Good Attendance at Haydn

At Haydn Primary and Nursery School we are committed to ensuring that all children have excellent school attendance and we recognise the importance of developing good patterns of attendance from the beginning of your child's journey with us. Good attendance is an integral part of the school's ethos and culture and is seen as everyone's responsibility in school. This starts with our  dedicated Attendance Team  who work to promote the importance of attendance across the school, but includes all school staff.

Our Attendance Team are:

Miss Annie Harley - Deputy Head Teacher, Senior Attendance Champion and Deputy DSL

Ms Lisa Paulson - Head Teacher and DSL

Mrs Dorcas Walker - Attendance Officer

Our whole school attendance target this year is 97%. Last year (2023-24) our whole school attendance was 95.1%. 

Throughout the year you will receive updates about our attendance incentives in school.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact one of these staff members.

At Haydn Primary School we have high expectations for attendance and punctuality. It is a proven fact that every child achieves better when they are at school every single day. As a school we use a range of creative strategies to promote good attendance habits.

Recognition for Good Attendance

• Each week children with 100% attendance are entered into a weekly prize draw in our Achievement assemblies.
• Each term children with good attendance will be awarded with a certificate.
• Good attendance is 

Every Day Counts

Coming to school every day and on time is key to your child accessing learning and achieving their very best. As a school, we are aiming to be above 97% across the academic year. To do this, it is essential that your child attends school on time every day. It is vital that school and families work together to achieve this outcome.

Punctuality

At Haydn we expect every child to be ready for a prompt start to learning. Doors open at 8.45 am and learning begins immediately. Our registers close at 9.00am. Children arriving after 9.00am should sign in at the

school office and they will be marked as L, late. If a child arrives after 9.30am they will be marked as U, absent for the session.

We ask that children are collected promptly from school and on time

from after school clubs. We will of course ensure your children are held safely at reception in case of emergencies and unforeseen circumstances when you are unavoidably detained. Please notify the

office in these circumstances.

 Absence

 We can only authorise absence from school on the basis of genuine illness, a religious holiday or exceptional family circumstances  (agreed with the Head Teacher beforehand).

You must contact us before 9.30am on the first morning of absence with the reason why your child is absent. If we do not receive a call, the school will contact you via a text or a phone call.

Healthcare appointments

We ask parents to make medical or dental appointments outside of school hours wherever possible. Where this is not possible and appointments need to be made during school hours, parents will be asked to provide proof of appointments (appointment cards, letters, texts, emails etc.) to obtain approval for their child’s absence to attend such appointments. Parents will be responsible for ensuring their child misses only the amount of time necessary to attend the appointment.

Religious observance

We ask parents to request absence for religious observance at least two weeks’ in advance.

In Nottingham city one day for each religious festival should be counted as authorised absence.  The Pupil Regulations 2006 state that absence for religious observance should be treated as authorised (absence) ‘on a day exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the parent belongs’.  Additional days off for shopping or for extended celebrations should be treated as unauthorised absence.

In respect of pilgrimages, school may request to see copies of visas.  Dates of return should also be agreed prior to the period of leave.

Holidays/extended time off school

Regular family holidays are not considered ‘exceptional circumstances’ but if still taken the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and a referral may be made and a penalty notice may be issued by the Head Teacher and the Education Welfare Service. Please note that the Department for Education has introduced changes to the Penalty Notice fines from August 2024 with the introduction of The National Framework for Penalty Notices. Please see the document below for more information.

All leave of absence requests should be submitted using the leave of absence request form below. The form is also available from the school office. Please ensure that forms are completed 14 days in advance.

Persistent Absence

When a child's attendance is too low and it drops below 90% you will be contacted by a member of the school's attendance team via letter. You will then be placed on a monitoring plan for 6 weeks. If there is no improvement in the attendance level of your child then you will be invited to an attendance meeting where individual targets will be set. Prior to this meeting being held, school will contact your child's class teacher to find out what impact poor attendance/punctuality is having on the learning of your child. A member of the attendance team will then discuss with your child how they feel about not regularly attending school. The child's voice is crucial within the whole process.

Appointments

We ask that appointments are made outside of school hours where possible. The school may request evidence for any appointments that take place during the school day.

Expectations

Pupils need to attend school regularly to benefit from their education.

If your attendance is 95% by the end of the year you are missing 2 WEEKS of school.

If your attendance is 90% by the end of the year you are missing 4 WEEKS of school.

What can you do to aim high with your attendance?

• Don’t make a cold or a headache an excuse for not coming to school.
• If something is bothering you at school and making you not want

to come, talk to someone about it.

• Understand why coming to school is important and aim to be in school every day.
• If you do miss a day, talk to other children in your class about

what learning you missed.