MOSPS takes school attendance very seriously, as we are fully aware of the close link between attendance, attainment and mental health.
Some facts you may not know about school attendance:
- 90% attendance is like having a day off every two weeks
- 80% attendance is the same as having a day off every week
- Most children should routinely have attendance rates of 97% or more. This is the equivalent of 6 days absence a year. BUT 100% is achieved by many pupils every year in both primary and secondary schools
- The Government regard 95% as the minimum satisfactory attendance for a primary school pupil
- A 2-week term-time holiday every year, whilst in primary school, is the equivalent of 14 weeks of teaching time missed - this could have a real impact on basic literacy and numeracy skills
- Prolonged absence from school can lead to loneliness. It can make it harder for your child to get along with other children and make friends
- Children with poor attendance often become the victims of bullying
- Keep an eye out for early signs of your child not wanting to go to school, such as: moodiness, headaches or stomach aches, especially at important times like the transition into a new year group or after the school holidays. Act upon these signs early, please don't be frightened to speak to the class teacher, the office or the headteacher – we are here to help!
- If your child does not go to school regularly and you fail to work with the school and our Attendance service then you may be fined up to £2500 or be given a Parenting Order
- Remember the only legally accepted reasons for not being in school are illness or a day of religious observance
- Keeping children away from school for no good reason is a criminal offence
- Some parents have been given a prison sentence for continually failing to send their child/children to school
Over the course of the school year:
5 minutes late each day means your child would miss 3 days of learning
15 minutes late each day means your child would miss 10 days of learning
30 minutes late each day means your child would miss 19 days of learning
Attendance at MOSPS
Most of our pupils have excellent attendance and punctuality, and we thank parents for their support in this matter.
To help us promote regular attendance and punctuality and ensure that absences are kept to an absolute minimum, MOSPS works closely with our Educational Welfare Officer (EWO) who provides focused support to improve school attendance.
Key Points of the Attendance Policy:
If your child arrives after 8.45am, they will be marked as late
If you child is too unwell to attend school, you should ring the absence line before 9.15am.
Medical evidence can be required for every absence; if this is not provided by the parent/carer, the absence may be treated as unauthorised. For data protection reasons school staff are not able to contact doctors' surgeries directly.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time.
If your child has absence below 95% or is persistently late a penalty notice can be issued. The penalty is £60 rising to £120 if it isn't paid within 28 days. If you do not pay the fine you may be prosecuted under Section 444(1) Education Act 1996 for failure to ensure your child's regular attendance at school.
When a pupil has unauthorised absence due to a holiday that has been taken without permission and the unauthorised absence is for 10 or more sessions (5 days) in any 100 possible school sessions then a penalty notice for non-attendance will be issued.
To promote good attendance at MOSPS we:
- Provide information on all matters relating to attendance in our weekly Newsletter;
- Report to parents on how their child is performing in school, what their attendance/punctuality rate is, and how this relates to their attainment;
- Offer support and guidance on how to improve attendance;
- Provide stickers and certificates where children have achieved 100% attendance each half term;
- Award "Attendance Ted" to the class with the best attendance each week;
- Run a weekly "Lucky Dip" Prize Draw for children who have sustained 100% to that point in the term; and
- Every term all children with 100% for that term are entered into a draw to win a prize.
Attendance is updated on a weekly basis. For a copy of our Attendance Policy, please click here