Attendance Newsletter 2
Welcome to our Attendance Newsletter
Our school attendance target is 95%. The overall attendance so far this year is 94.5%, which is below our school target but significantly better than this time last year 😊 so thank you for your efforts. It is important that we continue to work together to do all we can to prioritise our children’s attendance at school as we move into the Summer Term.
As you may know, we received a visit from Ofsted inspectors in December. Inspectors were very concerned about the number of children in school who had less than 90% attendance. The inspectors were keen to know that we are working towards reducing this by working with parents and other agencies.
Did you know ... If your child takes too much time off school, they will become categorised as PA or persistently absent. (Attendance below 90% = persistent absence). Children who take holiday leave will often become PA for the whole year, depending on the number of days missed.
What is Persistent Absence?
A child who only attends school for 90% or less of the time is classed as a Persistent Absentee. 90% might sound great, but Ben's story shows us why it's not: Ben is a child who attends school for 90% of the time. His parents think this is quite good. 90% attendance is the same as being absent from school for a half day every week.
If Ben's attendance for all the years he went to school was 90% he would have missed 209 days of school, that's more than a whole school year!
Did you know ... arriving after 9.20am means your child is marked as absent for the morning session. Punctuality is an important part of avoiding being classed as a Persistent Absentee.
So why does persistent absence matter?
Missing school has a huge impact on how well a child gets on at school. The more school a child misses, the harder it is for them to get into a routine of attending regularly and catch up on the work they have missed. If your child is in danger of becoming a persistent absentee, we will email you to let you know and invite you into school to come up with a plan to avoid this happening.
What can I do?
Be honest and attend meetings with school.
Every parent can struggle at some point, no parent is perfect! If you're having difficulties let us know and we will do everything we can to help.
To encourage punctuality, we will be holding a competition this half term 22/4 -23/5/25. Every day that your child is in school on time (8.45am) they, and you, will be entered into a draw to win some vouchers.
£20 & £30
We hope this information is helpful and we will continue to update information regarding Attendance and Punctuality, please check; https://fishwick.lancs.sch.uk/Parents/Attending-School/