Attendance

Attendance is a high priority at Timbertree. We believe that 'every lesson counts' and we want every child to access the excellent education we provide.

We want to see all our pupils with 96% or above attendance.

At Timbertree we see that there is a clear link between attendance and achievement. Whenever a child misses school, they miss out on important learning and experiences and the reality is, this time can never be caught up. Regular attendance is the most important factor in a child reaching their full potential.

90% attendance actually means that your child has been away from school for half a day every week! If your child has 90% attendance for a whole year, that means that they have had nearly 4 whole weeks off school in a year. That equates to 19 days or 80 lessons. This is known as Persistent Absence.

We actively promote that coming to school is an important part of the development of an individual and our parents and pupils work in partnership with us encouraging a positive attitude and commitment to education. 

Our promise to monitor and support attendance

• We will contact you on the first day of an absence by telephone if you have not called in and given the reason for absence.
• We will contact you if we have any concerns over attendance and/or punctuality.
• We will monitor attendance closely. Each month we produce an attendance report, which allows us to track attendance and monitor specific pupils or pupil groups. In cases where we have identified repeated non-attendance and have concerns, we invite parents/carers to a School Non-Attendance Meeting, during which we discuss with the parents/carers strategies for improving attendance. We approach each meeting with the aim to work in a cooperative partnership with parents/carers with the child's best interests at heart.
• We will support you in promoting good attendance and punctuality across the school.
• We will be there for you if you contact us about issues that may be impacting on your child’s attendance. We will do our best to support you and find a solution to the problem.
• The School’s Designated Safeguarding Lead will get involved with persistent absentees to ascertain any issues and if support is needed, will be there to help.

What you should do...Report Absence

If your child is absent from school for any reason, then you must inform the school on the first day of absence by either: -

• telephoning the school office on 01384 567830 stating your child's full name, class and reason for absence; or
• leaving a message on the schools messaging Parentmail
• emailing the school office email account: info@timbertreeacademy.org.uk  stating your child's full name, class and reason for absence.

Let's work together to improve attendance

Punctuality

As with attendance, we place a high priority on punctuality. We believe that 'every second counts' and being on time is a key life skill which sets up our pupils for a successful future. The impact of lateness is not only felt by the pupils themselves, in terms of missed education, but also can be disruptive for the class as a whole.

We monitor punctuality closely and in cases where we have identified repeated lateness and have concerns, we invite parents to a 'School late attendance meeting', during which we discuss with the parents/carers strategies for improving punctuality. We aim to work in a cooperative partnership with parents/carers, finding solutions to create consistent punctuality which always have the child's best interests at heart.

If a pupil is absent and no message has been received, the Office calls the parents/carers and seeks reasons for absence. We have additional emergency contact beyond the parents/carers to support any need to make contact. If contact cannot be made, a Safe and Well Welfare visit will be made to the home address by staff.

Late collections

We also monitor and record late collections. We expect all children from Reception to Year 6 to be collected at 3.15pm. If the child is not collected within 10 minutes of this time the parents/carers will be contacted. If a parent or carer expects to arrive late for any reason, we ask that they inform the School Office as soon as possible. Late collection can cause upset to children and also cause added work for school staff. In cases of repeated late collection, we will arrange a meeting with parents/carers to find an acceptable solution. We also ask parents/carers to let the class teacher or the office know if they need a different adult is to collect their child.

Department for Education (DfE) Documents

As a school we adhere to the documentation sent out and published by the DfE.

The Following publications become effective as of September 2022. As a school we are already working towards these goals and have the procedures in place. These will be further reinforced at the start of the new academic year.

Summary table of responsibilities for school attendance (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Working together to improve school attendance (publishing.service.gov.uk)