[email protected]
01273 306980
Monday – Friday | 8:40am – 4:00pm

A dynamic, inclusive school; rooted in its Catholic values and respect for all people; a safe place of successful, enjoyable and challenging learning.

Attendance and Punctuality

Mrs Jackie Storey is the Education Welfare Officer supporting Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School and is responsible for overseeing Attendance and Punctuality for all pupils.

Our Mission Statement

J Storey, Education Welfare Officer

“The school has robust systems to analyse pupils’ attendance and punctuality. Leaders use these to plan a range of strategies to help pupils attend more frequently.”

Ofsted

2024

Attendance Procedures

Students are to attend school every day unless they are unwell. There is a direct relationship between 100% attendance and academic performance. 

Full Day Absences

  • If your child is not medically able to attend school please follow the procedure detailed below:
  • Report your child as absent by emailing [email protected] OR calling 01273 306980 Option 1 for EVERY day that your child is absent. Please do so before 8:30am. 
  • Please ensure that you include your child’s full name, year group and reason for absence.
  • Please note that we will not always have the time to respond to messages left. 

If you have not advised us of the absence, you will be called regarding the whereabouts of your child. 

Punctuality

We would like to send a sincere thank you to the vast majority of families who ensure that children are on time every day. However, lateness is an area that we do need to improve on as a school so it is going to be monitored closely, and we will be sending letters to families where persistent lateness is a concern.

From 8.50am, teachers will have prepared intervention sessions and materials for every child to learn.  Punctuality is important because children who arrive after 8.50am are missing that valuable intervention time which is so crucial to their progress.  When lateness is repeated, it becomes more difficult for the class teacher to help the children.  Every minute really does count!

Please pass a message via the office for Mrs Storey if you would like to discuss anything around attendance or absences.

Appointments during the school day

Please try to book medical and dental appointments outside of school hours where you are able to. We understand that this is not always possible and where a child is going to arrive late to school or leave during the school day for an appointment we will require the following:

  • An email to [email protected] stating the time of arrival/departure and what the appointment is for.
  • A copy of headed doctors/hospital letters, appointment cards, appointment confirmation texts or copies of prescriptions). 

Request for Absence

For any absence requests, please email [email protected].

Please remember that we cannot authorise ANY absences from school due to family holidays. Please use the 175 non-school days that we have every year. We are fully committed to following Brighton & Hove City Council’s Code of Conduct around Fixed Penalty Notice fines for unauthorised absences during term time, so if your child is absent during term time for a holiday then you should expect to receive a fine.

Students feeling unwell during the school day

If a child is feeling unwell during the day, medially trained staff will take their temperature and monitor them. Parents may be contacted if they are very unwell or may be asked to collect the child early. 

Please note that we are unable to give children any medication in school unless a medical form has been completed in advance. 

Is my child too ill for school?

If you are unsure  about whether your child is too ill to attend school, then please take a look at the NHS guidance below. 

Why does attendance matter?

There is a wealth of research showing that children with excellent attendance make better progress at all stages of their education than those with poor attendance. 90% attendance may sound good, but it is worth remembering that a child with 90% for the whole year will actually have missed nearly 4 weeks of school!

 

What is 'Persistent Absence?'

We regularly review attendance for all children, and if your child’s attendance is under around 93% then you will probably receive a letter to let you know that we are keeping an eye on it, and offering support if required.

If a child has missed 10% or more schooling across the school year for whatever reason, they will become a ‘persistent absentee’. Absence at this level is doing considerable damage to any child’s educational prospects.

It is a legal requirement for parents/carers to ensure that their child attends school regularly and punctually. Part of Jackie Storey’s role involves liaising with the Local Authority and Legal Services, who are responsible for taking legal action against parents/carers where attendance is poor and absences are unauthorised.