Learning

At Christ Church we pack as much learning as we can into each day. Not a minute is wasted. Each day your child learns maths skills and literacy skills and is immersed in a rich and varied curriculum through the Christ Church Experience. If children miss a day they will find that the learning has moved on and it can be a real struggle to catch up. This can damage your child’s self-esteem as well as their progress.

Confidence

It can be tempting to keep a child off if they are finding school hard. Maybe they are struggling with their learning, with friendships or just don’t want to separate from their special adults. Keeping children off for these reasons will make it even harder tor them to eventually come back to school. Come and talk to someone at school– we want to help

Behaviour

Children love routine and school is built on routine. Children understand what is expected of them at school and see the benefits of attending school and trying their hardest. They feel safe and secure within these boundaries. We know that children with poor attendance find it hardest to behave in school as they do not understand the rules and routines as well as the others, they also miss opportunities to be rewarded for their hard work. It is often these children who also have the most challenging behaviour at home as their routine is unpredictable.

Friendships

We all know how fast new crazes come and go. What is ‘in’ one day will be ‘out’ the next. Children’s games and friendships move at this fast pace too. Children who miss days at school are likely to come back to find that their friends have moved on to new games and they are likely to struggle to find their place again.

What is good enough attendance?

We know that children get ill and whilst many children manage to achieve 100% attendance over the year this is not the expectation for all children. The Local Authority suggest that children should be at school at least 97% of the time.

Many people think that 90% attendance is good enough but did you know that this adds up to 20 days absent a year? A full month of school! During the time your child is at primary school this adds up to half a year of absence!

There are various reward systems in place to celebrate good attendance. We have a weekly '£5 for 5' prize draw! All children who have achieved 100% are entered and the winner is awarded with £5 in Celebration Assembly. A weekly league also runs throughout the year- the class who are 'Top of League' are rewarded with a treat.

At Christ Church we recognise that good attendance is a whole family achievement so we reward families by having a 'Family Prize Draw' at the end of each term. The winning family are presented with an experience which allows them to celebrate together. For example: a restaurant voucher, theatre voucher, sports centre experience, Zoo visit to name a few. 

Our Arbor app allows families to view current attendance figures in real time, ensuring transparency.  Letters are sent out every term to parents whose children achieve less than 95% and 'Attendance Success' meetings are arranged with a DSL to co-construct a plan to overcome barriers. Referrals and meetings take place with an attendance officer from KCC where attendance falls below 90%. At this point families are at risk of fines or prosecutions.

Punctual and ready to learn

The school gates open at 8:25 and close at 8:40. Children are required to be in class by 8:45.  After this time children will need to come into the front office to be registered using the InVentry system. Children arriving after 8:50 will be marked as ‘late’. Children who arrive after 9:00 will be marked with an unauthorised absence unless there is a genuine reason for them attending late e.g. medical appointment, woke up with high temperature and now feeling better etc.

Children hate to be late for school. They often feel embarrassed walking into class when lessons have started. They may have missed teacher input which will make it hard for them to understand the lesson.

Contacting the school

If your child is too ill to attend then you are required to phone the school or leave a message on the absence line that morning giving the reason for absence. If we do not hear from you a link to a MS Form will be sent out to you to submit. If we do not receive a response from the link then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised and too many of these can lead to a fine!

To attend or not?

Children, like adults often feel under the weather first thing in the morning. Usually once they are dressed, have had a good breakfast and are in school they perk up. Sometimes you may even decide to give them a dose of Calpol before school. If you fill in a medical form at the front office we will even be able to give them a second dose at lunchtime. If we are worried that your child is too ill for school we will phone you straight away and ask for them to be collected. So if you are not sure give them a try!

High temperature?

Give your child some paracetamol in the morning, take their temperature again after a couple of hours and bring them to school late if they are feeling better.

Stay at home with

• Diarrhoea and vomiting: children must be off at least 48 hours after the last bout of sickness or diarrhoea
• Chicken pox: until spots have scabbed over
• Measles

Come to school with

• Cold
• Headache
• Tired
• Minor illness or injury
• Head lice

We are a team…

If you are having difficulties getting your child to school please come and talk to us and we will do what we can to help.