Attendance Information for Parents

Attendance

Every Day Counts

Attending school regularly and on time is one of the most important ways of making sure your child gets the best possible start in life.

Ysgol Comins Coch School is committed to ensuring that every child reaches their full learning and development potential. For pupils to get the best out of their education it is vital that they attend regularly and on time, every day the school is open unless the reason for absence is unavoidable. Ysgol Comins Coch School recognises that sometimes children and young people are sick and cannot come into school or there may be a family emergency.

We also recognise that your child’s emotional well-being is very important, if you have any concerns that your child is absent regularly due to their emotional well-being please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible in the first instance for support.

If you have any queries or need any additional support in ensuring that your child’s attendance is on or above the school’s target. Please contact your child’s head of year in the first instance. Remember ever day counts!

Attendance during one school year	Equivalent days	Equivalent sessions	Equivalent weeks
95%	9 days	18 sessions	1.4 weeks
90%	19 days	38 sessions	3.4 weeks
85%	29 days	58 sessions	5.4 weeks
80%	36 days	72 sessions	7.1 weeks
75%	48 days	96 sessions	9.3 weeks
70%	57 days	114 sessions	11.2 weeks
65%	67 days	134 sessions	13.2 weeks

Home / School Partnership

To help us to work together in achieving regular attendance at school we will:

keep an accurate recording of attendance codes to ensure safety of all pupils and meet legal requirements. Schools required under Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010 to take an attendance register twice a day – at the start of a morning session and once during afternoon session.
Listen to any concerns you have in relation to your child and offer support.
Inform parents regarding concerns around pupils’ attendance at the earliest opportunity.
Inform parents of whole school attendance through newsletters / parents’ evenings /noticeboards.
Inform parents of school attendance procedures and expectations.
Follow attendance procedures.
Refer to the Local Authority if attendance continues to deteriorate.

Link to school Attendance Policy

Punctuality

We respectively remind parents/carers of the importance of ensuring that each child attends school on time. Ysgol Comins School day begins at 8.45 a.m. and our hope is that all pupils will be in school by this time. Pupils who arrive after this time will be recorded as either:

L -late before the register closes - when your child is a few minutes late; or
U -late after the register closes - this counts as an unauthorised absence (absence without permission).

Arriving late to school not only disrupts the education of those arriving late but also those pupils who are already in school. Missing 20 minutes every week of school adds up to over 11 hours or nearly 3 whole days of learning over the year.

Being on time:

gets your child’s day off to a good start and puts your child in a positive frame of mind, so that he/she can make the most of his/her learning.
sets positive patterns for the future.
leads to good attendance.
leads to better achievement.
leads to understanding that school is important and education is valuable;
helps your child develop a sense of responsibility for him/herself and towards others.
helps your child make friends and keep friends.
reaps rewards; it leads to success and self-confidence.

Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring that your child has the best possible chance in benefiting from their education at Ysgol Comins Coch School.

Procedures to follow if your child is absent

If your child is absent from school, please e-mail: staffcc@cominscoch.ceredigion.sch.uk

or telephone 01970623497 leaving the following details:

Pupils name.
What year.
Nature of illness/reason for absence.
Expected return date.
Caller’s name & relationship to the pupil.

You must contact school as soon as possible on the morning of each day of absence. If we do not hear from you the school will telephone or text on first day of absence. For long period of absences, the school may contact the Education Inclusion Service to undertake a welfare check.

A pupil should only be absent when there are genuine reasons i.e. illness, family bereavement, religious observance. If your child needs to leave school to attend a dental or doctor’s appointment, you must bring the appointment card to show at reception and must ensure that they report to reception on leaving and returning to school. We hope that parents will be able to restrict dental and doctor appointments to school holidays or after school hours.

What happens when your child’s attendance falls below 92%

Parents may receive a letter from school advising them of their child’s attendance and number of days missed.
If attendance continues to be of concern the school may invite parents in for a meeting, the Education Inclusion Service or other relevant agencies may also be invited to attend.
Following a meeting, if your child’s attendance continues to be of concern the school may refer to the Education Inclusion Service.
Ensuring your child’s regular attendance at school is your legal responsibility and permitting absence from school without good reason may lead to issuing of a fixed penalty notice or prosecution. Regular absences from school affects the pattern of a child’s learning and may seriously affect their learning.

With an attendance percentage at or below 90% a child is classified as persistent absentee (19 school days missed).

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
			X

90% attendance means that the student is:

Missing half a day every week
Missing over four weeks of school in a year.
Missing half a school year over a five year period.