Attendance is safeguarding.
We know that children and young people are safer in school than those who are not. We work with families to ensure all our pupils have the best poossible attendance.
Regular attendance and punctuality is key to student progress. At Pond Meadow, we take a whole-school approach to maintaining and improving attendance and it is the joint responsibility of parents/carers, students and staff to ensure that children are attending school as they should be.
- Parents and carers have a legal duty in line with the Education Act 1996 (legislation.gov.uk) to ensure that children attend school regularly/receive a suitable full time education.
- School provides a safe environment with a warm welcome and an exciting curriculum which equips our learners for life.
- The school day runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm Monday to Thursday and on Fridays 9:00am to 2:00pm.
- The Attendance Lead is Rosie Flavin and she can be reached on email@example.com and she will be happy to support with any attendance or punctuality queries.
- We offer a supportive approach to managing attendance and every effort is made to work in partnership with families to improve attendance and address any underlying barriers such as sleep, routines, transport etc. We do this in line with our safeguarding guidelines making referrals to external services as needed.
- Class teams are able to make resources for families such as calendars, symbols or social stories to support transitions or routines. Please ask contact either your class team or Rosie Flavin.
- The school day starts at 9am and pupils are requested to be on time for school. We can offer personalised support to assist if required and are very happy to do so.
- Families should notify school of any absence using the email firstname.lastname@example.org or calling the main office on 01483 532239.
- Where students do not attend school by 9:30 we will call the family to identify the reasons for absence, this is to ensure it is recorded appropriately and any necessary support can be provided.
Where there is no response to the initial phone call, we may contact families by email or text message. We may also use your emergency contacts if there is a concern. Should no contact be able to be made this will be discussed with a member of the safeguarding team including Headteacher. This may be followed up by a home visit or contact to C-SPA, or the allocated worker where there is one. - Holidays should not be taken in term time except in exceptional circumstances. Where you are taking your child away a request for leave form must be complete prior to the absence. This is to be submitted to the headteacher for consideration of approval.
- We appreciate that good attendance may look different for each student dependent on their own circumstances and needs. We will always seek to reward good or improving attendance in the context of each child.
- There are a range of rewards or motivating items that students can get to encourage and support their attendance.
Other than for illness or exceptional circumstances, all absences should be communicated with school in advance using email@example.com For example, if your child has an upcoming paediatric or dentist appointment, proof must be provided (letter confirmation of the appointment shown to the class teacher).
Parents/carers must also inform school transport if their child will not be attending school on a specific day, and update school transport on subsequent days if absence continues.
Parents/carers must not take their children out of school during term time. If parents/carers would like to make a special request for this, they may do so to the Headteacher using the request for leave of absence form. This will only be granted in exceptional cases.
Our Attendance Policy, application for leave of absence form and home-school agreement can be found here:
Family holidays and extended leave: More information
Family holidays and extended leave
Parents/carers should ensure that family holidays and special leave are arranged outside of school term time. Parents/carers do not have the automatic right to remove their child from school during term time for this reason.
Requests for leave from school must be made in using the form 2 weeks in advance of the leave being taken. In the case of unforeseen circumstances, such as a family bereavement, this will be taken into consideration.
Examples of these might be:
- Medical care
- Overseas Respite
All requests for authorised absence will be responded to in writing, and will, if appropriate, outline the details of when the child is expected to return to school.
Parents/carers should contact the school immediately if there will be a cause for delay from the stated date of return.
If permission is not granted, but the child is still absent, the absence is classed as unauthorised and parents/carers may be issued with a penalty notice.
Pond Meadow recognises that there may be times where children of different faiths observe religious festivals that fall outside of school holidays and weekends, and will allow authorised absence for these times.
Parents/carers will be aware of these dates and should give the school written notification in advance via email:
Home School Agreement
As part of our whole-school approach to attendance, we request that parents/carers agree to and sign our home school agreement.
Our home-school agreement highlights important information for supporting children's learning, including asking parents and carers to:
- Support their children in arriving to school, on time everyday - school starts at 9am
- Engage with their children’s education – support their learning and take an interest in what they have been doing at school
- Do everything they can to prevent unnecessary school absences, such as by making medical and dental appointments outside of school hours
- Use the school as a support when they or their child are having difficulties, and work to form a positive relationship with the school so that there is easy communication when a problem arises
- Keep the school informed of any circumstances which may affect their child’s attendance using the email address or telephone number below:
Many children and parents find bedtime difficult. Please reach out for help if you need it by contacting Sarah Nash our Assistant Headteacher who can provide advice and support.
We also have helpful guides, made in partnership with other agencies to support with sleep/bedtime routines:
Attendance and Punctuality Support Levels
Please see the document below about the levels of support provided by school and the Local Authority: