Attendance & Absence
We ask that every child is given the opportunity to have success at school. These formative primary years are vital for children to gain knew skills and knowledge, adapt to routines and make connections with the adults and peers around them. Without constant revisiting and consistent schooling, children become unsettled and begin to feel unsettled and without a sense of belonging.
This can very easily happen for children who have days off through term time. We monitor every child’s attendance regularly and will make contact with parents where there is a pattern of time out of school or persistent absentee-ism. It is important for us to work in partnership with the home to support every child to be given the opportunity to thrive at school.
Hamwic Education Trust and Dorset Council (our local authority), are committed to ensuring the highest possible attendance for every child and support us fully in this endeavour. Craig Dabinet Dorset Inclusion Lead and Attendance Lead oversees Pimperne Primary and meets with our Attendance team on a regular basis.
At Pimperne Primary School we endeavour to support you in any way we can to overcome any barriers that may prevent your child from coming into school. We have several points of contact to support you to enable your child to be in school on a regular basis and these are as follows:
- Class Teachers
- Mrs R Green - Pastoral Lead
- Mrs N Hayward - SENDCO
- Ms C Coward - Attendance Officer
- Mrs F Waller - School Attendance Champion
Please feel free to contact the school if you are struggling to get your child into school, we are here to support you.
Is my Child too ill for school?
Children do not need to be kept at home for colds, coughs, feeling achy, 'under the weather' by simply letting your class team know, we will ensure that we keep an eye on them and telephone you if we think they need to rest. This could be that they manage the morning and we feel they would be better off in bed. This is so much better than keeping children off school and missing a whole day of learning. Look at the NHS advice below.
Notifying the school if your child is absent
Please follow the procedures below if your child is going to be absent from school:
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Telephone the school office on 01258 452025 (child absence) before 8:30am on every day your child is absent (office is open from 8.30am - 3.15pm, please leave a message outside these times).
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Alternatively, you can email your childs absence to the school email: office@pimperne.dorset.sch.uk
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Please do not use the class emails for reporting a child’s absence, as these are not monitored daily
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After your child has been absent from school for 3 or more days, we advise you to seek medical advice either from your GP or local pharmacy. You can email the school a screenshot of your childs GP appointment/medication prescribed and the absence will continue to be authorised.
Please do not book medical/dental appointments during term time. If a medical appointment is booked within school time, evidence of this appointment will need to be provided and the expectation is your child is only absent from school for the duration of the appointment. Please contact the school office to arrange the collection time for your child.
If we have any concerns surrounding your childs absence, we may conduct a Home Visit. Schools have a legal responsibility to know where your child is each day.
Monitoring Attendance
Monitoring of attendance is an important part of our safeguarding procedures and is routinely monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.
If your child's attendance dips below 95% you will be contacted by their Class teacher and/or receive an attendance monitoring letter. If attendance continues to decline, you will then be invited to a formal attendance meeting in school.
Inline with expectations set out by the Department of Education (DfE) and the local authority (Dorset Council), we will write to you to inform you if you are at risk of reaching the 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10-week period.
Please note, you are at risk of a penalty fine if you exceed 10 unauthorised sessions in a 10-week period.
When a child has attendance below 90%, they are classified as a Persistent Absentee and parents will be invited to a meeting to discuss how we can work together to improve attendance.
Pimperne Primary School works with Dorset Council and the Attendance and Inclusion Lead - Craig Dabinet to work together to improve attendance for these vulnerable pupils where attendance drops below 90%; Ms Coward, School Attendance Officer and Mrs R Green, pastoral Lead, are able to give guidance and support to families.
Lateness
Punctuality is also important, as lateness disrupts learning not only for the child arriving late, but also for the children in their class. There are learning sessions between 8:30am and 8.50am which are an integral part of their education. If your child is late on a regular basis you may be invited in to meet with the School Attendance Lead to discuss and offer support.
8:30am school gates are opened.
8:30am classroom doors and registers open
8:45am classroom doors and registers close.Children should be in their classroom and ready for learning by this time.
Children arriving at 8:45am and after are coded as late (L code) and are to arrive through the school office signing in on the electronic screen by parents / carers, giving a reason for lateness.
8:45am school gates begin to close.
8.50am Registers close
9:00am children arriving after this time are coded as unauthorised late (U code – please note this will affect your child's overall attendance).