Late/Absence Procedures

Good attendance is directly related to a child’s enjoyment and achievement at school and is vital to promote successful learning.  At Sea View we appreciate your support in helping your child achieve excellent attendance.

The Government expects attendance for a child in Primary education to be 96%+

At Sea View all attendance is monitored regularly and the following are our expectations:

100% - Outstanding

Over 98% - Awesome

Over 96% - Excellent

90% - 95% - Working towards expectations

Below 90% is classed as persistent absentee and is well below expectations therefore attendance will be monitored closely with a possible referral to Services for Young People.

Rewards

1. As an incentive for families to get their children to school every day, we will be having half termly prize draws for children achieving over 96% attendance. A ticket will be drawn for prizes such as family tickets for The Dunes, Cineworld, The Customs House, Haven Point, Restaurant vouchers or shopping vouchers.
2. Children will receive class dojos daily for attendance and punctuality.
3. Every week the class with the highest attendance will be celebrated in assembly and given extra play time.
4. Every Month the class with the highest attendance will be celebrated in assembly and will receive the Attendance Trophy, Champ the bear and a class reward e.g. DVD with popcorn afternoon, extra time in the ICT suite etc.
5. Children with 100% attendance (each week) will have a ticket put into a class prize draw.  At the end of each half term there will be a draw for a gift voucher.   
6. Every half term certificates will be given to children who have achieved the attendance targets. 
7. At the end of each term rewards and certificates are given to all children achieving the attendance targets.  End of term rewards will be either a prize from the attendance shop (Autumn Term), Easter treats (Spring Term), or a trip to the Marine Park (Summer Term).

   Lateness

1. School starts promptly at 8.50am and finishes at 3.20pm (Reception and KS1) or 3.30pm (KS2).  If any child is arriving into school after 8.50am they have to report to a member of staff.
2. We understand that there are times when lateness is unavoidable but if your child arrives late they are missing valuable teaching and learning time and are also          disrupting the lesson for the rest of the class.
3. Where there are persistent incidents of lateness parents/carers will receive a letter advising them that we are concerned and offering support and advise to address any issues. 
4. There is NO excuse for children being late on a regular basis.

Collection of children

1. Please ensure children are collected promptly at 3.20pm (Reception and KS1) or 3.30pm (KS2).  There is no one available to supervise the children after this time as teachers are at meetings or working in their classrooms.  It is also very distressing for children to be left after school has finished.  If you know you are going to be late due to unforeseen circumstances, please ensure you ring school to let us know. 
2. There is NO excuse for children being collected late on a regular basis.

Absences

1. Please remember to phone us, come in or leave a message by 9am if your child is not coming to school. Our contact number is 0191 4274343.
2. We want to make sure your child is safe, so if they do not come in to school and we don’t hear from you we will phone or text.  If we still do not hear from you a member of staff may carry out a home visit.  The absence will be recorded as unauthorised until we make contact with you. 
3. There are many reasons for absence given but only a few are acceptable.  

Acceptable (authorised) -Genuine illness (medical evidence can be requested by school if there are attendance concerns), medical appointments (which cannot be made outside of school hours accompanied by appointment letter/card), family bereavement, religious observance, extenuating circumstances.

1. Unacceptable (unauthorised) -Birthdays, haircuts, tiredness, not wanting to come to school, shopping, sleeping in (we would rather have pupils in late than not at all).
2. Unauthorised absences can lead to penalty notice warnings and fines.

Leave of absence requests

1. As a school our policy will be not to authorise holidays during term time.  This is in line with government guidelines.

Thank you for your help and support with this important matter.