ATTENDANCE
Children should only miss school if they are ill or have authorisation from the Headteacher. At Lydgate, we believe that children must be in school to learn. We tackle absences (and persistent lates) from school rigorously to ensure children are always in school so that they can succeed.
Please note that research has consistently shown that there is a strong relationship between attendance at school and achievement.
STAY WELL DURING WINTER
Here is a leaflet produced by Locala about how to stay well during the winter months.
Absence – Parents/carers should contact school by 9.00am to advise why their child is not able to attend school. If we are not aware of the reason of the absence the Attendance Officer will contact parent/carers. If we are unable to contact parents, school may arrange a visit to the home address. If your child feels ill in the morning but gets better they can return to school later in the day, reporting to the school office.
Medical appointments – Please advise the school office. ‘M’ may be entered in the register. School may ask for evidence of the medical appointment. Non-urgent appointments (opticians, routine dentist appointments) should be made outside of the school day.
Late arrivals – Classroom doors are closed at 9.00am, all children arriving after this time must be signed into school at the main office by an accompanying parent/carer and they must advise the reason for lateness. If the child arrives between 9.00am and 9.30am ‘L’ (late) is recorded on the register. Should the child arrive after 9.30 am ‘U’ code is recorded. We expect the children to be punctual. If a child misses the start of the day, they can miss vital learning. Late arriving pupils also disrupt lessons; it can be embarrassing for your child to join their class during the lesson.
Unauthorised absences (O code) - are those that the school does not consider reasonable and for which no “leave” has been given. This type of absence can lead to the Local Authority using sanctions and/or legal proceedings. This includes: keeping children off school unnecessarily, absences which have not been properly explained, for shopping, looking after other children, birthdays or day trips.
Leave of Absence – Any request for Leave of Absence must be advised in writing well in advance to the Head Teacher for discussions and approval. Each request will be considered on a case by case basis and the Head Teacher can authorise the absence only for exceptional circumstances. See our website for the latest Leave of Absence form on the Attendance page or ask at the school office.
Where school has not received a Leave of Absence form in advance, the absence will be marked as unauthorised with an O code.
Where the absence is over 20 consecutive days, parents can expect their child to be taken off the school roll and reported to the Children Missing Education team. This means that the child will lose their place at Lydgate.
Please note that parents are not, by law, allowed to take children on holiday during term time and as such, leave of absence requests for holidays will not be authorised and a G code (Holiday – not agreed) will be used.
If your child is taken out of school for 5 or more days, a penalty notice will be issued by the school on behalf of Kirklees.
You can find out more about Penalty Notices here: www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/schools/penalty-notices.aspx
Term time absences may result in your child falling behind their peers and affecting their long term achievement.
Attendance below 90% - Children with attendance below 90% will be classed as persistent absentees. When attendance begins to dip, parents will be invited for a meeting to identify barriers and discuss support and next steps.
Where the child’s attendance is significantly below 90%, a school attendance improvement contract will be offered. Failure to adhere to the contract may result in legal action being considered.
Please read our Attendance Policy for more details
Term Dates - The term dates for the academic year are always released the previous year and parents are informed as soon as they are made available to us. The dates are also available on the website so that you could book your holidays well in advance and avoid term time absence.