Attendance at Westglade
At Westglade Primary School attendance and punctuality is a key priority so that all children can access all the enriching opportunities that school has to offer. Research shows that every child achieves better when they are at school every single day. As a school, we have a strong ethos and high expectations to promote good attendance habits. We ask all parents/carers to support this and work with school to ensure all children have regular attendance and punctuality to help them to reach their full potential.
Attendance Expectations
At Westglade our target for attendance is 96%. A child with 96% attendance would have no more than 8 days off per academic year. A child with attendance of 90% or less will miss 4 weeks+ across the school year.
The attendance team
Every member of the Westglade team is committed to ensuring that all children have good school attendance and work hard to promote the importance of regular attendance across school. Please speak with us as soon as possible if you are experiencing any challenges to attending so that we can help to support your family and your child.
Staff responsible for attendance are: Mrs K Wenyon (Head Teacher and Safeguarding Lead), Miss J Sandhu (Attendance Officer and DSL) and Ms N Kershaw (Deputy Head Teacher and DSL).
Things we may be able to assist with:
- Food Bank referrals
- Uniform
- Early Help
- 0-19 School Nurse referrals
- Difficulties and issues in school
- Advice and signposting to services
The school day
Learning starts at 8:45am so it is important that all children are in their classrooms and ready to learn by this time. The school gates open at 8:30am to help this to happen. Our Breakfast Club is free for all children and starts at 8am if your child would like to get a head start to their school day!
The school day ends at 3pm for nursery and 3:15pm for F2-Y6. We ask all children are collected from their classroom at this time. If you need to collect your child early, please advise the office in advance. Please note the office is busy, and we may not always be able to collect children from their classrooms immediately. If you will be late to collect, please call the office.
Reporting absence
We understand that there may sometimes be a reason why your child is unable to attend school. Please notify the school office of any absence before 9am by telephone: 01159157515 or email: admin@westglade.nottingham.sch.uk. Please do not Dojo your class teacher to report absence.
Any absence without a reason logged will be followed up by the office by SMS and / or phone call. We may conduct a home visit if we do not hear from you. We have a duty of care to all pupils and it is crucial we know where children are if they are not in school. We will also carry out a home visit for children who have been absent for 3 days or more (even with a reason provided) to see if any support is needed. We will notify of this in advance by SMS.
Is my child well enough for school?
It is the government’s expectation that children are in school every day except when they are too ill. If your child is ill, you should contact school on each day of absence.
If you are ever unsure whether your child can attend school due to illness, please see the NHS guidance ‘is my child too ill for school?’. This can be found on the NHS website or you can call NHS 111 for advice.
Are you struggling to get a GP appointment for your child? Think Pharmacy First for treatment and advice for common conditions including Earache, Impetigo and Sore Throats. This can be accessed for free at most local Pharmacies. Find out more HERE.
Punctuality
Every minute in school counts and regular lateness can have an impact on your child’s attainment over time, as every minute equates to lost learning ...
5 minutes late each day = 3 days of school missed!
15 minutes late each day = 10 school days missed!
30 minutes late each day = 19 school days missed!
We send an SMS each week for any pupils who have been late to school more than once to highlight how much learning has been missed. We encourage parents to let us know of any barriers to attending school on time every day. Lateness after the registers close (at 9:20am) counts as an unauthorised absence and impacts your child’s attendance percentage. If lateness is persistent, we may invite you into school to create an Attendance Support Plan to work together to improve your child’s attendance.
Appointments
Where possible, you should try to make dental, medical and other appointments for your child outside of school time. However, we do understand that occasionally you may need to take your child out of school during the school day. If you know that you will have to take your child out of school in advance, we ask you to inform the school office as soon as possible.
Term-time leave
While term-time leave is not encouraged, parents/carers can request a leave of absence by submitting a ‘Leave of Absence Request’ form to the school office. We ask this be submitted with 20 days notice of the start of the absence. All requests are considered by the head teacher in line with DFE and Local Authority guidance and the decision regarding authorisation will be communicated to parents via letter. Informing the school does not mean the leave is agreed. Any unauthorised leave may be referred for a penalty notice in line with government and local authority guidance.
Further information about penalty notices and unauthorised absence can be found in the Westglade Attendance Policy, the DFE Working Together to Improve School Attendance Policy and the Nottingham City Council Code of Conduct which can all be viewed below.
Monitoring and communicating attendance
We regularly monitor all pupils' attendance and punctuality and have a responsibility as a school to keep you informed of your child's attendance. If we have any concerns, we will communicate this with you in person, over the telephone and / or in writing to see if there is anything we can do to help this to improve. If your child's attendance falls to 92% this will put them at risk of becoming a ‘Persistent Absentee’ and we may invite you into school to meet with us to create an Attendance Support Plan so that we can work together to ensure that your child is able to attend school every day. If your child’s attendance falls below 90% this is a serious concern and a referral may be considered for intervention from the Education Welfare Service.
Important documents and links
Homepage | Early Help Nottingham
Education and Schools - Nottingham City Council
Is my child too ill for school? - NHS
DFE animation - Illness absence and staying healthy
What to do when your child won’t go to school - EBSA advice
Resources for families | Children's Commissioner for England