Attendance

Autumn Attendance Update to Parents.

This term we shared with parents an important leaflet from Kent County Council regarding attendance in school. Officers from Kent County Council’s Kent PRU & Attendance Service (KPAS) work closely with families, schools, and other services to promote the regular attendance of children at school.

Find out more at School attendance - Kent County Council

Kent County Council provide the following guidance to parents regarding pupil absence:

 s a parent, you are legally responsible for making sure your child gets a full-time education. Children must get an education from the school term after their 5th birthday until the last Friday in June in the school year they turn 16.

For most parents, this means making sure your child is in school every day, except when:

• they are too ill to go to school
• there are exceptional circumstances and the headteacher has given permission
• your religious body has a day especially for religious observance.

Schools are able to release children during the school day for medical appointments or when a child is unwell. Please do not ask to collect a child during the day to go on a trip or holiday, as they are not considered to be exceptional circumstances by the local authority. 

It is really important for schools to work with parents on school attendance. A really useful DfE document is the Working Together to Improve School Attendance doc that provides advice to parents and schools on the legal requirements surrounding attendance, on registers, on attendance expectations and how to ensure all children attend school to support their education.

Working together to improve school attendance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Our school attendance data from the 1^st – 27^th September is as follows: whole School Attendance at Bishops-Down is 95.8% vs National Average 95.5%.

The statutory Attendance is 96.1%

Parent Useful Information