St. John’s CE (Thornham) Primary School is committed to providing an education of the highest quality for all of its pupils/students and recognises that this can only be achieved by supporting and promoting excellent school attendance for all. This is based upon the belief that only by attending school regularly and punctually will children and young people be able to take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them. High attainment depends on good attendance.

The whole school community – pupils/students, parents and carers, teaching and support staff and school governors – have a responsibility for ensuring good school attendance and have important roles to play. 

Absence

Children must only be absent from school if they are ill. If your child is going to be absent, you must telephone the school office before 9.30am stating the reason for their absence. Our telephone number is 0161-643 4687. If you are unable to telephone, please email the School Office at- office@stjohnsthornham-primary.org 

Appointments with doctors, dentists or at a hospital should be made outside school hours or in the holidays. Where this is not possible, the appointment card/letter must be brought into the School Office the day before so that the register can be marked accordingly. If parents and carers do not provide a reason for the absence it remains unauthorised.

Children and classes are rewarded for good attendance and the rewards include:

• attendance certificates and weekly class attendance cup

We reward good attendance because we know it raises achievement. Details of the attendance figures are published weekly in the school newsletter.

Holidays in term time (a request of leave form must be completed)

The Head teacher directed by the Governing Body of St. John’s CE (Thornham) will not authorise any holidays taken during term time. This will be shown on the register as ‘unauthorised absence’. Only exceptional circumstances will warrant an authorised leave of absence which is at the discretion of the Head teacher and in line with Department of Education (DfE) school attendance guidance October 2014. School will consider each application individually, taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context, including the child’s attendance to date. The reasons will be measured against the following four criteria- exceptional, significant, unavoidable and rare.

If a child’s attendance below 90% in any academic year, the headteacher will contact the parents or carers. The school will refer to Education Welfare Officer and/or the School Nurse if there is no improvement.

Punctuality (Lateness)

It is very important that your child has the right start to their day. Children who arrive late miss learning time and this causes them to miss important instructions or explanations. Learning time starts at 8.55am.  Please ensure that your child is in school on time. Children who arrive late must report to the office and be signed in by an adult and their reason for lateness will be recorded.

Children who arrive after 9.30am are recorded as an unauthorised absence and this is recorded in the register.