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Attendance
Regular attendance is a fundamental pillar of education. It plays a pivotal role in shaping academic success, personal growth, and prospects.
Compass Primary Academy and Brooke Weston Trust are committed to transforming educational achievement and providing pupils with the best start in life academically and as citizens. We promote the importance of pupils attending school on every day possible and recognise that daily attendance is crucial to success.
It is the responsibility of all stakeholders across our academy community – parents/carers, staff, governors, and pupils – to work together to ensure that every pupil and their family has the support and strategies required to attend school daily.
You can find the Brooke Weston Trust Attendance and Punctuality Policy here, which provides helpful guidance to all stakeholders in maintaining positive attendance and punctuality across all Trust schools.
Pupils are expected to arrive at school for 8:40am to be in class ready to learn from 8:50am, when morning registers are then taken.
Please note that corridor doors close at 8:50am and if pupils arrive after this time, they will be marked as late. They must also sign-in via the main office if they are arriving after 8:50am.
We offer a free breakfast club which all pupils from Reception to Year 6 are warmly invited to attend (no booking required). Doors to our free breakfast club open at 8:20am and close promptly at 8:40am.
Pupils arriving after 8:50am will be marked as late. If a pupil arrives at 9:20am or later, after the close of all registers, the sign-in code will constitute as an absence and negatively impact a pupil’s attendance record.
Arriving at school late is disruptive to a pupil’s daily routine and means that they miss a considerable amount of valuable learning time.
|
Minutes late per day |
Lost learning time |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 3.4 school days per year |
| 10 minutes | 6.9 school days per year |
| 15 minutes | 10.3 school days per year |
| 20 minutes | 13.8 school days per year |
| 30 minutes | 20.7 school days per year |
Parents and carers are expected to communicate with school promptly to inform if their child is going to be absent due to illness or other reasons and maintain daily contact during the period of absence.
Absences must be reported by contacting the school office on 01536 532707 at the earliest opportunity.
Absences from school can have a direct impact upon a child’s academic and social development due to lost learning time. We recognise that in our busy lives, it can become easy to lose track of the number of days that a child is absent over the school year, however daily attendance is vital to ensure that all children have the best opportunities to flourish and succeed.
|
Attendance during one school year |
Number of lost learning days |
|---|---|
| 95% | 9 days |
| 90% | 19 days |
| 85% | 29 days |
| 80% | 38 days |
Home visits are conducted as a standard protocol to families to follow-up on pupil absences and provide support to pupils and parents/carers where appropriate.
The academy has a duty to safeguard the welfare of all students. Any concerns about a child’s attendance will be investigated promptly to ensure support for their wellbeing.
If there are unexplained/prolonged periods of absence or an identified safeguarding concern, this may require school to contact external agencies.
Parents and carers must request any planned leave of absence for exceptional circumstances in writing prior to the intended absence of their child. Requests will be reviewed, and a decision made as to whether the absence will be authorised or unauthorised.
In line with Department for Education (2024) regulations, holidays or absences for leisure and recreation would not constitute as exceptional circumstances.
As per the National Framework for Penalty Notices (2024), parents and carers may be issued with a fixed penalty notice or legal sanction if a pupil is absent due to unauthorised leave during term time.
Parents and carers are invited to contact the academy if they wish to discuss their child’s attendance further or seek additional support.
Our academy Attendance Lead is: Ms Dawn Gillett
Our academy Senior Leader for Attendance is: Mrs Jo Fallowell
Please contact us on 01536 532707 to initially speak with a member of our Wellbeing and Attendance Team, or email: wellbeing@compassprimary.org.
Our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) ensures comprehensive attendance intervention for all pupils. The system incorporates staff, children, parents and carers, and external agencies. This comprises of three Tiers:
- Tier 1 provides a universal offering to all pupils.
- Tier 2 involves early internal support and intervention.
- Tier 3 is higher levels of support for children, young people and families who require access to external agency support.
Our approach promotes recognition of personal and collective achievements, fostering positive environments and developing intrinsic motivation. Recognition may be in the form of verbal conversations; celebrations; postcards; or text message communication.
Through our rich curriculum offer, we strive to instill values within our pupils which support them to be come successful citizens of the future and promote that school attendance is a key component to this success.