Attendance

We ask that you contact the school, either by using this website, by telephone or in person to inform us of any absences your child has.  As a school we will contact you to find out any reasons for your child's non-attendance at school and use this information to complete our school registers.  We follow guidance issued by the Health Protection Agency in relation to the necessary period of exclusion from school of children with illnesses or infections when deciding on authorisation for any absence for illness.

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We realise that there are times that you feel that it is not possible for your child to attend school due to reasons other than illness.  We would ask you to contact the school in the event of such occurances, as there are also guidlines for this.

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If your child’s attendance is 90% or below they are considered to be a Persistent Absentee, and as such we cannot authorise any absences without medical evidence.   In order to authorise any absences for pupils who have an attendance of 90% or below, we must see a prescription or medicine bottle from the doctor or hospital letters and appointment cards.  This is in line with Walsall’s current practise on attendance and is a legal requirement.

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At Elmore Green we are also keen for pupils to arrive at school on time. Pupils who arrive late often miss out on teaching, which in-turn leads to poor academic progress. We conduct a punctuality trawl each half term and contact families who are arriving to school late on a regular basis. 

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• The school day starts at 8.55am.

• If pupils are late after the school gates have closed (8:55am); parents/carers will be asked to sign pupils into the late book and will be asked to explain why they are late (if a pupil arrives unaccompanied, the late book will be completed by office staff, who will endeavour to speak to a parent/carer to ascertain the reason for lateness)

• All late pupils are marked as late in the register. We use the code “L” if your child arrives between 9:05am and 9:25am) and the code “U” if your child arrives late after the close of register (after 9:25am), which means your child’s lateness is considered to be an unauthorised absence.

• The school will send out letters to parents/carers whose children are late on more than 5 occasions and will request meetings as appropriate (Amber Level) 

• Referral will be made to the Education Welfare Service after 10 lates (Red Level)

 

Frequent lateness of pupils can provide grounds for prosecution of parents/carers.  At either Amber or Red level, a monitoring period will follow and if lateness does not improve, then a referral to the Education Welfare Service will be made.

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At Elmore Green we have devised a 'traffic-light' system to support parents in relation to attendance and punctuality

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GREEN​

• Attendance is above 94% and there are no immediate concerns.

• Punctuality is not an issue.

• Termly attendance reports will be sent to enable parents/carers to monitor their child’s attendance.

• Attendance will be monitored on a weekly basis.

 

AMBER​

If a pupil’s attendance falls below 94% or there are more than 5 late marks:

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• A letter is sent from school informing the parents/carers that their child’s attendance/punctuality is becoming a concern.

• Parents/carers will be invited into school to discuss attendance concerns. The school will offer support and agree actions to improve attendance.

• The pupil’s percentage attendance/punctuality will be monitored for half a term.

• When a pupil’s attendance is 92% or below, the Education Welfare Department will send a ‘at risk of persistent absenteeism’ letter.

 

RED​

If a pupil’s attendance falls below 90%. The child will be defined as a ‘Persistent Absentee’ and the school will liaise with the Local Authority’s Education Welfare Department and the following procedure will apply:

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• A letter will be sent home to the parents/carers and they will be invited in to school to discuss their child’s attendance with the Deputy/Headteacher.

• The Education Welfare Department will be informed. 

• Parents/carers will be invited in to school to an Attendance Panel meeting together with the Education Welfare Officer and Deputy/Headteacher. The Parent Support Adviser may also attend.

• An action plan will be set up.

• A school attendance contract and support plan will be incorporated and Penalty Notice will be discussed.

• Outside agencies may be involved.

• If there is no significant improvement in attendance over a 4 week period, a fixed penalty notice will be served.

• Further absences will only be authorised if evidence is provided (e.g. prescribed medicine, letters to verify attendance at appointments etc.)

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