Attendance

Dear Parents and Carers,

Good attendance and punctuality remain a top priority for us at Marlbrook. We share parents and carers views in wanting the best for your child and we are looking forward to working in partnership with you.

Your efforts, working in partnership with Marlbrook will ensure that your child will have the best chance to achieve their academic potential and have a real opportunity in further education and the world of work. It will also enable your child to:

• Access the lessons needed to achieve their expected grades
• Maintain friendships and develop new ones
• Have access to social and sporting events offered by the school
• Explore potential life skills
• Develop world habits such as good punctuality which are essential to thrive in the world of employment.

We strive to ensure your child has the best opportunities to be the best they can be, to feel safe and supported in school, and to develop a sense of belonging both with their peers and as a wider part of our school community.

To support that, regular attendance will be key.

At Marlbrook Primary school starts at 8.40am and finishes at 3.15pm

Gates open in the morning at 8.30am and close at 8.40am. After this time all children must come through the office, where they will be signed in as Late.

You can find more information about our breakfast club and after school clubs by visiting our school website at https://www.marlbrookschool.com/ or contacting the school office on 01432 266643.

Giving your child the best start

90% attendance may seem like an acceptable level of attendance, however in reality that means your child misses half a day of school every week, the equivalent of 19 school days (almost one whole month), during the year. Children who miss this amount of school do not achieve as well as their peers who attend more regularly.

Don’t forget – even being late by 10-15 minutes every day may not seem like much, but over a week this would mean your child has lost around an hour of learning time. Time lost at the start of the day can mean your child misses vital small-group input and means they are less ready to start the day alongside the rest of the class.

We expect all pupils at Marlbrook to attend school as regularly as possible. Our ambition for every child is 100% attendance.

Our attendance policy is available to read on our school website https://www.marlbrookschool.com/ This explains how we monitor attendance and follow up absence. 

Where any pupil we expect to attend school does not attend, or stops attending, without reason, the school will:

• Follow up on their absence with their parent/carer to ascertain the reason, by telephone, email and/or letter.
• Endeavour to contact families who have not contacted school on the first day of absence.
• Ensure proper safeguarding action is taken where necessary.
• Identify whether the absence is approved or not.

Due to national legislation, we are unable to grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances (which doesn’t include a holiday).  Therefore, any unauthorised absence (5 days or more within a term), may result in a referral to Herefordshire Council who will consider a penalty notice of £80 per child per parent or other legal intervention.

This is the link to Herefordshire Council's code of conduct on policy:

Microsoft Word - Penalty Notice - Local Code of Conduct 2024

We recognise that on occasion some children may experience illness or have exceptional reasons preventing regular attendance. To assist parents deciding whether their child is too ill to attend school or otherwise, the NHS have produced a guide that you may find useful:

Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

We know being a parent/carer can be challenging at times and we are here to help if there are any problems affecting your child. If you are worried about your child/children’s attendance please speak with your child’s class teacher in the first instance or myself.  We will work with you as partners to ensure in such circumstances any identified barriers are discussed so we can best support your child’s wellbeing and education. All schools work closely with Early Help, Health and the Local Authority teams who may also be able to help if needed.

As parents/carers you can best support your child to secure regular attendance and punctuality by:

• Ensuring a good bedtime routine to enable your child to get enough sleep.
• Establishing a good routine each evening and each morning so your child is prepared for the school day ahead.
• Making sure your child attends school every day it is open, unless there is an exceptional reason preventing this.
• Ensuring your child arrives at school on time every day by 8.40am.
• Arranging dental and medical appointments outside school hours wherever possible, where this is not possible ensure your child attends before and returns promptly afterwards.
• Informing the school if your child is ill and too unwell to attend either by calling the school office on 01432 266643 or calling our dedicated attendance mobile on 07470 708788.
• Taking absence seriously – if your child is not wanting to attend, or has not attended as you expected why is this? Are they putting themselves at risk – Who are they with? What are they doing? Do you know who they are talking to online?
• Taking any holidays during school holiday periods, and not during term time - If children are taken out of school for a one-week holiday every year and have an average number of days off for sickness and medical appointments, then by the time they finish Year 11, they will have missed the equivalent of two entire terms of schooling.               
• Talking positively to your child about school and taking an interest in their school day.
• Attending parents’ evenings and school events.
• Praising and rewarding your child’s efforts and achievements at school.
• Supporting school staff by working in partnership to best manage and support your child with any difficult or challenging behaviour or circumstances.
• Discussing any problems or difficulties with the school as soon as they arise – staff are here to help.

We look forward to working in partnership with you to support your child’s education.

Tim Wilson

Attendance Lead