What is attendance at William Booth School like?

Attendance at William Booth Primary School is a real success story.  It has improved immensely over several years and is now above the national average.  We are really proud of this and we could not have done it without the efforts of our staff, our families and our children.  Every year we have two targets: to be at least 0.5% higher than the national average for all primary schools and at least 0.5% higher than our own attendance figure from the academic year before.  If you want more information you can see the data on this website.

What does William Booth do to promote school attendance?

A lot! All of the staff at our school take attendance really seriously and we all believe that simply being at school really matters.  Our main aim is to promote and foster this culture: that each child's education - and each and every single day at school - is really important. We have an Attendance Team, an Attendance Officer and designated pupil Special Attendance Officers who all take a lead on getting this right.  We also reward good school attendance and we do this through loads and loads of prizes for children who have managed to keep their number of days off school to an absolute minimum.  These will change from year to year to keep them exciting and fresh but have included: prizes from bikes to badges, tickets to shows at the Ice Arena or the Playhouse, awards at our Celebration Evening, family hampers, class trips to the Community Cafe for breakfast or to the Galleries of Justice and our special trips for good attendance in Year 6.  For pupils who achieve 100% attendance they also may get one of our attendance medals or an end of year trip to Wagamamas and FunStation.  And then we also do special prizes for pupils who've been making it into school against the odds, so if this applies to one of your children then please let us know!.  

What about days and times?

You can get a copy of the school year calendar directly from the office. As well as the school holidays and bank holidays there will be a number of inset days each year.

For children in Reception to Year 6, school starts at 8.40am every day.  Any children arriving after 8.50am will have to go through the office and be marked as late.

School finishes at 3.10pm. 

This means that children will be in school for 32.5 hours per week.

What about if my child is ill or unable to come to school for any reason?

Obviously, all children might miss school from time to time. Here are a few things to remember:

• If your child is not feeling brilliant, this may not mean that they should not come to school. If you’re unsure you can always bring your child in and we can monitor them to see if they get worse and need to go home. Medical professionals can also give advice about whether your child needs to be off school. There is also specific advice about some illnesses – if in doubt please speak to the school office.
• If your child is going to miss school for any other reason then again please speak to the office. Sometimes we may be able to help your child come to school, and if not we will be able to let you know whether we will authorise the absence or not.
• Whatever the reason, you should notify the school office every time that your child will be absent from school. This should be done before 8.40am on the day they are absent, by the parent or carer themselves.
• You may then get a visit from Tom Buckmaster, our School Attendance Officer. He carries our several visits every day and will have a chat with you about the reason for absence, document for you and the school if the absence is genuine and discuss with you when your child is likely to return to school.

What about if I want my child to miss school for a religious celebration?

At William Booth we really value and respect all of our children’s different faiths and religions. In agreement with the Local Authority and religious leaders, we will authorise one day off school for each recognised religious celebration or festival, and up to three such absences in any school year.  You should still notify school beforehand that you intend to take your child out of school for the day.

What about if a child has low attendance?

The government expect children to have school attendance of 96% and this should be everyone’s minimum target.

The Local Authority classes any child with attendance below 90% as a persistent absentee. The school regularly reviews all of the cases where attendance has fallen below 90%.  Initially, parents or carers are invited to a meeting to share our concerns and discuss any support that can be put in place.  An Attendance Improvement Plan will be agreed and attendance will then be monitored until an improvement is seen.  If there is no improvement without good reason, then the school will start to take other actions.  This could include a referral to the Education Welfare Service, which could lead to a Penalty Notice or in extreme cases even court action.  We always look to work collaboratively with parents and carers.

What about if I want to take my child out of school for some reason?

You will need to fill out a Leave of Absence Request Form as soon as you know your plans. If you fail to do this the school may have to report your child to the Local Authority as Missing from Education and we are more likely to request a Penalty Notice through a referral to the Education Welfare Service.

The government has determined that school’s should not authorise absences unless there are exceptional circumstances. The school’s Attendance Policy and the Parents/Carers Summary both give more details on this.  We will always try to meet with families to discuss any requests and decisions made, but you should be aware that a penalty notice may be issued when children miss school and absences are unauthorised.

For further information, please see our Attendance Policy under the Policy section on this website