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Here at Marnel Junior School attendance is of the up most importance. In order to excel at school, be successful learners and develop good practice for later life it is vital that children attend school each day.
Our attendance target is 96% and above and children are expected to be on time to start their school day. This message is instilled in our pupils with a variety of incentives to promote and reward excellent attendance and punctuality.
A child who is regularly absent from school risks lower attainment, disruption to friendships and negative impacts on their mental health and wellbeing. As parents we have a legal responsibility to ensure our children attend school daily and failure to do so can also be considered a safeguarding risk.
As outlined in our attendance policy the school office must be notified on the first day your child is absent and any subsequent days that follow. Failure to notify us of a reason for absence will result in a home visit being conducted to ensure you and your child's safety. If the whereabouts of a child cannot be determined they will be reported as 'missing/absent' from education to the local authority.
We have lots of different options we can explore to support you in getting your child into school. We understand that there can be a variety of different factors affecting attendance, but we are here to help; so please just ask.
Attendance Procedures
Vanessa Dore (Attendance Lead) and Kay Lawrence (Admin Assistant) are on hand during the week should you need to discuss an attendance query or difficulty. You can contact the school office to speak to them or arrange a meeting. They may also make contact with you directly depending on your child's individual attendance figure, or persistent lateness... don't be worried, they are here to help. Take a look below to see the type of support that might be put in place depending on your child's attendance figure and circumstances:
90-95% - A half termly call from the class teacher to discuss your child's needs, learning that may have been missed and concerns you may have. This is an informal chat designed to support you and your child. There will be a follow up call from SENCO for SEN children.
Below 90% - All children with attendance below 90% are classed as a persistent absentee, but don't worry we will work with you to help improve their attendance, address medical needs and prevent any barriers to coming in to school. At this stage we will monitor your child's attendance weekly and contact you regularly.
Stage 1 - Initially we will send you a letter when your child's attendance drops below 90%.
Stage 2 - If your child's attendance continues to drop we will get in touch to arrange an over the phone or in person meeting where an attendance plan can be put in place. We will advise you of support that can be put in place, including SEMH groups for your child to attend during school.
SEMH attendance intervention - These are for children to take part of in school to voice concerns about the time they have missed at school. A lot of children who have a time off school find it hard following the work after days off as they have missed the lesson input or missed out on social experiences within their peer groups. We have observed that this can in turn cause children anxiety and worry when being in class as well as within friendship groups. There are a variety of children in each group, and we aim to cater for all needs so they may discuss routines, barriers to coming in to school such as school refusal, bullying and finding the work too hard .They also discuss medical worries or concerns and worries they have around illness.
Stage 3 - Generally, with the actions put in place above and working together your child's attendance will be seen to improve. However, if it is still dropping then you will be invited in to school to meet with Mr Jordan. At this stage there is the possibility that school will no longer be able to authorise illness without medical evidence, or that a penalty notice or legal intervention team referral(LIT) may be made.
Penalty Notice - Issued for 10 days unauthorised absence within a 100-day period, for example unauthorised holiday, or persistent lateness.
LIT referral - Referrals are made where there are 10 days unauthorised absence within a 100-day period but the reasons for absence are not as clear or the circumstances and need within the family are more complex. Referrals are triaged by the legal intervention team and may result in an attendance officer being allocated or are passed on to the legal team.
All of our interactions are aimed to be positive and supporting, we aim to work with the children and their parents/carers to support their wellbeing and attendance. We put this plan into place in a hope to avoid other sanctions such as penalty notices and court action and help improve attendance in a supportive a holistic way.
Our School Target
Our whole school attendance target for this year is 96%. We also have individual group attendance figures which can be seen in the document below. Always remember that your child's attendance figure changes as the year goes on, there is always time to make those positive changes and see that improvement... it is never too late.
Promoting Good Attendance in School
How we promote attendance to our students and how we support our families.
Individual reward charts
Individual reward charts are set up for children who find coming in to school difficult for a variety of reasons. They will usually be set up as part of an attendance improvement plan to help encourage and reward improved attendance. Children earn house points for every full week they attend school and get an in school reward at the end of each half term if they have met their house point target.
The Marnel Junior School Attendance Ladder:
We will be celebrating your child's attendance in school by encouraging them to 'climb to the top of the ladder'. At the end of every term we will be holding a raffle for prizes, including vouchers, days out and gifts. Depending on where your child is on the ladder will determine the number of raffle tickets they have entered into the draw.
House points:
As you know all the children in the school have been assigned a house, Air, Earth, Fire and Water. The children have shown great enthusiasm in earning house points since these were introduced last year, so now they will be able to earn house points for good and improving attendance. Each week the house with the highest attendance will earn 60 house points!
Attendance certificates:
100% attendance certificates are given out on a termly basis. These are awarded for the term's attendance, not the whole school year. There is always a chance for children to strive to get a certificate the next again term if they missed out due to unavoidable circumstances.
'New for this academic year, Gold Standard 100% Attendance Certificates. Gold standard certificates will be given to those who achieve 100% attendance for the whole academic year. Children who receive this will also get 100 tickets added to the summer terms attendance raffle and an invited to an afternoon of fun rewards in school.
Illness
As we enter the colder months, we want to remind you of the importance of balancing your child’s health with school attendance.
Regular attendance is crucial for your child’s learning and development. However, if your child is feeling unwell, particularly with symptoms such as a fever, vomiting, or contagious illness, it is best for them to stay at home to rest and recover. This helps prevent the spread of illness within the school community and ensures that your child can return to school feeling their best.
We can however administer medicines in school (with appropriate documentation), and rest assured if your child is unwell during the school day we will always give you a call. Sometimes when children are feeling a little under the weather coming in to school, seeing their friends and getting some fresh air can help perk them up a bit (we have all experienced the child who wakes up not feeling well, and is then bouncing around the living room by 10am).
If your child is unwell and needs to stay home, please notify the school promptly on your child's first day of absence and each day after unless you are advised otherwise by a member of staff. We have a duty or care and need to know all our pupils, and their families are safe and well.
If we are not given a reason for your child's absence, we will conduct a safeguarding home visit withing 24hours to make sure everything is okay. Failure to notify school of a reason for absence will also result in an unauthorised mark in the register.
If your child’s absence is prolonged or you are unsure whether they should return to school, feel free to contact us for guidance. Your child’s well-being is our priority, and we appreciate your partnership in keeping our school community healthy.
Additional Support
It isn't just illness and holidays that impact your child's attendance, we understand that more complex factors can be present. Ongoing medical conditions, mental health, finances, child development, education, childcare, change in family circumstances and much more can make it difficult to get your child to school. Our Home School Link Manager can offer guidance and seek additional support, both inside and outside of school to assist with any of these difficulties. Please let us know if you are having any difficulties, either by speaking to a member of school staff, calling the school office or emailing adminoffice@marnel-jun.hants.sch.uk.
Please don't struggle on your own, we know attendance can weigh on parent's minds and is not always a straight forward fix.
For more information on attendance at Marnel Junior School, please see our school attendance policy under the 'Policies' section of the school website.
