Attendance
At Pucklechurch CE VC Primary School, we believe that good attendance is vital for every child to enable them to access the educational opportunities on offer to them. We work very hard to monitor attendance and work with families to improve attendance where it dips below the Government expectation of 96.4%.
Please click here to read the current DFE attendance guidance for both schools and parents which came into force on 19 August 2024.
As a school, we will do everything we can to ensure positive attendance for all children. We will work with parents and children. We will work to seek and try to overcome barriers to strong attendance. These may be discussions with class teachers, meetings with the Senior Leadership Team and in some cases with the EWO (Education Welfare Officer) linked to the school. Outlined below are the main reasons for all children to have strong attendance.
Your child’s attendance has a direct impact on their academic achievements and outcomes. There has been a link made between the two for many years so this is not new. However, there is now a much more concerted effort from the DFE to ensure parents and schools work together to ensure attendance is the strongest and highest it can be.
Sickness
All sickness should be reported to school either by calling 0117 9372579 and leaving a message on the school absence line or by e-mailing the school absence inbox at
Parents should inform school every day of absence including multiple consecutive days.
Term time absence
Besides sickness, there are times that a child needs to miss school for very genuine reasons such as:
- medical appointments
- Exams or interviews e.g. ballet or piano exams
- School visits for an open day or transition days
All these examples are only authorised if parents complete an absence request notification form. Please click here to download a copy or collect a paper copy from our school office.
Term time holidays, family visiting from abroad and weddings etc are not days that will be authorised but the school still need to be informed. It can be very detrimental to children to miss a chunk of school as they can miss lessons that are not taught again within that year and they start to fall behind their peers.
Broken weeks
Every week is made up of ten sessions (two a day). If any one of these sessions is missed, regardless of the reason and whether it was authorised absence, the week is called a ‘broken week’. This is because lessons often build on each other, so missing a lesson can have a negative impact for a child’s confidence and their understanding of the teaching. Even if your child’s attendance percentage is high, you may be contacted by a member of the Senior Leadership Team if there are lots of broken weeks.
Penalty notices
In line with our Local Authority, a Penalty Notice may be issued to a parent in one or more of the following circumstances where more than 10 sessions of absence are recorded within 7 school weeks (ie 70 sessions). There are 2 sessions per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon:
1. where unauthorised absences are recorded
2. where more than 10 sessions of unauthorised holiday are recorded and;
a) the parent has not informed the school; or
b) the leave was not authorised; or
c) the child did not return on the agreed date
3. where the child is persistently late arriving at school after registers have closed
4. where a combination of more than 10 sessions of
a) to c) above have been recorded.
Please click here for more information on South Gloucestershire Local Authority's information for parents and carers about Penalty Notices.
Punctuality
The school day begins at 8:40am for all children and the classroom doors are locked at 8:45. Arrival to school any time after this is considered late and you will need to sign in at the main office and explain your reasoning.
Every school day counts but every minute is equally important. Did you know that..
- 5 minutes late every day = 3 days lost every academic year
- 15 minutes late every day = 2 weeks lost per acadmic year
As well as absence, school monitors punctuality. Senior Leaders will contact you to discuss any emerging patterns of persistent lateness.
Working with families
We know that parents want the best for their child and in our experience most parents are very happy to work with us to tackle any reasons behind poor attendance. We are aware this could include family break up, friendship issues or medical concerns etc.
We would always encourage you to talk to your child’s class teacher if there are any issues.
Appointments can also be made with Gemma Jones (Designated Safeguarding Lead) if there is a sensitive or complex issue you would like to discuss.
Thank you for your ongoing support to keep every child’s attendance as high as possible.