Bangabandhu

Attendance & Absence

"I think the school really promotes and maintains good attendance and punctuality." Y3 & Y5 Parent, Parent Questionnaire - January 2022

"The school places a lot of importance on attendance and punctuality.  Receiving certificates and badges or prizes has helped my child improve their attendance." Nursery Parent, Parent Questionnaire - January 2022

Why is attendance and punctuality important?

Good attendance and punctuality is vital if children are to do their best and make good progress. 

Research shows that children are much more likely to meet age-related expectations if they have high levels of attendance at school. We therefore aim to promote this from the very start of their school career. This encourages children to form positive attitudes from a young age, which will influence their approach to work and life in later years. If children understand how important good attendance and punctuality is, they will achieve more in school and will develop good habits for the future.

What are our expectations?

Attendance

Absence from school will be authourised if it is due to severe illness or medical needs. However, we still encourage children to attend school unless they are very unwell. When children are not attending school because they are ill, parents/carers must inform us every day they are absence by 9.30am.  If an absence is not reported by a parent then we are duty bound to investigate, and if no reason is given then it becomes an unauthourised absence. Our attendance target for the school is 97%.

Holidays in term time are not permitted, and the school complies with the national and Tower Hamlets policies where fines are issued to families if children are taken out of school for more than three consecutive days for a holiday or other reason. The appropriate paper work must be completed and given to the school office before any holiday is taken.

Punctuality

We expect all children to be in the playground at 8:50am ready to go into class at 8:53am. 

Any child arriving at school after 8:55am is late and parents are required to give reasons for lateness and to attend meetings with the Home School support Worker, the Executive Headteacher or Head of School if there is persistent lateness. In accordance with new Tower Hamlets guidelines, fines will be issued to families arriving late on 15 days within any 5 weeks.

What do we do to promote good attendance?

How do we manage attendance and punctuality?

We work closely with the Local Authority’s Attendance and Welfare Service and we have an Attendance Welfare Advisor (AWA) assigned to our school. 

The Attendance Welfare Advisor makes visits every week to monitor attendance and meet with parents. If there are a significant number of absences, parents are required to meet school staff and the Attendance Welfare Advisor to discuss how this can be improved. Where attendance falls below 95%, children are tracked by the school for the remainder of the academic year. An official referral to the AWA is made if attendance is below 90% at any given time, this means you are monitored not only by the school but by Tower Hamlets as well.  In cases of serious persistent absences then Court Orders are issued. 

Where children are late on more than 5 occasions in any half-term, parents/carers are required to meet with the Head of School or Executive Headteacher. If parents/carers are having difficulty bringing the child/children to school on time, we will do whatever we can to support them in improving this.

Who is responsible for monitoring and improving attendance and punctuality?

Katie, our Assistant Head Teacher, Ayesha Taylor our School Home Support Practitioner and Paul Hankin our Office Manager, are responsible for attendance and punctuality in school. 

Emdad Rahman is the Attendance Welfare Advisor assigned to the school by the Local Authority for this academic year.

Attendance and Punctuality Policy

Holiday and Leave in Term Time Policy

Attendance Information Leaflet for Parents 

Tower Hamlets Penalty Notice Scheme

Penalthy Notice Scheme - Information Leaflet for Parents