Why attendance matters

Did you know that the statutory expectation is that a child attends school 96% of the year?

Simply put, the more children are in school, the quicker they make progress in their learning, and you can see that persistent absence can add up to a lot of missed days!

Absences

Of course, there will be times when your child is unable to attend school due to illness, and if that is the case, then call our Office team to inform us of your child’s absence.

“I’ll keep them off to be safe…”

Sometimes though, you’re just not sure. It could be they’re tired or a bit sniffly. Don’t be afraid to send them in and see how they do. We keep a close eye on all our children and if they’re not bouncing back through the day or we see they’re clearly dipping we’ll give you a buzz and look after them until you can get here.

Persistent absences

We work closely with Calderdale’s EWO (Education Welfare Officer) to monitor your child’s attendance and if, over the course of a term/year, their attendance drops below the thresholds listed below, expect the EWO to be in touch.

Of course, we will endeavour to be supportive and sympathetic to each family’s circumstances, but also please understand, we have a duty of care to ensure that we are doing everything to encourage your child attends the school as regularly and as punctually as possible.

Attendance traffic lights.jpg

Lates and punctuality

Just as important as attendance, punctuality is measured at Riverside to ensure the children are regularly starting the school day on time.

Missing even five minutes regularly in the morning can impact the rest of the day. Learning begins promptly at 8:45am, with tasks planned to kick start the day and late arrivals are added up to check how much in total your child is missing. As with attendance, if we find the amount of time lost to be impacting on your child’s education expect the school to be in touch.

You can help by:

  • Ringing on the first morning of all absences with the reason and saying when the child will return

  • Arranging dental and doctor’s appointments out of school hours or during school breaks

  • Keeping us updated regularly if your child has an extended period of absence due to illness

  • Sending your child to school if they are just a bit ‘under the weather’ - we will look after them and let you know if there is a problem.

We shall:

  • Follow up unexplained, prolonged or concerning absences with phone calls.

  • Closely monitor absence rates.

  • Remind parents / carers / families of the importance of regular attendance and punctuality

  • Let you know if we have concerns regarding your child’s attendance and support you in making improvements.

  • If we continue to have concerns we will make a referral to the Education Welfare Officer, who will visit the school to review the situation and advise on the action to be taken, and who may invite you to an Attendance Review Meeting to look at how we can work together to improve your child’s attendance.