01922 721991 – office@whitehall.victrust.org

Attendance

Attendance at WNIA: Working Together for Your Child’s Success

At our school, we believe that regular attendance is essential for your child to learn, grow, and thrive. We are proud to be an Inclusive Attendance school, which means we work hard to support every child and family to make sure school attendance is a top priority.

What is Inclusive Attendance?

Inclusive Attendance means we focus on helping children feel connected, valued, and supported at school. We use proven methods and ongoing staff training to create a welcoming environment where every child wants to come to school and succeed.

How We Support Attendance

We follow a clear plan called the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) that helps us provide the right level of support for every child:

Tier 1: Support for All Children

  • Teachers create positive and welcoming classrooms.
  • We greet every child and spot any early signs of attendance issues.
  • We celebrate good attendance and support families to keep children coming to school every day.

Tier 2: Extra Help for Some Children

  • We use attendance data to identify children who need extra support.
  • We work closely with families to understand and solve any barriers to attendance.
  • We provide early help to prevent attendance problems from getting worse.

Tier 3: Specialist Support for Children with Complex Needs

  • For children with more serious attendance challenges, we work with external agencies and specialists.
  • We continue to monitor progress closely and celebrate every improvement.
  • Families are key partners in this process, working together with the school team. 

When the support starts: Tier 1 is offered to all children. Tier 2 is for Persistent Absence or Risk of PA. Tier 3 is for Severe Absence

Persistent Absence (PA): Attendance at or below 90%, equating to 19 or more missed school days per year

Risk of Persistent Absence:  Attendance consistently below 95%, translating to between 10 to 18 days of absence.

Severe Absence: Children absent more than 50% of the time, requiring intensive support and potential flexible adjustments to facilitate regular attendance.

Every Day Counts 

Help Your Child Succeed in School: 

Build the Habit of Good Attendance. Early school success goes hand in hand with good attendance!  

Did you know?  

Starting in Reception, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.  

Missing 10 percent of school, which is about 2 days a month or 19 days a year,  makes it harder for children to learn to read.  So, even 90% attendance – which sounds great – is not good enough!

Children can still fall behind if they miss just 1 day every fortnight. 

Being late to school disrupts the start of class and can make your child miss important lessons.  They can also feel very embarrassed, walking in while the lesson has started and not knowing what is going on.

One child being late can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.  

Good attendance NOW will help children do well later in Junior’s, Secondary, college, and even at work.  It is now in the EYFS and Infants that the key learning takes place and builds the foundations for continued successful learning.

Every half-term your child gets the opportunity to get an attendance award for 96-100% attendance.  Each half-term is a new start for every child with their attendance, so, every half term is a new opportunity to improve attendance and get an award!

We will celebrate attendance on the first Friday back after half-term holidays.   If your child is receiving an award for 96-100% attendance you will be invited in to celebrate with us (as we know you are the ones who should really be getting the award for getting them in every day!!).

Your child will get a certificate for 96-100% and a soft toy if they have achieved 100% attendance. They can collect all 6 of the different animals as an incentive to keep on getting 100% attendance every half-term.

Why is being on time SO Important?

Learning

  • Young children learn best when they follow routines.
  • If they arrive late, they often miss important instructions at the start of lessons.
  • They may feel confused about what to do, which makes learning harder.

Feelings and Confidence

  • Arriving late can make children feel worried, embarrassed, or upset, especially if they have to walk into assembly on their own.
  • They may feel different from other children when they walk into class after everyone has started.
  • Over time, this can lower their confidence.

Friendships and Social Skills

  • Morning time often includes talking and playing with friends.
  • Children who are late can miss this time, which can make it harder to build friendships and feel part of the class.

Behaviour and Routine

  • Young children feel safe when they know what will happen each day.
  • Being late can upset their routine and make it harder for them to settle and focus.

Long-Term Habits

  • Good attendance and punctuality help children build positive habits.
  • These habits help them later in junior school, secondary school, and work.

Top Tips to Help Your Child Arrive at School On Time

✔ Check your child’s timetable and pack book bags the night before (reading books, library books, letters).

✔ Have their uniform or PE clothes already laid out for them in the morning.

✔ Make sure your child has a good bedtime between 7-8. No screens half an hour before bed and at least eight hours of sleep.

✔ Use an alarm clock and make it part of the bedtime routine setting the alarm for the morning.

✔ Make sure your child eats breakfast. Or that you arrive before 8.30 to get a free breakfast bagel.

✔ Have a backup plan to get your child to school (family, friends, neighbours).

✔ Leave home early to allow enough travel time AND parking time.

✔ If you are finding it difficult to arrive on time, please talk to our PSA: Mrs Ware. We are happy to help.

Reporting an Absence

If your child is going to be absent please phone the school before 9.10am.

Remember however, that phoning school does not authorise the absence.

You must show or send proof of the illness to Mrs Kataria in the office.  This could be a photo of the thermometer reading, the prescription for the medicine you are having to give or even a photo of your child ill in bed.

Please ask Mrs Kataria for examples of proof if you are unsure.