Attendance

Every school day counts!

Attendance is a key priority of our school!

At Whiteways, we believe that regular school attendance is vital in ensuring the best educational outcome and all round development of a child. Children should be allowed to take full advantage of the educational opportunities; they are entitled too. We believe that every child deserves the best education, which will hopefully prepare them for the next stage of their life.

Good attendance is 96% and above.

Parents have a responsibility to ensure their child attends school regularly and arrives on time. Permitting absence from school without good reason could result in an offence and may result in prosecution.

Persistent absence means your child has an attendance below 90% and will have a serious impact on their education.

Support and guidance on attendance is always available in school. If you have any questions about this please contact our Attendance Team which is led by Mrs Bridgewood.

As a school, we are not permitted to authorise holidays during term time and as such these will not be authorised. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. associated with bereavement and required to attend a funeral abroad) the Headteacher may consult with the Local Authority to take advice before authorisation is provided.

Punctuality

Every School day Counts but every MINUTE is equally important!

Please see below school timings for the start of the school day:

• 8am School gates are open
• 9:00 am School gates are locked and class registers are taken

All children arriving once the school gate is locked MUST enter school via the school office. This will be marked in the class register as (L).

• 9:00am lessons begin promptly.

Children arriving past 9:30am in the school office will be marked in as late and unauthorised in the class register (U).

Each child arriving late causes disruption to their own education as well as the class learning group they join

• Lost minutes = Lost learning
• Over an academic year 5 minutes late each day equates to 3 days lost!
• 10 minutes late each day equates to 6.5 days lost!

Our school day finishes at 3pm for FS2 and 3:10pm for Y1-Y6

Early collection before school closes will impact on your child’s education equating to lost minutes and missed learning.