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.