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Attendance
Regular attendance is a fundamental pillar of education. It plays a pivotal role in shaping academic success, personal growth, and prospects.
Oakley Vale Primary and Brooke Weston Trust are committed to transforming educational achievement and to giving students the best start in life academically and as citizens. We promote the importance of pupils attending school every day possible and recognise that daily attendance is crucial to success.
It is the responsibility of all stakeholders across our academy community – parents/carers, staff, governors, and pupils – to work together to ensure that every pupil and their family has the support and strategies required to attend school daily.
Further information can be found on this webpage about our support offered here at Oakley Vale Primary, along with all relevant attendance and punctuality practice and legislation.
Here at Oakley Vale, we strive for every child to achieve 96% attendance or higher.
You can find the Brooke Weston Trust Attendance and Punctuality Policy here, which provides helpful guidance to all stakeholders in maintaining positive attendance and punctuality across all Trust schools.
Pupils are expected to arrive at school by 8:40am to be in class and ready to learn from 8:50am.
Please note that classroom doors close at 8:50am and if pupils arrive after this time, they will be marked as late. They must also sign in via the main office if they arrive after 8:50am. Pupils arriving after 8:50am will be marked as late. All registers close at 9:20am. The late sign-in code used after 9:20am will constitute an absence and negatively impact a pupil’s attendance record.
Arriving at school late is disruptive to a pupil’s daily routine and also means that they may miss a considerable amount of valuable learning time.
We offer a free breakfast which all pupils from Reception to Year 6 are warmly invited to attend (no booking required). Breakfast is available in the playground between 8:30am and 8:40am.
| Minutes late per day | Lost learning time |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 3.4 school days per year |
| 10 minutes | 6.9 school days per year |
| 15 minutes | 10.3 school days per year |
| 20 minutes | 13.8 school days per year |
| 25 minutes | 20.7 school days per year |
Parents and carers are expected to communicate with school promptly to inform if their child is going to be absent due to illness or other reasons and maintain daily contact during the period of absence. Absences must be reported by contacting the school office on 01536 461199 by 9am on each day of absence.
Home visits are conducted as a standard protocol to families to follow-up on pupil absences and provide support to pupils and parents/carers where appropriate. Please note that visits may be pre-arranged or could be unannounced, dependent upon the circumstances.
The academy has a duty to safeguard the welfare of all students. Any concerns about a child’s attendance will be investigated promptly to ensure support for their wellbeing.
If there are unexplained/prolonged periods of absence or an identified safeguarding concern, this may require school to contact external agencies.
Parents and carers must request any planned leave of absence for exceptional circumstances in writing prior to the intended absence of their child. Requests will be reviewed, and a decision made as to whether the absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
Leave during term time forms can be collected from the main office. Please ensure that these are completed as far in advance as possible to the planned leave.
In line with Department for Education (2024) regulations, holidays or absences for leisure and recreation would not constitute as exceptional circumstances.
As per the National Framework for Penalty Notices (2024), parents and carers may be issued with a fixed penalty notice or legal sanction if a pupil is absent due to unauthorised leave during term time.
Parents and carers are invited to contact school if they wish to discuss their child’s attendance further or seek additional support.
Our school Attendance Lead is Mrs R Eaton and our Attendance Senior Leader is Mrs F Dunn.
Please contact 01536 461199 to initially speak with a member of our Wellbeing and Attendance Team, or email admin@oakleyvaleprimary.org.
Multi-Tiered System of Support
Our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) ensures comprehensive attendance intervention for all children. The system incorporates staff, children, parents and carers, and external agencies. This consists of three tiers:
- Tier 1 provides a universal offering for all children.
- Tier 2 involves early internal support and intervention.
- Tier 3 is higher levels of support for children, young people and families who require access to external agency support.
Our approach promotes recognition of personal and collective achievements, fostering positive environments and developing intrinsic motivation. Recognition may be in the form of verbal conversations, celebrations, postcards or text message communication.
Through our rich curriculum offer, we strive to instil values within our pupils which support them to become successful citizens of the future and promote that school attendance is a key component to this success.