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Attendance and Lateness

"Attendance matters! Every day is a chance to learn, grow, and succeed. Let's bring Kindness, Respect, Togetherness, and Excellence to everything we do."

Is your child absent from school today due to illness?

Please write your child's full name, class and today's date when submitting an absence email to our school inbox. Please also send across pictures of prescribed medications if your child has been to the GP, so their attendance records are updated appropriately with the correct register code.

Attendance Letter Outlining Procedures September 2022

Attendance Letter Outlining Procedures October 2024

Government guidelines for deciding whether or not to keep your child off school

Details on the length of time to keep children away from school for common illnesses

Every Mind Matters (NHS)

Firs Farm Primary School Attendance & Information

ATTENDANCE

 

Research shows that a child needs at least 95% attendance for them to make the expected academic progress and to develop socially and emotionally. Low or irregular attendance will be challenged by the school. Lack of improvement will lead to involvement from the School's Education Welfare Officer (EWO).

 

LATENESS

 

If a child arrives late, they are less likely to be ready to engage with their learning. Children need to know the importance of punctuality for later life, especially in the work place.

We have a soft start at the beginning of the day where children can start coming into the school building from 8.55 a.m. in Reception and 8.50 a.m. for Year 1 and above. The official start time is 9 a.m. when all children should be in their classroom to enable them to fully engage with the day's teaching and learning.

If your child arrives later than 9 a.m. when the doors are closed, they need to be brought to the office where you will need to sign them in, be seen by a member of staff in the front office and collect a late band before they go through to class.

The registers close at 9.10 a.m. Any child arriving after the registers closed is marked as being absent for the whole morning. Regular lateness can seriously impact your child's attendance record and can result in a referral to the Education Welfare Service (EWO). However, please be advised that if your child/children are late due to exceptional circumstances in the morning, it is essential that you email us at office@firsfarm.enfield.sch.uk as soon as possible to inform us.

ABSENCES

 

All absences must be authorised by the school. It is vital that you telephone the school (020 8807 4292) leaving a voicemail or send an email (office@firsfarm.enfield.sch.uk) stating the reason for your child's absence and the class clearly. If your child is unwell, we request you to state the symptoms when you report the absence. If your child begins to feel better, you can bring them into school later in the day. If a child has frequent absences or is absent for more than two consecutive days, you will be asked to provide medical evidence, e.g. medical prescriptions, GP appointment cards, Doctor texts/notes, hospital and referral letters etc. This also applies if your child has a medical appointment during the school day or before the school day finishes. A medical letter or any other appropriate evidence should be provided to authorise the absence during the school day. Therefore, please notify the school office in advance if you know your child will be absent for any appointments or music exams for example. We would only expect your child to be out of school for the appointment and travel time.

Please also kindly note, we would prefer any absence emails from the parent/carer to be sent to the Office email address at office@firsfarm.enfield.sch.uk. However, you can email the attendance@firsfarm.enfield.sch.uk inbox if necessary.

 

FAMILY HOLIDAYS/EXTENDED ABSENCES FOR FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES IN SCHOOL TERM TIME

 

Leave requests for children to go on family holidays or day trips in school term time are not authorised. 

Also, please be aware that delays in returning to school after a school holiday will be marked as unauthorised unless caused by circumstances beyond your control, such as flight cancellations, etc. In such cases, we will ask for relevant documents, emails, or texts to support the situation.

Special leave requests, for example to attend funerals or weddingsmust be made in writing in advance to and for the attention of the Headteacher, Deputy Head and Attendance Officer/Team.

In the exceptional circumstance of an extended absence being authorised, we encourage a project to be undertaken. Where there is an uncertainty about the date of return the school may need to remove the child from the school roll and parents/carers would need to apply again on their return, by which time another child may have been enrolled in their place.

 

SOME EXAMPLES OF UNAUTHORISED ABSENCES FROM ENFIELD COUNCIL

 

Our Firs Farm Primary School Attendance Policy can be found via the link below

Attendance and other useful services

GOV Document - Working Together to Improve School Attendance 2022

GOV Document - Working Together to Improve School Attendance 2024

Children Missing Education 2024

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024

Importance of regular attendance

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