- Important for Learning and Happiness: Coming to school every day helps children learn and develop good relationships with friends and adults which helps emotional wellbeing.
- Better Grades: Research proves when children come to school regularly, they do better with their learning, they can ask questions and get help from staff members.
- Feeling Part of the School: Coming to school regularly helps children feel like they belong and are part of the school community.
- Making Friends and Feeling Good: When children are at school every day, they make friends and connections, learn how to solve problems and improve their communication skills.
What you can expect from Moat Farm Junior Staff:
- Friendly and Safe Place: We will make sure school is a friendly and safe place where everyone feels important and valued.
- Helping Children: We will work with children in school where there are difficulties with coming to school regularly and on time.
- Talking to Families: We will provide support and advice to families with attendance and punctuality to see how we can help so that all our pupils can achieve well.
- Working with Parents: We will work with parents and carers where pupils are absent to find out why and help with the return to school.
What we expect from our pupils:
- Come to School Every Day: We want pupils to come to school every day they possibly can.
What we expect from our families:
- Daily Attendance and Readiness: Please make sure your child comes to school every day, on time, wearing their uniform and ready to learn.
- Valid Reasons for Absence: Only keep your child home if they are too unwell to be in school or if there is another good reason. Please discuss this with our Education Welfare Officer.
- Notification of Absence: Call the school office on the first day your child cannot come to school and every day after that to give an update.
- Avoid Term-Time Holidays: Please do not plan holidays during school time as your child will miss important learning. It is also likely parents and carers who take children out of school for term time holidays will receive a fine.
Meet and greet:
- Arrival Time: Pupils can arrive at school between 8:30 am and 8:45 am. 8.45am is when the bell rings for the start of the day.
- Friendly Welcome: Our staff are always on the playground from 8.30am to welcome pupils and their families.
- Breakfast Club: Breakfast club is available to help with children’s prompt arrival at school. Please contact the school office if you would like a breakfast club place.
Registration procedures:
- Registration: We take a register twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon, both at the start of the session. This differs by year group depending on lunchtime arrangements.
- Morning register: The register opens at 8.45am and closes at 9:15 am. Pupils are marked as late after the close of register (absent) if they arrive after 9.15am.
- Marking of the register: Initially we mark all pupils as present (/) or not (N).
Register check and follow-up:
- Checking Absences: We check messages received from parents and carers, check registers and classes and add late arriving pupils to the register.
- Talking to Parents: We telephone and text parents and carers where pupils are absent and where we have not received a message.
- Absence coding: When we have gained a reason for the absence, we record this in the register and code the absence.
First day calling and home visits:
- Let Us Know: If your child is absent, please contact us as soon as possible on the first day of absence and every day after this that the pupil is absent from school.
- We’ll Call: If we don’t hear from parents / carers, we’ll call to find out the reason for absence and to offer help if needed.
- Home Visits: If we can’t reach parents / carers, we may make a visit to your home to make sure everything’s okay. We may also make a home visit when we are not sure of the reason for absence.
- Keeping Safe: If pupils are absent for three days and we can’t make contact and have not received a message, for safeguarding reasons, we will contact other agencies, including the Police, to check everyone is okay. If a pupil is absent and we cannot locate the child, together with the Local Authority and other agencies, we will make lots of enquires to provide support and locate the child and family. If a child is not located, they will be recorded as a missing child.
- School Is Important: Remember, attending school is very important for pupils’ learning, friendships and mental wellbeing.
Making sure all our staff know what to do:
- Training for All Staff: All teachers and support staff have attendance and safeguarding training so they can help pupils improve attendance and stay safe.
Checking when pupils are absent:
- Calls on the First Day of Absence: If pupils are not at school and we have not received a message, someone from the office will telephone parents / carers. Our Education Welfare Officer, Mrs Stewart, may also telephone or visit to see if she can help.
Meetings to help families:
- Meetings at School: Sometimes, our Education Welfare Officer, Designated Safeguarding Lead, pastoral staff, teachers and senior leaders will have meetings at school to talk about children who aren’t coming to school. Our aim is to offer support to help children come to school every day that they possibly can and to make sure our pupils are safe.
- Talking to parents and carers: Our pastoral staff may also make home visits to see if they can help in any way.
Providing help to pupils:
- Talking and Helping: If pupils are having trouble coming to school, there are teachers and support staff who can help – please pop in to school and let us know.
- Getting Extra Help: Sometimes, we will contact other agencies for help and advice.
- We regularly look at our attendance data and share this information with the senior leadership team and governing body. Our aim is to look at ways we can continually improve and ensure every pupil at Moat Farm Junior School comes to school and is happy and safe.
