Attendance Personnel:

Mrs R Hart - Pupil and Family Support Manager

Working in conjunction with Derby City Education Welfare Team

Education is the most important gift we can give our children and a day lost is one day too many. At Breadsall Hill Top, we believe that regular attendance is linked directly to raising achievement and helps develop skills for life. Please support the school in its aim to raise the achievement of your child by ensuring that they attend school regularly and arrive on time.

We understand that children do get sick and we are not asking you to send your children to school when they are unwell, but we are asking you to ensure they return to school as soon as they are able to do so.

The school will be monitoring attendance on a regular basis and keeping parents well informed of any attendance issues. Where a child's absence is causing concern you will be asked to attend a meeting to discuss how this can be improved.

What Should I Do if My Child is Absent from School?

• Contact the School Office on the first morning (before 9:15 am as dinner figures need to be given to the kitchen at 9:30 am) of absence to notify us of the reason for absence. Please Note: Medical documentation may be requested for any absence from parents of children who are frequently absent from school because of minor illnesses or absence immediately adjacent to a school holiday. They may also be offered a meeting with the School Nurse.
• Provide medical documentation (e.g. letters/appointment cards) in advance of any medical appointments (e.g. hospital/dentist). Routine dental check- ups or non-emergency doctor appointments should, where possible, be made outside of school hours or, if this is not possible, at the very beginning or end of the school day.

Holiday Absence

We expect every pupil to strive for 100% attendance; this is to ensure children experience the best and most consistent form of school life and learning. At school we will reward individual pupils, as well as whole classes, who achieve 100% attendance. At home, we ask that families do all they can to ensure excellent attendance; this is with particular regard to ensuring that all holidays are booked out of term-time.

Parents/carers do not have the legal right to take children out of school on holiday. (School holidays amount to a total of fourteen weeks per year and we would, therefore, expect that holidays are arranged during these weeks.)  

Government regulation changes highlight that head teachers can only grant a leave of absence in exceptional circumstances. Family holiday and extended leave are now classed as unauthorised.

Punctuality

Late Arrival at School

We expect all children to be on time. Children are able to access their classroom from 8.40am via their classroom doors. The whistle will blow at 8.45am, all pupils are expected to be in school in order that they can be ready for registration. All classroom doors will be locked at 8.50am prompt. If your child arrives at school late, they will only be able to access the building via the main entrance due to all other doors being locked for security reasons. They must report to the office to ensure they are marked in the relevant registers and to give an explanation for their lateness.  All late arrivals are logged and recorded against attendance registers.  Where children are regularly late you will be expected to attend a meeting to look at how punctuality can be improved.

Late Pick Up from School

We expect every pupil to be picked up on time at the end of the school day. If you are going to be late collecting your child from school at 3.20pm, please contact the school office so we can ensure your child remains safe.  If your child is left uncollected, every effort will be made to contact you or other emergency contacts.  If we are unable to contact anyone / or don’t hear from you by 4.30 pm then Social Services will be contacted, to ensure that safe child care arrangements can be made for your child.