Attendance & Punctuality
Attendance
Expectations for attendance
School expects excellent attendance from all our pupils. It is only by attending every day that a child can fully immerse themselves with school life and make the progress they are capable of.
Knowsley Central School considers:
97% attendance or above to be outstanding attendance
90% – 96.9% attendance to be good attendance.
87% – 89% attendance requires improvement.
86.9% attendance or less than is inadequate.
In our school we have a duty of care to each of our pupils and are happy to work alongside families and other professionals in order to support pupils to obtain high levels of attendance, therefore, providing them with the opportunity to enhance their academic journey.
Appointments
Where possible medical and dental appointments should be made out of school hours. We understand that hospital and other medical appointments can be difficult to arrange outside of school hours, therefore, if you can please inform school of any appointments and provide evidence at the earliest opportunity we would appreciate this.
Pupil Absence
Parents and Carers are asked to contact the school office by telephone or Parent app as early as possible on the first day that a pupil is absent.
If a pupil is absent for more than three days without a reason being given a reason. School will contact any professionals that are involved with the family. If there has been no contact, school staff will visit home to check on the child.
The Head Teacher has the right to decide that a reason for absence is appropriate for the child to not to attend school. If this is not deemed appropriate the absence may not be authorised.
Attendance Concerns
| Stages of concern | Actions |
| Child has not attended and no reason given | School will attempt to contact parents or carers by phone. |
| Child has not attended and unable to contact parents or carers | Contact will be made with other professionals who are involved with the family such as social workers, family support workers or other known professionals. |
| Child has not attended for three days no reason given and unable to contact parents or carers | School staff attempt to complete a home visit to check on the welfare of the child.
If no contact made a letter will be put through the door asking the parent or carer to contact school. |
| Child has not attended for ten days and unable to contact parents or carers and no other professionals have been in contact with the family | School will contact the local authority to raise concerns and this may begin a missing in education process. |
| If a child’s attendance dips below an acceptable level then parents or carers will receive a letter to inform them of their child’s attendance figure and there will be a request for parents and carers to support the child in improving their attendance. | |
| If the attendance continues to drop then other professionals will be informed of the concern and there maybe an Early Help plan offered to support the family if this is felt to be necessary. If all attempts to support a family fail and attendance does not improve this could result in prosecution. |
It is important that the school office can contact parents and carers at all times. Please can you inform school if there is a change of address or telephone number, in order for the school admin team to update our records.
Term Time Holidays
The Headteacher and Governors expect that family holidays will be taken during the holiday periods. We follow LEA policy and procedures for attendance and any holidays taken in term time will be unauthorised.
Support Offered
If your child is reluctant to attend school for any reason or you have any concerns regarding their attendance please contact the school office to discuss the issue with;
Michelle McFadden (Assistant Head Teacher)
or
Vicky Brown (Wellbeing and Pastoral Lead).
Punctuality
If your son/ daughter misses the minibus provided by the School Transport Department it is the parent/carer’s responsibility to ensure that your child attends school. A missed minibus is not a reason for a pupil to miss a whole day of education.
If the minibus provided by School Transport is late please contact the school office as soon as possible to inform us of your child’s lateness and when you will arrive with your child.
Please contact the bus company directly with any concerns or complaints.
Contact number 0151 546 9158
For pupils who do not access transport, we would expect a call to the main office explaining your reason for arriving late and an expected time of arrival.
The school register closes at 9:15 am. If a pupil arrives after this time for any reason other than an issue with the minibus provided by the School Transport department they will be recorded as absent for the morning session.